Alex's Fishing Column 7 May 2026
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Without doubt, Seven Spirit Bay is the most-remote and luxurious fishing lodge in northern Australia.
Located on the Cobourg Peninsula inside Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, overlooking Coral Bay near Port Essington, it sits in one of Australia’s most isolated and biologically-rich coastal wilderness areas.
There is no road access so the only way you can get there is by air or sea.
The Lodge was built in 1990, primarily as a high-end, eco-adventure retreat where guests could experience the remote Top End in comfort, blending nature tourism, fishing and wildlife encounters.
It has two fishing seasons: the Runoff from late February to early May, and the Build-up from late September to November.
During the Dry Season, it operates as the last leg of an epic 4WD bus tour that begins at Gove and traverses right across northern Arnhem Land.
I’ve been fortunate to visit Seven Spirit Bay several times over the years, enjoying both good barra and estuary fishing, and often sensational blue water reef and sport fishing.
In the late ‘80s, before Seven Spirit was built, I operated a remote safari fishing camp from Smith Point at the entrance to Port Essington, so I know its fish-rich waters well.
The Lodge has had various owners over the years but none has been able to make a viable go of it.
In fact, one owner was so behind that he couldn’t pay staff wages, and a very-irate chef tossed much of the furniture into the big swimming pool.
Things changed when Outback Spirit Tours purchased the Lodge in 2015 – refurbishing its 24 air-conditioned villas and the main resort – and incorporated it into its Arnhem Land bus tours.
Seven Spirit Bay has been whacked by two Category 5 cyclones:
Cyclone Ingrid in 2005 and Cyclone Fina only last November.
As I witnessed during my most-recent visit only last week, the clean-up work after Fina has been monumental, and is still taking place.
Like many Top End remote lodges, cyclones are an accepted operational reality.
Seven Spirit Bay has long marketed itself as more than accommodation, with activities including: marine adventure cruises, 4WD wilderness safaris, Victoria Settlement historical tours, birdwatching expeditions, bushwalking and beachcombing and wildlife spotting.
However, fishing has always been central to the Lodge’s identity.
During my visits, I’ve experienced cricket-score barramundi catches, often mixed in with quality mangrove jack.
Offshore can be somewhat of a pelagic aquarium, with metre-and-a-half Spanish mackerel and iron-board-sized trevally patrolling the headlands, reefs and shoals.
However, my favourite style of fishing on those glistening turquoise waters is jigging for trophy-sized golden snapper.
From my experience, the Cobourg coast is home to some of the biggest goldies you’ll find anywhere along the Top End Coast.
I’ll never forget one session mates and I experienced when snapper bigger than 70cm kept smashing our scented soft-plastic jigs in less than 10m water depth.
The biggest went a colossal 84cm, and mixed in were rampaging black jew all longer than a metre.
You can get a good idea of the fishing on offer by going to the Seven Spirit Bay website.
As of 2026, Seven Spirit Bay continues operating as a premium remote wilderness lodge, combining luxury accommodation with fishing, touring and nature-based experiences.
It has survived remoteness, cyclones and ownership change to become a genuine NT tourism icon.
Few places combine such rich history, world-class fishing, abundant wildlife and genuine isolation with modern comfort.
It remains one of Australia’s great wilderness lodges.
