Hartleys Crocodile Adventures 4.8 (reviews)

Celebrating 20 croctastic years of Hartleys Crocodile Adventures , which offers over 6 hectares of tropically landscaped terrain with naturalistic habitats and free roaming enclosures for the most comprehensive collection of mammals, reptiles and birds in Queensland.

Hartley’s has been one of the oldest running tourist attractions in the Cairns region since 1934, when it began as a tea house for tired motorists travelling between Cairns and Mossman.

According to legend, the original owner, Pop Evans, fed Charlie the resident crocodile while scones cooked in the wood stove, becoming the first person in Australia to perform crocodile shows for the public. Eighty-eight years later, Hartley's world-renowned Crocodile Attack Show is as popular as ever.

Hartley’s Zoo was the first place in Australia to breed crocodiles in captivity. Worldwide interest in crocodile conservation work at Hartley's Zoo inspired by a 2000 novel in which a crocodile takes over the zoo.

Hartley’s documentaries aroused public interest and sympathy for crocodile conservation, resulting in the protection of wild crocodiles in 1974.

The zoo had become one of northern Queensland's premier destinations by the time the Freeman family renovated it in 1987. In 2002, when Hartley's Crocodile Adventures opened 500 metres south of Hartley's Creek, the original location remained in place. This eco-friendly establishment offered genuine crocodile encounters.

Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures has grown over the last 20 years, providing visitors with a variety of up-close wildlife experiences as well as new wildlife habitats.

Hartley’s has received many awards and recognitions for exceptional tourism achievements and pioneering architecture since 2002.