Kooyang Yana Full Day Tour - Budj Bim
Overview
Available languages
8 hours
Mobile ticket
Discover a vibrant Indigenous culture and the region’s heritage, as you are introduced to the World Heritage listed sites through Gunditjmara eyes.See how the Budj Bim lava flows enabled the Gunditjmara to develop one of the largest and oldest aquaculture networks in the world. Composed of channels, dams and weirs, they are used to contain floodwaters and create basins to trap, store and harvest the kooyang eel. Tours along raised boardwalks designed to preserve the precious natural environment will showcase historical stone kooyang traps and stone channels, stone house sites and eel smoking trees and other natural phenomena.
Additional Info
Service animals allowed
Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
There is travel time of around 20 mins between each location visited on this tour. The total time on tour is 8 hours.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
What‘s Included
Snacks
Lunch
Air-conditioned vehicle
Gratuities
What To Expect
Meet at the Tae Rak Aquaculture centre to meet your guide and start your tour.
Your Gunditjmara cultural guide will show you a historic stone house used by Gunditjmara men, a stone wall art installation, as well as an area of lava flow featuring two weirs and a dam associated with trapping and holding kooyang. Travel around 20 mins to the next location.
Options
Kooyang Yana Full Day Tour - Budj Bim
Reviews
92 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Don’t miss Budj Bim on your Victorian itinerary!
Sue S,
Oct 25, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had an absolutely amazing day with our Gunditjmara cultural guide, Ruben, as he shared his language, history, and knowledge of the amazing cultural landscape that is World Heritage-listed Budj Bim. Budj Bim is the site of the oldest practice of commercialised aquaculture worldwide. The Gunditjmara witnessed the volcanic action of Budj Bim (who is one of their creator spirits) over 30,000 years ago. Add to this an incredible lunch platter - don’t miss the eel pate or roo. This trip is a real highlight and shouldn’t be missed whether you are an Australian or International visitor. Thank you 🙏🏼
Wonderful cultural and historical experience
Lyndamadd,
Oct 24, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Eye opening cultural tour, well worth spending a day visiting 3 beautiful, different and interesting areas. The knowledge sharing was brilliant!
Full day all the way
H8156QKandyf,
Oct 23, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00It was definitely worth taking the full day tour! We had a great group of curious and engaged partipants and our guide Ruben was excellent. Loved the meal on the beautiful deck overlooking the lake, and the opportunity to visit some of the Victoria / Australia's most significant cultural heritage with a knowledgable guide on his own Country was incredible. Highly recommend!
Brilliant tour in a beautiful setting
V5443FHcp,
Oct 2, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00The tour exceeded our expectations. Our guide Tyson was incredibly knowledgeable and shared many stories and insights on First Nations practices and history. The cafe served a delicious lunch and the service was very friendly. Would highly recommend a visit to learn about such a special place and its history,
A must see snd do tour
anitagC2508KH,
Sep 28, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00A wonderful experience learning of this landscape and this special place. Really not to be missed in every regard. The country, the information, knowledge and the skilled story telling of our guide, to the amazing food. Thank you to the whole team for a most memorable day. 🙏
Budj Bim - Iconic Australian Landmark
584noelles,
Sep 22, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00The tour gives an amazing account of the remarkable Budj Bim cultural landscape, beautifully shared through the knowledge and storytelling of the Gunditjmara people. The lunch offered was outstanding, and viewing the lava flows and eel traps must be experienced to fully understand and respect this extraordinary culture.
GO GO GO
Road569089,
Sep 5, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Wow the entire experience blew us away .We had a wonderful guide-Jaedyn -who was so honest and informative about the history and present day for the local indigenous nation and excellent at describing the aquacultue system-the lifecycle of eels and the joy of watching Tae Rak[Lake Condah] filling up again following years of it being drained.The extraordinary environment-/landscape was so wonderfully described and expained geologically and historically .The lunch was utterly Gourmet -in the wonderful new buildings .We had last visited in 2017 and the changes were so tasteful and well done .Congratulations to everyone who is part of this organistion-from the booking-the tour itself-the lovely bus driver -chef and staff at the cafe ,I cant praise it highly enough .Do yourself a favour and do the day tour --Janey
Very enjoyable and entertaining. Plan for two days at least
cans4kd,
Jul 23, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00We very much enjoyed our tour and learned many new things. A few things I’d like to see improved. The bathrooms along the tour were locked, the tour guide really needs to carry the key. We were also told to leave the precinct as soon as the tour finished which was a shame as we hadn’t even had time to look at the lake. Suggest getting to the tour early to look around. The food was top class, however we were presented with a platter to share with another guest who we didn’t know, it’s not really a great thing to share food with a stranger. The photos on web site show many things we did not see so felt somewhat disappointed by this, though as I said we really enjoyed what we did see. I would suggest other visitors to plan a second day to return to all the sights to have a longer more thorough look around after the tour.
Great guide, fabulous food and excellent experience. Highly recommend.
612kyliet,
Jul 16, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Our guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about the traditions and customs of his people. The lunch included in our package was a variety of indigenous inspired cuisine. It was very delicious.
Truth Telling at its best- powerful and educative
felicityc540,
Jul 4, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Provided understanding and insight into how innovative and resilient the Gundjitmara were to engineer the eeltraps long before the pyramids were built. Also great to get a sense of the housing and community of 6600 years ago.
From A$199.00
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Operated by Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism