The little Karumba town north of Normanton in north Queensland is right on the coast of Gulf Savannah. Most people come here to fish, but the town is also famous for its beautiful sunsets, wetlands that attract crocodiles, and the Barramundi Restocking Facility where you can learn about Australia's most famous game fish, barramundi. Here is some information about the town, and in the end of the page is accommodation and a map.
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Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Town Centre and Karumba Point The town actually consists of two separate parts – the town centre itself, and Karumba Point. As you drive along the road from Normanton, you come to the crossroad where you can either turn right to Karumba Point, or left to the town centre. If you turn in to the Point, you come to a nice beach with some mangroves and pelicans, and the Sunset Tavern which is very popular with people sipping wine and watching the lovely sunsets of the Gulf Savannah.
Fishing in Karumba Queensland Further west is the boat ramp that gets busy with fishermen – the town’s population doubles during the winter when southerners from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania come up here to fish while the weather gets a bit too chilly down in the southern parts of Australia.
Krys - the Worlds Largest Crocodile The beaches here are also known for crocodiles and Karumba Point is the former home of the famous crocodile hunter Krystina Pawloski who shot the worlds largest crocodile – the 8.6 metres saltwater Crocodile whose life-sized statue is on the main street of Normanton.
Karumba Point Accommodation Most of the accommodation is in Karumba Point, where there are the Ash’s Holiday Units, End of the Road Motel, Gee Dee's Family Cabins Hotel and Sunset Caravan Park.
Karumba Town and Animal Bar The town itself has a feeling of a temporary fishing village – most of the people live in campervans or huts with a hastily-thrown-together look. But this doesn’t make the town boring – it’s different and rather interesting. It’s fun to stay at least for a few days, and meet some locals in the aptly named Animal Bar!
Barramundi Fish Discovery Centre Karumba Queensland
Apart from the Animal Bar, the town has a post office, a library, shops and the usual services, and finally, the reason why there are so many fish in the Gulf Savanna waters – the Barramundi Discovery Centre and Restocking Facility, where Barramundi fish is bred and released to the ocean. Without them, the place would be out of fish since long time ago. You can visit it, and learn about the interesting life cycle of Barramundi (it changes sex from male to female half way through its life), and why it is important to accept Barra’s size limits to prevent overfishing.
Karumba Accommodation and Fishing Tours In the town, you can stay at the Gulf Country Van Park, and there are many tour operators who can take you out to the water on fishing and croc watching trips. The Ferryman has cruises to the Norman River where you can spot crocodiles, and Kerry D, Kathryn M and Delta Dawn Fishing Safaris take you to the waters where you will catch a lot of fish.
Here's a map of Karumba Queensland, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
