Cooinda Lodge Kakadu bintang 3

Our daughter & partner, who live in Darwin, gifted us a weekend at Cooinda Lodge for Xmas so we were delighted they joined us there on our last weekend before heading home back east. Cooinda in the heritage-listed Kakadu National Park past Jabiru is a good 4hr from Darwin, but it’s definitely worth the drive. The resort has cabin-style accommodation (which we had), as well as powered & unpowered sites and glamping for the less intrepid traveller. Our cabin was clean and well equipped including renovated bathroom and large-screen TV, and importantly within a few short steps of the restaurant/bar. Speaking of which the catering was remarkably good, with a sophisticated menu including territory exotics like kangaroo, buffalo and crocodile, and a well-stocked buffet breakfast which left very little to be desired. Well done Cooinda Lodge! The receptionist, Micaela, who checked us in was very informative about nearby points of interest for which we were grateful when we chanced a cooling dip after the long trek to the remote but spectacular Motorcar Falls. A croc-sighting tour* on the adjacent Yellow River Cruises capped off an amazing outback NT tour de force, notwithstanding being soaked to the core by the torrential rain that hammered down bucketloads every afternoon, right on cue. No complaints though, it was wet season after all. *Who knew crocs and thunderstorms don’t mix? There were hardly any crocs to be seen this day, but the swollen wetlands with its vista of watery billabongs and channels was amazing.

Cooinda Lodge is set in fantastic surroundings,especially this time of year ,when rains have been and the floodplains are just alive,green and welcoming. What is not so welcoming is the filthy state of the concrete surroundings which is such a pity as the rooms are lovely and clean and the pool is sparkling and the grounds are well maintained.

Great location to See Kakadu National Park. It’s close to Warradjan Cultural Center which is a must see! The facilities are quite good- room was comfortable, great pools to cool down in, lovely gardens and very helpful reception staff. The Yellow Water Boat Cruise is right at the lodge and also a must do. Our aboriginal guide Mandy was superb and we learned a lot plus saw some very large crocs! The food is just okay but we appreciate that it is expensive and hard to truck all if that into the park. When you eat all your meals there, it has limited options. We wouldn’t have stayed anywhere else and it is much better than anywhere in Jabiru.

Having stayed at Cooinda many times before I always enjoy the location and facilities that the lodge has to offer. The pool is always a highlight, along with the glamping tent which is clean and comfortable. Staff at front desk were super lovely and very helpful this time round. I have always thought the accomodation is over priced, but now the restaurant is too. The $48 dish (Barra) was extremely small, not enough to call a 'meal'. When comparing the adults $48 Barra to the kids $15 Barra - the kids Barra is FAR better value for the same sized piece of fish. We ordered chips one afternoon too and they were literally cold. Some more training for staff on the coffee machine may also be helpful as the coffee is always not quite right - could just be the beans that are used. All in all not a horrible experience but definitely room for improvement.

Lovely stay. Only had dinner in the restaurant (ie no breakfast or lunch) both meals were very good. Pizzas one night were great and the Cooinda tasting platter and Kangaroo burger were both excellent, We are very glad we visited.