Evening Rainforest & Glow Worm Experience - Southern Cross Tours
Duration:
Operated By:
Join us for an unforgettable night in the rainforest after dark! On this tour we guide you through the ancient rainforest at night. This is a truly unique and memorable experience.
Your Evening rainforest and glow worm experience:
Experience an exciting night time tour with stargazing, delicious dessert at a local restaurant and a fully guided rainforest walk to the waterfall. This is a great tour for you to discover the bio-network of a rainforest and to experience nocturnal wildlife spotting.
Following your pickup, we will journey to the peaceful and picturesque Gold Coast hinterland. A local mountain top restaurant awaits us to serve tea, coffee or hot chocolate accompanied by a selection of delicious cakes.
With the knowledge of your guide, discover the lush forests of the Mount Tamborine National Park and spot native nocturnal wildlife. Everyone has a flashlight to light the walkway. At the end of the trail emerges Curtis Falls, a subtropical waterfall and habitat to the stars of the show, the ever fascinating, glow worms.
Throughout the night learn about the ancient rainforest from your expert guide. You’ll love the small group tour that we offer and where we visit is away from the crowds providing a more personalised experience for you.
Tour Highlights and Inclusions:
Mount Tamborine.
Dessert at a local restaurant.
Guided rainforest walk to waterfall at night time.
View glow worms and nocturnal wildlife as we guide you to the waterfall.
Stargazing, see the Southern Cross in the night sky.
Each guest is provided a low watt flashlight (we don’t want to upset the glow-worms) to find your way.
Small group tours offer a personalised experience.
National Park fees included.
Infant age is 0-1 years. No food or beverage is included.
Any person under 16 years must be accompanied by an adult 18+.
Pick-up from selected locations in Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise, Main Beach, Southport and Helensvale Train Station. Please contact us on +61 7 5655 0716 at least 24hrs prior to your tour to confirm your booking and pick-up details.
Tour duration is approximate and is based on tour time starting from and returning to Aquaduck booking office, Surfers Paradise.
Southern Cross Tours may alter or cancel any section of any of the itinerary which may result from road closures, weather, suppliers or any other condition of an operational nature. Alternate vehicles may be used in the event that a Southern Cross vehicle is unavailable.
What to bring:
Comfortable walking shoes, a jacket, hat, water bottle.
Our rainforest walks require a low to moderate degree of fitness and follow clearly marked paths and boardwalks. Enclosed shoes are recommended.
*Minimum 2 pax to run
Additional note:
All our vehicles carry umbrellas, insect repellent and first aid kits. Your guides have all relevant permits, training and authorisation to ensure a safe, comfortable journey. This is an all age tour. Should you require a booster seat for younger family members, we can provide them at no extra charge – just let us know in advance. Please note there is no luggage/pram/stroller storage on the bus.
Share:
The stops are brief 10-20 minute viewings but beautiful. Includes a snack. If you want to actually hike around, might want to rent a car.
Tanya was the sweetest and greatest tour guide I have ever seen. She has an abundance of knowledge about Australian history and every phenomenon that's happening in the forest. I still wonder how she was able to point the animals in such dark. She made the tour more memorable.
It rained halfway through our tour. Although they provided an umbrella I didn't take one. Strom in the middle of the forest with glow warms and water fall around you. It's a once in a lifetime experience. If you love nature, you should definitely try this tour.
We stopped in Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Park both at the beginning and end of our day, and were able to see dozens of kangaroos from afar and up close. Our multiple stops in Tambourine National Park allowed for an appreciation of the views all the way down to the coast, and a short hike down to Curtis Falls was full of interesting biology.
The Gallery Walk was a reasonable experience, with multiple different craft and coffee shops.
Overall, a great way to spend the day learning and seeing. Many thanks to Amber for making the experience a fantastic one.
We start the day with a 45 min drive to the Manor for a drink and dessert, followed by a 1.5 hour walk in the rainforest with the glow worms and other lovely animals. The pace of the tour was good, and the weather was pleasant. It would be suitable for all ages though the uneven terrain might be challenging for elderly or young children.
The walk is quiet and peaceful. We loved it. We got lucky and managed to see some eels as well! Many animals blend in so well at night, so Tania was amazing at pointing them out to us. We did see quite a few spiders and snails, so if you're someone who's deathly afraid of spiders this might be hard for you.
Honestly didn't think that it would look as good as it did in the promotion photos but it did! The glow worms were out at full force. We rounded off the day with some stargazing, and of course it was beautiful as well. The tour was about 3.5 hours long in total, with a good spread of activities.
Ultimately I think good weather is the key for this, because it's so dry and cloudy, it was amazing and make the whole experience better. But regardless I would say the tour is well planned and one of the best ones I've been on.
Jamie shared so many interesting facts and stories that really brought the place to life. You could tell he is passionate about what he does. The tour was well-organized, fun, and never rushed. He also went out of his way to make sure everyone was comfortable and enjoying themselves.
If you're looking for a guide who is not only informative but also genuinely caring and enthusiastic, look no further. I would absolutely recommend Southern Cross tours (JAMIE ) to anyone visiting Gold Coast.
Thank you for an unforgettable experience! 🫶🏻💕
Both of them are very responsible and informative. They were eager to introduce the rainforest to us. See their passions on the birds and plants. We enjoyed the tours very much.
As a travel agent who regularly books Southern Cross Tours for my clients, I finally had the chance to experience the Tamborine Mountain tour myself — and I couldn’t be more impressed!
Our guide, Bill, was absolutely incredible. He’s not only knowledgeable but truly passionate about the region. From local history to rainforest ecology, he brought every stop to life with stories and insights that made the experience unforgettable.
The tour was well-paced with delicious tastings, scenic views, and charming local spots. As someone who recommends these tours professionally, it feels amazing to know that our clients are in such good hands.
I only wish I had more time — I’d do every tour they offer!
Highly recommend Southern Cross Tours, and if you get Bill as your guide, you’re in for a treat!
The bus was um, well we saw cockroaches inside. I suspect it was because we were allowed to eat on the bus. It's possible they came from outside, but it made me feel gross. Maybe we can spend 10-15 minutes eating outside the bus? It would mean finishing the tour 10-15 minutes later, but at least we wouldn't have to sit next to cockroaches.
I guess our guide was in a hurry to make sure we were on time and beat the rush, but I felt he drove unnecessarily fast, it's terrible for folks with motion sickness. The drive felt like I was on some sort of theme park ride, but it got us where we needed to go.
I think it should be universal practice for tour guides to give a time for when we need to get back. At our first stop, he said we could stretch our legs, but not walk too far, maybe a bit, but not too much. We didn't know what that meant. It would have been way less confusing to say "We'll meet back here in 10 minutes."
We saw the things we wanted to see and did everything we wanted to do, so it was all right. The walk is very easy, great if you just want a first impression of the sights.
If this tour were a third less expensive, I would have felt more positively about it. Our snack was a muffin and drink, the sights can be reached privately, and even factoring in profits for the company, I just don't see how it reached $100 per person.
Car was comfortable and the size of the group was small enough that it felt coordinated throughout.
The your was great and the tour guide was super friendly ,her name is Amanda.Highly recommend to go on tour with her and she shared with us useful informations and she kept offering to take pictures for us.
Definitely will use the tours again and highly recommend to others to not hesitate to explore the amazing nature of Australia 🦘🏞️
Coast which was fun to know. Our tour guide Chriss was really encouraging and enthusiastic about the tour and it motivated us. We encountered various small animals and saw the glow worms during the tour. Over all it was a great experience and I highly recommend it to everyone.
Cheers




































































