by Jishi Santos

Created on: November 18, 2008   Last Updated: January 08, 2009

One of the most popular tourist destinations in Western Australia is Broome. Located on the far north-west coast of the vast state of W.A., this tourist town originally made it's name as a pearl diving centre; divers came from Indonesia and Japan, to name a few countries to Australia's north. During World War 2, the Japanese actually sunk Dutch ships in Broome Harbour. Today to travel to Broome you can either drive up the coast from Perth or fly from any capital city in Australia. Broome has a beach called Cable beach, so named as a telecommunications cable was laid from here to Indonesia earlier last century. Today this same beach shows the tourist aqua blue water from the Indian Ocean with a background of red ochre cliffs at the end of the beach. Another feature of this beach is the evening camel rides at sunset. The sunsets here are very good if you wait about 15 mins after the sun has set, then you will see an orange glow which is quite spectacular. The tourist industry times a pearl lugger to sail past at this time for your camera.

This is the ocean side of Broome and the Cable Beach caravan park is built on perhaps the last remnants of a forest, as it is full of lush vegetation and if you are on a budget the ideal place to stay. Not only does it have the best swimming pool in W.A., (judged better than all the resorts it has a great waterfall! ),but it is far cheaper than Cable Beach Resort and it is opposite. You can pay up to $1500 a night there, as opposed to $30 at the park. Travelling into the town from here, again you see that aqua blue of the water, only this time it is Roebuck Bay, for those who like a calmer water. Be aware there are sandflies here and also at Cable Beach in the wet season, "stingers"(box jellyfish and iracanji) which can be fatal. Always check with the lifesavers before entering the water here. Death can be very quick from one of these if you've not heard of them. Not trying to put you off, just be aware.

There is an old pearling lugger you can look at in the town itself and a pearling museum so you can trace the history of the industry here which still produces some of the world's best pearls. The bus fares are cheap here and you can see all the town for $1 if you stay on for the round trip. At Gantheume Point, at the end of Cable Beach, you can see moulds of dinosaur footprints and if you are there at the right low tide see the actual prints in the rock. There is a racetrack for horses out on this Point, so if you are a punter enquire about the meetings. For backpackers there are numerous places to stay but not always near the beach.

From Broome the road leads north to the Kimberleys which is inland, so the greatest aspect of Broome is the beach. Go and see it, it's definitely worth it.

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