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HOTEL STYLE
Family
Mid-range
Property amenities
Free wired internet in the business centre
Pool
Outdoor pool
Bar / lounge
Restaurant
Beach
Fishing
BBQ facilities
Breakfast buffet
Room features
Air conditioning
Private balcony
Refrigerator
Room types
Ocean view
Non-smoking rooms
Location
Crab Claw Road Bynoe Harbour, Crab Claw Island, Northern Territory 0822 Australia
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We stayed here as a family of four for 3 nights after travelling through the national parks that surround Darwin.
When we arrived we thought we may have made a mistake and that the kids (7 and 8) were going to be bored. We are now keen to return as we had such a good time.
The cabins are basic but tidy. The location is remote but well provisioned. The atmosphere is relaxed but with good service. But importantly we ended up having a holiday to remember.
The first day we drove out to nearby wildlife/reptile park which was fantastic. Kids loved it and it is certainly worth a visit. Great day out. That night we got to try the food at the restaurant and this is when we first started to really appreciate the place - the food is great. We were then able to send the kids to bed, comfortable given the remoteness that we didn’t need to worry about their safety and spend some time in the restaurant having a wine or two with the bar staff.
The next day the manager arranged for us to take one of the boats out fishing with the kids. The bar staff we had a few drinks with the previous night lent us some rods and, hands down, was one of the best fishing trips I’ve had. My son got a bite within minutes of putting his rod in the water (I’ve had to explain that fishing doesn’t usually work like that) and we spent several hours exploring the area and catching fish. The restaurant were then happy to cook the fish (make sure you tell them you will be bringing fish back - we got growled at by the chef for not letting the know earlier!) which was a great end to the day.
When not doing reptile parks or fishing, kids were happing swimming, finding wallabies and enjoying the restaurant. My wife and I really enjoyed chatting with the bar staff into the night, enjoying the wonderful views and the remoteness of the place.
We really enjoyed our stay and plan to return.
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Date of stay: July 2019Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My niece and I stayed for 2 nights at Crab Claw Island in an elevated beach front room. The room itself is very basically furnished, however clean with air conditioning and a ceiling fan so perfect and all you need for a good nights sleep. There is a balcony with table and chairs. There is also a fridge in the room so you can bring snacks, drinks etc. However what draws you in is the location, the views and the most amazing colourful sunrises and sunsets. There are crocodiles around so you can’t swim in the sea but you have 2 pools to swim in. At dawn and dusk you can see wallabies and other kinds of wildlife. Thanks to John, the manager, we got to eat a ‘crab claw’! We ate from the restaurant and enjoyed the dishes we had. Crab Claw Island is a beautiful location and the perfect place for relaxing and enjoying the spectacular colourful sunrises and sunsets.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We came here on a day trip from Darwin and unfortunately arrived 20 mins after the kitchen shut. The bar staff were sooo lovely and sad for us they organised someone to cook up the most delicious fish and chips. What troopers.. so kind. I cannot recommend this place enough for food, service and amazing service and of course the view
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Date of stay: July 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had the $200 NT voucher so decided to use it on crab claw.... which noticing after I had paid an astonishing $350 for one night they had clearly taken advantage of the voucher and put their prices up! First off, the good points. The bar area is great! Lovely to sit there and watch the ocean or the helicopters coming in. Feeding the peacocks and watching the wallabies, my daughter loved. And that’s where it ends. Food was awful! So many great reviews but all three meals we had were so below average. I had locally caught Barra for dinner which tasted awful! Overcooked. The ocean is right there?! I don’t understand why you wouldn’t offer fish caught that day. And don’t be fooled by the name of the joint, there is no mud crab on the menu!! Well don’t put pictures of mud crabs on your website. Breakfast, absolute joke. Cold, sad looking. My partners toast was so burnt. And where do I start with the rooms. The picture with frangipanis on the bed on your website is laughable. We got a family room and assumed there would be a wall partition to at least get some privacy from the kids but no. Just 6 crappy beds thrown into one sad, tired, dated and filthy room! I didn’t want to put my 8mnth on the floor as it looked grubby. The double bed is on wheels so be prepared to be going from side to side in the room all night. The bathroom, was probably the worst bathroom I’ve come across and we have stayed in a lot of places!! It’s filthy! Dirt in the corners of the room, the shower floor stained to on belief, tiles coming up. Just disgusting.
Crab claw, you need to seriously put some money into the property. It’s such a beautiful area and you are letting it down. The owner owns pretty much half of Darwin and I have absolutely no idea why no money is being put back into this sad, run down joint! No wonder it’s only local fishermen coming up. No families in their right mind would come back with over priced crap accommodation.
We will never go back until Some serious money is injected into crab claw.
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Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from John Roodenrys, Other at Crab Claw Island
Responded 14 Sept 2020
Hi Paula, thank you for taking the time to review Crab Claw. The Crab Claw Team is sincerely disappointed that your stay at Crab Claw Island Resort was less than you expected. We always strive to provide the very best we can for our guests in both quality and effort. We appreciate the time you have taken to notify us of your concerns and the areas that you believe we could do better. We are proud to be a member of Tourism Top End and we are thankful for the NT Government initiative of the voucher scheme and the much-required business it has generated during these hard times. Our housekeeping and kitchen staff have taken your comments on board, and while they take great pride in delivering a quality product and service, they are sorry in this moment it was not up to your standard.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
So the area itself we loved the surrounding where very peaceful and scenic and we loved having the animals walk on by every evening, the staff also where lovely and the food was good. The restaurant was quiet nice undercover and great views. The downside is it’s heavily treed in the most part of the powered section and our van was coved in tiny leaves but that’s not a massive downer! the park itself being called a ‘resort’ needs a massive facelift , the toilets and showers are old portables and outdated and not cleaned all that well truthfully, the pool or pools where old style and where not very clean but that would be due too all those leaves and dirt there also just out dated. We had a bit of rif raf that blew in on weekend and seem to think they own the place too, but that was a long weekend so I’m sure that’s not all weekends. All in all the owners need to put some $$ into it and give it a facelift 🤷♀️ we still enjoyed our few days nun the less.
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Date of stay: April 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bring your camera, this is gorgeous. Very good facilities for fishing. Well-maintained airstrip. Plenty of parking. Picturesque cabins are located along a treetop walkway with sea views. Powered and unpowered campsites are available. There are two fenced swimming pools. I'm not surprised the restaurant has a gold plate award. The meals are generous and delicious. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are available. In the restaurant area, guests may help themself to a never-ending supply of iced water, fresh coffee, hot chocolate, and so forth. Attentive and knowledgeable staff. A wonderful hideaway.
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Date of stay: June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Landed here after helicopter fishing for lunch only to be rudely told that the kitchen was shut down early due to being overwhelmed and people should just understand. After buying drinks and walking away I made a comment that hungry people don’t understand, I was aggressively chased across the bar by the assistant manager and verbally abused as to why I made that comment and why I couldn’t understand why their kitchen was closed during peak lunchtime. I again said hungry people don’t understand and again I was aggressively abused by this manager. My advise would be to pack your own lunch if you go and do r spend your hard earned money with these amateurs.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Don’t spend money on food here
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you are looking for a relaxing day out. This is it. The two hour cruise takes you to Crab Claw Island were a sumptuous buffet seafood lunch awaits. All you have to do is sit down eat and drink. If you want you can swim in one of the two pools after lunch or take a walk or try some beach-side fishing. The three hours of total relaxation, passes way too quickly. The beauty of this cruise is it takes two hours to return to Darwin, time enough for the alcohol to pass through your system, so you can drive home safely afterwards.
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Date of stay: May 2022
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are over from Scotland visiting family in Darwin and travelled to Crabclaw Island for a two night stay with one day fishing. We hired 3 retreat rooms which were very basic but quite comfortable and clean. The food in the restaurant was great with good sized portions and a lovely view whilst dining or having a drink. The Crabclaw staff couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly, what a great, happy team! The pool areas could have done with a tidy up, we had to remove two chairs which must have blown into one of the pools overnight and the general tidiness of the poolside wasn’t great but it didn’t stop us using them. Overall a great few days away in a beautiful location.
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Date of stay: March 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:The last 15km to Crabclaw is off-road and it can be quite rough, a 4x4 is recommended
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place is amazing! We stayed for 3 nights in our caravan and could have stayed longer! Sites are big, well priced and have a nice outlook, with lots of wildlife to admire. Two pools which our children swam for hours in. The staff are all very helpful, especially Erin and Jordie. The larger restaurant deck has a great view of the beach and water. Food is amazing and well priced. We hired one of the boats which was a great day out catching a few fish and a mud crab, which for a small fee the restaurant cooked for us adding chips and salad, a real feast. Loved it!
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Soak up the relaxing time.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It's a reserve! The owners have some exotic birds but even that is getting close to dodgy. And it's in the bush so you know that there are saltwater crocs. No, I wouldn't take pets.
yes just not the sea water .The pool in located in the centre of the resort.I think there may be fishing boats that leave from there that you are able too book but not 100 percent sure .Just pack the mozzie spray too.
There are more places to choose from in the Crab Claw Island area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$214 - AU$236 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
crab claw island hotel
LOCATION
AustraliaNorthern TerritoryTop EndCrab Claw Island
NUMBER OF ROOMS
26
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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