Mango season is short, hot and busy, and it counts for your 88 days. Here is where and when it happens, what the work is like, and how to avoid the famous “mango burn”.
Where and when
Mango pickingTypical months: the season moves with the weather.
🥭 Darwin and Katherine (NT)
The first mangoes of the year in Australia. Hot and humid, and the whole NT is Northern Australia, so hospitality jobs count too.
🥭 Kununurra (WA)
Mango picking at the end of the dry season, alongside melons and other crops.
🥭 Bowen and the Burdekin (QLD)
Queensland’s main mango area: picking around Christmas, after the vegetable season.
🥭 Mareeba and the Tablelands (QLD)
Big orchards west of Cairns, with the season running into the new year.
What the work is like
🧺 Picking
Mostly on a picking aid (a harvesting machine with platforms) or from the ground, snapping or cutting the fruit and placing it on the conveyor.
💧 De-sapping
The fruit is washed or treated to remove the sap before packing. Expect to get sticky.
📦 Packing shed
Sorting, grading and packing trays. Often longer shifts, out of the sun, and good for people who don’t want to pick.
☀️ Conditions
Early starts, 35 °C and humid, long days during the peak, then it stops suddenly. Pay is usually hourly.
Mango burn: how to avoid it
Mango sap contains chemicals related to those in poison ivy. On some people it causes mango dermatitis: red, itchy, swollen skin and sometimes blisters, often on the arms, face and around the eyes. It can appear a day or two after contact.
- Cover up: long sleeves, long pants, gloves and safety glasses, even when it’s hot. The farm should provide protective gear.
- Don’t touch your face while you work, and wash your hands before eating.
- Wash quickly with soap and water if sap gets on your skin, and change out of sticky clothes.
- If you react: tell your supervisor, see a pharmacist or doctor (antihistamines or creams often help), and ask to move to a task with less sap contact.
Tips to get a mango job
- Apply 4–6 weeks before the season: farms in Darwin hire in August, in Bowen and Mareeba in October.
- Follow the season: start in the NT in September, then move to Queensland for December.
- Book accommodation early: Bowen, Mareeba and Katherine fill up fast during the harvest.
- Join the local groups: Bowen, Cairns / Mareeba, Darwin, Katherine.
Find mango farms
The WikiFarms Australia app lets you filter the map by crop: show only mango farms in the region you’re heading to and call them before the season starts.
Season months are typical and change every year with the weather. Health information is general: see a pharmacist or doctor if you have a reaction.
