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Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre tourism frenzy as waters surge onto the salt pan

Tourism operators are enjoying an unprecedented level of interest as waters surge into the northern end of South Australia’s Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.

"Bookings are unbelievable. They're out of this world – crazy and only going to get crazier," Tom Noonan, the proprietor of Lake Eyre Tours, told Weatherzone.

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is filling this year because of heavy rain that fell in outback Queensland in early autumn.

Floodwaters from that extreme rainfall event have been flowing in a generally southwesterly direction towards the lake down normally dry waterways like the Warburton, the Diamantina, and Cooper Creek.

Water which flooded western QLD in March starting to arrive at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, via the Warburton River. pic.twitter.com/aHvrPm2Rjj

— Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) May 1, 2025

The last time the lake filled substantially was in 2011, due to a western Queensland deluge that occurred in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Yasi. This time round, the trigger was not a cyclone, but a slow-moving upper level trough fed by abundant tropical moisture.

Noonan believes the 2025 water level will exceed 2011, and could come close to 1974, when the lake famously filled to a depth of six metres at its deepest point.

Lake Eyre facts

• Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is an endorheic lake (which means it has no outlet to the ocean) and is Australia’s largest inland lake.
• The lake has no regular tributaries and receives minimal rainfall, hence it is usually dry.
• It contains Australia’s lowest point at 15 metres below sea level.
• The dry lake’s surface is salt, making its water highly saline during flood events.
• Birds flock in to take advantage of the fish in shallow waters, with species including pelicans, cormorants, ibises, egrets, spoonbills, ducks, and native hens.
• The lake's surface area is 9,500 square kilometres, which means you could fit the playing surface of the MCG on it around half a million times!

For the tourist operators, fish and birds who all thrive when the lake is full, the timing of Queensland's autumn rains could not have been more perfect.

The floodwaters generally take more than a month to reach the lake, by which time days are shorter and temperatures are lower, ensuring much less evaporation than the summer months.

Image: Water entering Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. Source: Keiko Dalby (@keikointas on Instagram).

Tom Noonan’s company Lake Eyre Tours begins operations in July, and says the majority of its clients for this winter’s tours are Australian retirees. 

"A lot of people have told us that they wanted to see the lake back in 2011," Noonan said. "They might have been 55 then, and now they're nearly 70 and they’re thinking 'If I don’t see it now, I never will.'"

While there’s an understandable urgency to see a genuine Australian natural wonder before the water recedes, Noonan believes this year's floodwaters won’t be going anywhere soon.

Indeed he says the amount of water coming into the lake is so significant, it could make it all the way through next summer and well into 2026.

READ MORE: Normally dry creek now 60km wide