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Crocosaurus Cove Crocosaurus Cove - Opening mid-season 2008

Discussion in 'Australia' started by thorney_devil, 9 Aug 2008.

  1. thorney_devil

    thorney_devil Well-Known Member

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    Hey unsure if you all have heard of this new animal attraction opening in Darwin later this year... There is suppose to be one of Australia's largest native reptile collection held top-secret! The two-storey facility will have 7 large crocodile habitats, huge freshwater aquarium & loads of reptile display!
    Anyone heard of any news or updates nothing on website anyone heard of anything happening? Looks like its going to be awesome im going to try and visit early 2009...


    Crocosaurus Cove - Visit our crocodiles just minutes from your hotel in Darwin
     
  2. jay

    jay Well-Known Member 20+ year member

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    When I saw the title Crocosaurus Cove I thought it was another Irwin thing ie: The Crocoseum.
     
  3. thorney_devil

    thorney_devil Well-Known Member

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    Sound's like it, the Irwin's have gone haywire I think. I dont like the progress of thing since the death of Steve it's too much advertising on the family not the animals & conservation...
     
  4. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    It sounds like a fantastic addition to help boost Darwin's tourism numbers, and in June 2007 I visited Crocodylus Park and had mixed feelings. I was disappointed with the cat (tiger, lion, leopard, ocelot) exhibits and was impressed with the sheer number of crocodilians, but I realize that the resources aren't necessarily there for such a tiny attraction. Crocosaurus Cove will surely put a dent into the attendance figures of other local sights.
     
  5. thorney_devil

    thorney_devil Well-Known Member

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    You should see there new advertisement pictures.
    Showing people swimming in a safety cage within a 4m Saltwater Croc pen.
    Have they opened yet? I believe they have...
    Anyone up at Darwin please check it out & let us know about it!
     
  6. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Review

    While I don't have the literary skills of snowleopard, Pertinax or gentle lemur I will give you my impressions of Crocosaurus Cove following a visit there last week. As a zoo owner as well as an afficionado, my impressions may be a bit slanted to the business side of things - but, make of them what you will.

    Firstly, the place cost squillions of dollars to build. It has a fantastic site right in Mitchell Street which is Darwin's "Eat Street". It is on a huge block of land with three road frontages so servicing the facility can be done from the rear. Everything is brand spanking new and no expense has been spared. The water pumping and treatment plant is so impressive that it has it's own viewing areas and descriptive signage! The two storey building has been purpose built for this attraction and that caused the first of my little niggles. If this attraction goes belly up there is absolutely nothing else that you could use the building for.

    Will it go belly up? I hope not but to me it seems wildly over capitalised. And it will have a fairly limited source of customers. At $28 per adult entry the backpackers are not embracing it - and they are Darwin's volume tourists. It should appeal to the casino goers and those among us who's vocabulary is based on the words "wow" and "awesome"!

    Because it has been built for the wow factor impact. It is spotless, it is airconditioned, it features stainless steel and mock rock everywhere and it's stock has been carefully chosen. Huge crocs, a white croc, a deep aquarium pool with huge Barramundi, hundreds of baby crocs and a very impressive snake and lizard collection.

    It is well designed to elicit wows. There is a short tunnell where you can walk underneath a couple of crocs, including the white one. For an extra fee you can be lowered into one of the croc ponds in a safety cage. They even have a swimming pool where, again for an extra fee, you can go for a dip with a massive saurian. Well you don't actually dip WITH it. There is a 145mm triple layer polymer wall between you and the croc and another one on the outside of the pool but they won't show up in the photos!

    There is an airconditioned crocodile interpretive room which is very nice but, I felt, a bit shallow in it's approach to the subject. The one at Crocodylus Park was not as flash but it covered the subject in much greater detail.

    The reptile collection was amazing and city people would love it. Carpeted floors [a bit like the Kyabram Fauna Park reptile house but about three times bigger], airconditioned, very good graphics and a superb collection of reptiles including a couple of the now mandatory albinos. [Olive and carpet pythons]. My main niggle with it is that I just don't like to see big monitors in glass cabinets but that's a personal thing. MARK will probably be on the plane tomorrow because they had the most comprehensive collection of geckos that I've seen on display anywhere!

    So you won't visit Crocosaurus Cove to commune with nature - but you can do that at Crocodylus Park or the Territory Wildlife Park. To date, those Parks report that the new attraction has not affected their visitation figures at all. And I believe them. Crocodylus Park was running four croc shows a day when we were there and averaging about 80 people at a time. Crocosaurus Cove ran one which attracted 40 people.

    What happens if this venture does not succeed? Well don't write it off too soon. A major shareholder is Mick Burns who owns the Darwin Croc Farm. The croc farm is now closed as a tourist attraction but it's farming income will certainly underpin the Crocosaurus Cove business. Mick is a pretty robust businessman and I heard [not from him] that there are plans for a nightclub among the crocs to liven things up a bit should business be a bit slow. The mind boggles!

    Some of the other people involved with it are no lightweights either. They include Dr Adam Britton and his wife as well as Dr Gavin Bedford.

    I wouldn't recommend that you make a special trip to Darwin to see Crocosaurus Cove [your visit will take about one hour] but if you are going to Darwin for any other reason then don't miss it.
     
    Last edited: 31 Aug 2008
  7. MARK

    MARK Well-Known Member

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    Sounds interesting Steve, Ok I wait a bit before I get to it but will visit when in the area, just for (my reptile) interest, how big are their big Crocs?, Is the the white croc really white or just whitish, I did not know we had any in Oz.

    I read last year they discovered 13 new species of Skinks up that way about a year ago so I am hoping more will turn up soon.
     
  8. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    I loved your review Steve, and I appreciate the "speediness" of learning about this new business venture up in Darwin. I mentioned earlier on this thread that I actually visited Crocodylus Park in 2007, and while disappointed with the exotic animal section I was impressed with all of the numerous crocs. I'm a little surprised that they haven't been hit hard by their newfound opposition.

    One of my major beefs would be with the price of Crocosaurus Cove. $28 for an hour is an absolute ripoff! At Crocodylus Park last year my wife and I paid around $25 each and we were there 3 hours or less, and here in North America most major zoos charge about $15 and some people spend all day walking around. So the $28 for Darwin's latest croc entertainment made me shake my head. Having said that, if I ever find myself in the Top End again I'll probably complain and shell out the money anyway...hahaha.

    It's really enjoyable visiting new attractions, simply because everything is so shiny and the algae and moss hasn't set in yet. Thanks again for the well-written review!!
     
  9. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The biggest croc is a 5 metre animal. Not as impressive as the 7 metre monster that Steph and I have seen in Singapore but good enough.

    There are a couple of "white" crocs in Australia. The indoor croc farm at Fremantle had a white one which went Australia Zoo when Fremantle closed down. This one in Darwin is a golden/white colour. It will be interesting to see if the gold fades a bit now that he is being kept indoors on concrete.
     
  10. MARK

    MARK Well-Known Member

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    5 metres is a big animal BUT 7 metres WOW, did you take any pics of it?
     
  11. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Thank you snowleopard - high praise indeed!!

    I felt that the price is a bit steep which will, of course, limit it's appeal a bit. A bit of a two edged sword I guess. They have not stinted on setting the place up - it literally has cost them many millions of dollars to get this venture underway - so they have to charge accordingly. But it might be way ahead of it's time for Darwin. I could see it surviving on the Gold Coast or even in Melbourne.

    And don't expect any discounts for ARAZPA membership either!
     
  12. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I'm sure that we did - but I'm NOT sure where they would be!

    When I first heard about this croc I could pretty much visualise how long he would be. But what I didn't reckon on was how much higher and wider he was - he was an enormous animal.
     
  13. MARK

    MARK Well-Known Member

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    Its the case with these animals as you know how much they "bulk" up with age and total length which makes them sheer monters almost like something out of Jussic park :eek:, I once worked with an ex croc shooter (from the 60s) who told me about some of the giants he had seen back then up in the NT, the biggest one he TAGGED was 25 feet
     
  14. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    What a coincidence! Since posting here earlier today I have been catching up on some other sites and notice that on Petlink someone is advertising for sale a 2 metre long white croc. Offers over $20,000 will be considered!

    Well I've got 7 crocs, where's my brush and white paint?:D
     
  15. MARK

    MARK Well-Known Member

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    Steve try putting the paint brush on the end of a long stick first, LOL.

    Just saw on a web site that Snowy is over 350kgs
     
  16. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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  17. MikeG

    MikeG Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Nothing's been posted on this place for some time. I see that their website is heavily into pushing the sale of crocodile skins & teeth, etc. Nothing much about the general reptile collection.
    As I might have the opportunity to visit later this year, what's the opinion of anyone who has visited recently? Is it a 'must see' or a 'definitely avoid' ?
     
  18. boof

    boof Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I was there about a year ago. Definitely worth a visit.
     
  19. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    A "must see" - after which we would appreciate hearing about your impressions.
     
  20. MikeG

    MikeG Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Fair enough. My gripe with the website is that it concentrates on the sale of crocodile products and gimmicky (IMO) 'cage of death' stuff. There's nothing about the animal collection, and no indication whether - for example - there is any conservation breeding of rare reptiles [Is there?]. Is this a place for herpetologists as well as for Steve Irwin-wannabees who like the idea of swimming 'with' crocodiles?