Three questions tend to arrive together when guests plan a Kimberley voyage: will my phone work, is there Wi-Fi on the ship, and can I bring the drone? We have sailed this coast, and the answers change with the stretch of coast, the people whose Country it is, and the ship. Here is what you need to know before you pack.
In short
Expect days without mobile coverage: the Traditional Owners of much of this coast state that there is no Wi-Fi, internet or mobile service on their Country. Your link to home is the ship's Wi-Fi, which the lines themselves note can be limited in remote waters. Drones follow the national rules everywhere, need a permit in Australian Marine Parks, and are excluded within 7 kilometres of Horizontal Falls.
Why the signal fades after port
Mobile networks follow people. Telstra's 4G network reaches 99.7 per cent of Australians, across about 3 million square kilometres of a country of more than 7.6 million, and the Kimberley coast sits largely outside that footprint. Broome, Darwin and Kununurra have coverage; along the coast, plan for long stretches without it.
The clearest statement comes from the Traditional Owners themselves. The Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation notes that no Wi-Fi, internet or mobile services are available on Dambeemangaddee Country, and the state parks service says the same for Lalang-gaddam Marine Park. On those days your phone becomes a camera, a field guide and an offline library, and contact with home runs through the ship.
Satellite texting on your own phone
Telstra Satellite Messaging sends and receives texts beyond the mobile network on eligible plans and compatible phones, outdoors with a clear view of the sky, across most of mainland Australia and its immediate offshore areas. It carries texts and a few satellite-ready apps, without calls, and it is not an emergency service. Treat it as a pleasant extra on deck rather than a plan.
Wi-Fi on board
For most guests, the ship's connection is the one that matters. Silversea includes a standard Wi-Fi service in every suite on Silver Cloud, good for browsing, messages and email, with unlimited premium internet in its higher suite categories and as a package for the others. Scenic lists complimentary high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi on Scenic Eclipse. Both lines note that remote regions can limit the service. For Ponant's Le Soléal and Le Jacques Cartier and for Paspaley Pearl, we confirm the current arrangement for your sailing and pass it on before you leave.
Our advice is simple: plan to share the voyage in the evenings rather than in real time, and let the days be about the coast.
And the drone?
On the ships we work with in the Kimberley, guests cannot fly their own drone, and ashore the air also answers to CASA, the parks service, Parks Australia and the Traditional Owners. What each line says, what it is really like on deck, and where a drone does belong are all in our guide to flying a drone in the Kimberley.
Where a specialist makes the difference
None of this is complicated once someone has put it in order for your voyage. We know the coast and the ships, so before you leave we tell you which days you will be out of signal, what the Wi-Fi on your ship is like, whether your drone can come, and which images the Traditional Owners would rather you kept to yourself. Then you can leave the planning to us and give the coast your full attention.
The honest answer
- Signal: plan for several days without mobile coverage.
- Wi-Fi: the ship’s connection is the one that counts, and remote waters can limit it.
- Drones: not permitted for guests on the ships we work with on this coast.
- Images: on Dambeemangaddee Country, the Traditional Owners’ own conditions apply.
Before you leave home
- Download before you fly north: maps, books, field guides and anything you want to show at dinner.
- Tell home what to expect, with the days you will be out of contact.
- Check satellite texting early if you are with Telstra.
- Wait for our confirmation before packing a drone. The ship's policy and your itinerary decide.
Questions we are asked about phones, Wi-Fi and drones
Will my phone work on a Kimberley cruise?
Can I fly my drone on a Kimberley cruise?
Not on the ships we work with. Our drone guide for the Kimberley sets out each line’s policy and the rules ashore.
Tell us what you plan to bring, and we will check every rule for your sailing. For the rest of your bag, see our Kimberley cruise packing guide, and for the ships, start with Silver Cloud, Le Soléal, Paspaley Pearl or Scenic Eclipse II.
