Is Kakadu worth going to in the wet season, and can you drive yourself?
Worth itBut the famous falls close and the roads to them flood.
Worth going, and do not drive yourself to the falls — you will not get there. Kakadu in the wet, roughly November to April, is green, dramatic and nearly empty, with 231mm of rain in December at Jabiru against 1mm in June. The waterfalls are at their most spectacular and you cannot reach most of them: the unsealed roads to Jim Jim and Twin Falls flood and close, which is why scenic flights become the way to see them. Ubirr, Nourlangie and the wetland cruises stay open. Swimming holes close, and that is about crocodiles on high water, not comfort.
Checked on 6 October 2026.
Kakadu has two completely different faces and the wet is the one almost nobody sees. It is the better-looking one and the harder one to get around, and being clear about which is which is the whole of this page.
The rain, so you can see the scale of it
| Month | Day | Rain at Jabiru | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| December | 35°C | 231mm | The wet building. Storms most afternoons |
| January | 34°C | 356mm | The wettest. Roads start closing |
| February | 33°C | 352mm | As wet. The falls are enormous |
| March | 34°C | 302mm | Still wet, starting to ease |
| April | 35°C | 86mm | Drying. Roads begin reopening |
| June | 32°C | 1mm | Dry season proper. Everything open |
| August | 34°C | 2mm | Driest, busiest, everything accessible |
Bureau of Meteorology long-term monthly averages for Jabiru Airport, inside the park.
What closes and what stays open
- Jim Jim and Twin Falls close.The access roads are unsealed and they flood. This is the single biggest thing people do not expect.
- Swimming holes close.High water moves saltwater crocodiles into places they are not in the dry, and the park shuts the pools until rangers have checked them.
- Ubirr and Nourlangie stay openthe rock art is on sealed roads and is the real highlight of Kakadu whatever the season.
- The wetland cruises get better.Yellow Water and Corroboree Billabong are at their fullest, with the most birdlife of the year.
- Scenic flights become the way to see the fallsand in flood they are worth it.
Can you drive yourself?
On the sealed roads, yes. The Arnhem Highway and the Kakadu Highway stay open and a normal hire car reaches Ubirr, Nourlangie and the cruise departure points. To the falls, no: those roads are unsealed, 4WD-only even in the dry, and closed in the wet. Check road status before you set out, because conditions change daily and the park publishes closures. A trip removes the guesswork, which in this season is most of the value.
Is it worth 1 day, 2 or 3?
| Trip | Length | Effort | What you get | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Day Kakadu Tour | 1 day | — | — | $249 |
| 2 Day Kakadu Tour | 2 days, 1 night | — | — | $815 |
| 3 Day Kakadu Tour | 3 days, 2 nights | — | — | $729 |
| 3 Day Kakadu & Litchfield Safari | 3 days, 2 nights | — | — | $819 |
| 5 Day Kakadu, Litchfield & Katherine Gorge | 5 days, 4 nights | — | — | $1799 |
Effort is rated 1 to 5 on the trip's own page. The one day trip is rated 2; the 3 day Kakadu tour is rated 4.
- One daycovers Ubirr and a wetland cruise. In the wet that is close to everything you can reach, so a day trip loses less than it would in the dry.
- Two or three daysmake sense in the dry, when the falls and the gorges are open.
- Three days with Litchfieldis the better wet-season shape. Litchfield is closer, and its falls run hard.
Going with children in the wet
The heat and humidity are the issue rather than the rain. It is 33 to 35°C with high humidity and the swimming holes are shut, which removes the obvious relief. The one day trip, rated 2 out of 5 for effort, and the wetland cruises work well; the longer camping trips in that weather are hard going for small children.
Would we book it?
If your dates are fixed, go — it is a remarkable time to see the place and you will share it with almost nobody. If they are movable, May to September is a different park: every road open, every pool swimmable, the gorges reachable. There is a wider Top End comparison on our Northern Territory in December page and the Litchfield alternative on Litchfield waterfalls.
Where this comes from. Rainfall and temperatures are Bureau of Meteorology long-term monthly averages for Jabiru Airport. Road and swimming closures, and the crocodile management behind them, follow Parks Australia's published advice for Kakadu National Park. Trip lengths, effort ratings and prices are each trip's own, and update on their own.