Cage of Death Darwin Accident

No — no one has died in the Cage of Death, and no injuries have been reported. The two incidents on record, in 2011 and 2015, ended with everyone getting out unhurt.

The best-known Crocosaurus Cove Cage of Death accident happened in June 2015, when a cage carrying a visitor from the Netherlands got stuck above the water for about 30 minutes. Staff cut the cage open with power tools and she climbed out by ladder, unhurt. An earlier incident in 2011 involved a broken cable.

No — nobody was hurt in either Cage of Death accident in Australia. In 2011 two people reached the bottom of the pool when the cable broke, and in 2015 a diver waited about half an hour in a stuck cage; all of them got out without injury.

The cage itself didn't break — in 2011 the cable lowering it snapped, and the cage sank to the bottom of the pool beside a crocodile with two people inside. Both were unhurt, and the park upgraded its cages afterwards.

The Cage of Death is designed so you're never in open water with the crocodile: you're inside a clear acrylic cage moved from an overhead rail, you can pull a safety brake, and every dive starts with a 30-minute briefing. Two incidents in about fifteen years caused no injuries.

No breach of the cage by a crocodile has ever been reported. The cage is made of clear acrylic, and in both recorded incidents the problem was the lifting system, not the cage walls.

Staff deal with it from the rail overhead. In the one recorded case, in 2015, a diver waited about 30 minutes above the water before staff cut the cage open and she climbed out by ladder. If confined spaces worry you, consider watching a dive first.

Yes — every diver signs an indemnity form at the safety briefing before the dive. Divers aged 15–17 also need the form signed by a parent, with parental consent.