Iconic Beach-scapes in Broome, Western Australia
Broome is a beachside resort town in the north of our home state of Western Australia.
And as most will probably already know, it is home to Cable Beach, one of the most iconic beaches in Australia, maybe even the world.
Cable Beach (named in reference to the Java to Australia undersea telegraph cable which passes through it) is 22 kilometres of beautiful fine, white sand beach which faces west towards the setting sun.
And it is sunsets at Cable Beach which most visitors come to see.
The very best way to experience those iconic sunsets is of course on camel back.
For years operators have offered camel rides along this famous beach as a unique and fun way to experience one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.
The docile animals are lead by experienced handlers, giving you the opportunity to sit back and relax as your camel train snakes along the beautiful beach in golden light as the sun inches ever closer and ultimately below, the water horizon.
Sunset on Cable Beach on top a camel, Broome, WA
There is however a second, slightly less often occurring, but similar natural phenomenon to see in Broome. This time, instead of watching the sun set to the west from Cable Beach, you instead watch the moon rise from the east over Roebuck Bay. And if you time it right, you get to see the “Staircase to the Moon”.
As Broome is on a peninsula which runs north south, it has water to both the west and the east giving you the chance to experience our solar system’s most prominent elements interacting with a water horizon both morning and night.
The Staircase to the Moon occurs when a full (or close to) moon rises over the exposed tidal flats of Roebuck Bay. It creates an illusion of stairs leading up to the big, bright, golden moon.
This unique and spectacular event occurs 2 to 3 days a month between March and October (you can see the dates the Staircase to the Moon will occur during 2019 by visiting Discover Broome).
However the water is not the only thing to see and do when in Broome.
The town was originally established as a port to serve the nearby pearling industry. The town centre has countless pearl centric jewellery stores ready to take your hard earned. However not far from the town is the opportunity to visit and tour a number of pearl farms and a pearl purchased directly on site is most likely to hold that special memory.
Just a few kilometres from the town, at the end of the peninsular, is also Gantheaume Point.
Here dinosaur tracks were recently discovered some 30 metres offshore. The good news is the tracks become exposed at very low tide allowing you to walk up and inspect them for yourself without the need to get wet.
Where to Stay -
When in Broome our favourite places to stay are the ever popular Cable Beach Club Resort and the much lesser known, The Pearle of Cable Beach.
The former is located right on the famous beach, including a bar looking out to the setting sun. The later is a little further down the road with no direct view of the beach.
Cable Beach Resort has for a long time been considered one of the more exclusive, luxurious places to stay in WA (admittedly for a long time there were limited options), and certainly it was the pinnacle of accommodation in the sea side town. While it remains a great place to stay, particularly for families, it is showing some signs of its age including an increasingly dated design.
The Pearle is not super lux on a world stage either, but it is younger, and more modern and there are options for large family friendly, self-catering villas which are also equally private and comfortable for couples.
Getting there -
You can of course drive to Broome, and many do as part of a larger trip to see the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. But given it is at best a 24 hour journey (with no stops) from Perth (and much, much more from the other Australian capitals) most looking for a relaxing beach side stay will simply fly with either Qantas or Virgin.
Flights from Perth take around 2 and a half hours and both airlines fly the route multiple times a day. Qantas also has seasonal direct flights from Melbourne & Sydney.
