Five places to watch a Top End sunset

Every Darwin sunset is a public event. The city faces west over the Timor Sea, the air is full of dry-season dust or wet-season storm cloud, and the colour goes on for twenty minutes after the sun has gone. These are the five spots our reservations team sends guests to, in order of how close they sit to the city, chosen because guests come back and tell us about them.

Short on time? Mindil Beach if it is a market night, Nightcliff Jetty if it is not, and the Darwin Ski Club if you want a drink in your hand.

1. Mindil Beach, The Gardens

Five minutes from the CBD and the one everybody knows. Mindil Beach is a long, west-facing beach behind the casino, and on Thursday and Sunday evenings from the last Thursday in April to the last Thursday in October the Mindil Beach Sunset Market (4 pm to 9 pm) puts a few thousand people on the sand with plates of market food. Outside market nights it is quiet and the colour is just as good. Parking off Gilruth Avenue fills by 5:30 pm on market nights, so walk from the city or Cullen Bay (about 20 minutes) if you can. Free. Bring a mat, repellent and cash for the stalls.

2. Cullen Bay

Also five minutes out, and the one we suggest to guests who want dinner in the same spot. Walk the sea wall at Cullen Bay past the Mandorah ferry terminal to the sand on the ocean side, or take a table at the marina: Yots Greek Taverna for char-grilled octopus, Fin & Tonic for barramundi and chips, Cathy's Place for chilli mud crab by the kilo. Parking is easy along Marina Boulevard. Our Cullen Bay apartments are a five-minute walk, which is why this is the sunset most of our guests see first.

3. Darwin Ski Club, Fannie Bay

Ten minutes out on Conacher Street. The Darwin Ski Club is a members' club that welcomes visitors (sign in at the door), with a lawn that runs down to Vesteys Beach, inexpensive drinks and live music on some nights. It is the most local sunset in Darwin and the one our team goes to. Arrive by 5:30 pm for a table on the grass. The Darwin Sailing Club and the Trailer Boat Club are along the same stretch if the lawn is full.

4. East Point, Dudley Point lookout

Fifteen minutes out. Drive through East Point Reserve at dusk and you will pass agile wallabies grazing on the grass. Park at the Dudley Point end for a 180-degree view back across Fannie Bay to the city, which lights up after the sun goes. There is a swimming option here too: Lake Alexander is a saltwater lake set back from the beach, safe from crocodiles and stingers, with barbecues and shade. Book Pee Wee's at the Point for dinner afterwards; it sits right on the water and is the occasion restaurant of the Darwin northern suburbs.

5. Nightcliff Jetty

Fifteen minutes out and the one locals rate highest. Nightcliff Jetty on Casuarina Drive points straight at the setting sun with the foreshore cliffs behind it. Bring a takeaway, sit on the boards, and watch the reef flats if the tide is out or the water under your feet if it is in. In the wet season this is where to watch storms build over the sea: the lightning shows from November to January are the best in the country. Free parking beside the jetty; the Beachfront Hotel is a short walk for a drink afterwards.

How to plan it

Sunset is around 6:30 pm in June and July and about 7 pm by October, and it barely moves because Darwin sits close to the equator (and there is no daylight saving). The best colour arrives 15–20 minutes after the sun has gone, so stay. Good pairings: Mindil on a market night, then walk to Cullen Bay for a drink; the Ski Club, then Pee Wee's; Nightcliff Jetty, then the Beachfront Hotel. In the wet season, check the radar: a storm sunset beats a clear one.