The place behind the visit.

Crocosaurus Cove opened on 15 July 2008 on Mitchell Street, in the centre of Darwin. It was conceived by two Darwin businessmen, Doug Gamble and Mick Burns, as an A$32 million project on land that had been left empty.

The three-storey building stands on about 5,000 square metres and occupies almost an entire city block.

• Read the history→

Saltwater crocodiles from three months to about 80 years old live in eight purpose-built displays. The reptile house holds more than 70 species, most from the Top End and the Kimberley, which Crocosaurus Cove describes as the world’s largest display of Australian reptiles.

Crocosaurus Cove publishes an animal welfare statement setting out how it houses, feeds and handles its animals. This page reports that statement; it does not add claims of its own.

Burt, a saltwater crocodile who appeared in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee, was among the cove’s best-known residents until his death, which Crocosaurus Cove announced in December 2024.

This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.

• Read the history of the cove→
• Explore the timeline→