The Best Things to do in Broome: Pearl of the Kimberley

Once upon a time, the pearling industry put this remote coastal town on the map. Today, Broome's multiculturalism connects with its Asian neighbours, which is evident through its rich history and contemporary cuisine.

Ruled by its tropical climate and tides, many of Broome's attractions adhere to the gravitational pull, drawing visitors far and wide, not to mention the short flight from Perth, which keeps it a local favourite. The landscape always thrills no matter what time of the year you visit.

Here is our round-up of the best things to do in Broome and the lowdown on where to dine, stay, and play in this iconic coastal town in the Kimberley.

Shinju Matsuri – Festival of the Pearl

In 2023, Shinju Matsuri festival reached new heights, offering a two-week extravaganza celebrating the region's pearls. The grand opening ball, hosted by Dahlia Designs at the festival hub by Spinifex Brewing Co., set a magnificent tone for the festivities.

The Sunset Long Table Dinner, curated by chef Khanh Ong, graced Cable Beach with a specially curated dining experience under the evening sky. 

We're excited to see what this year's festival brings, but make sure to add the Chinatown Fest, Jetty Gala and Floating Lantern events to your dance card. 

17th August to 1st September 

Visit a Pearl Farm

As far back as the early 1900s, legends about Broome's lustrous pearls spread to the Far East, attracting pearl farmers from as far away as Japan. With annual temperatures and sheltered bays attributing to the quality of these precious sea gems, visitors are welcome to delve into the industry with a visit to a pearl farm, or jewellery showroom in Chinatown.

A visit to a working pearl farm is one of the best things to do in Broome. You'll gain an insight into the workings of pearling industry and discover the five virtues of a pearl: size, shape, colour, surface and lustre. 

Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm is located on the Dampier Peninsula, approximately 200km from Broome, and a visit here is an essential WA experience. It's owned and operated by the Brown family, who are considered the pioneers of pearling thanks to their 70+ years of experience. Take a pearl farm tour, sea safari, or cultural tour, sample pearl meat at the on-site restaurant, even stay overnight. 

Willie Creek Pearl Farm is a lot closer to Broome, offering tours that include harvesting your own pearl and scenic helicopter rides. Their showroom has a wide range of pearls and jewellery for sale.

Cygnet Bay Giant Tides Sea Safaris

The Kimberley Coast is home to the world's largest tropical tides, and Cygnet Bay's Giant Tides Sea Safaris take passengers on a thrilling boat ride to experience the standing waves and whirlpools, or to see a waterfall emerge from the sea. One of the many wonders of Broome that has to be seen to be believed. 

Salty Plum Social Small Bar Walking Tour

Led by husband and wife duo Chris and Robyn Maher, the Salty Plum Social Small Bar Walking Tour offers a unique perspective on Broome. With decades of local experience, they share quirky anecdotes while exploring historic Chinatown and the Town Beach precinct.

Delve into Broome's pearling industry on their Pearling Master's Trek or invest in world-class pearls on their Pearl Showroom Walking Tour with expert guidance from your hosts.

Go Mud-Crabbing

Looking for a flavour-filled morning adventure during your time in Broome? Look no further than this mud-crabbing expedition. It's all in hot pursuit of the prized Kimberley Mud Crab. Over five hours, you'll learn how Broomies navigate the creek systems and tidal movements to catch these tasty morsels. You'll also get to enjoy a scenic morning cruise through Roebuck Bay on their 42ft catamaran. 

Visit Broome's Markets

The Broome Courthouse Markets, operating from April to October, boast over 100 stalls selling local art, fashion, and food. Nestled among boab trees for over 25 years, they've become a key attraction during Broome's dry season. Similarly, the Staircase to the Moon Night Markets, held during full moon nights and Thursdays from June to September at Town Beach, feature local crafts and food, and have gained steady popularity as a must-visit destination.

Mabu Buru Tours

Embark on a journey with Mabu Buru Tours to uncover hidden gems in Broome and its surrounds, tasting seasonal fruits, encountering local wildlife, and hearing ancient creation stories and traditional songs. Since 2019, Mabu Buru Tours has provided unique wildlife experiences and meaningful cultural insights, offering an Indigenous perspective on the West Kimberley region.

Explore Yawuru culture on a Cable Beach tour, visit ancient dinosaur footprints, or participate in Wakaj, a cultural gathering embracing Karajarri traditions through damper making, billy boiling, and traditional dance performances against the backdrop of a sunset-lit bushland.

Take a Sunset Cruise

Experience the breathtaking beauty of Broome with a sunset cruise aboard a pearl lugger from Willie Pearl Cruises, capturing the romance of a bygone era as the coast gleams in golden hues.

Partnering with Cygnet Bay Pearls, Sea West offers an immersive pearl harvest experience followed by a delectable sea-to-plate feast.

Broome Cruises presents a Sunset, Seafood, and Pearling Cruise featuring a seven-course menu curated by Executive Chef Tony Howell, showcasing the region's finest seafood and produce.

For a romantic escapade, these experiences rank high among our top picks for things to do in Broome.

Broome Astro Tours

Known as Australia's Space Gandalf, Glenn Quickie delivers intensely practical astronomy guidance in the heart of the Kimberley. His popular Astro Tours are a joyful experience, offering a two 1/2-hour educational and entertaining mind-bender involving giant telescopes, lasers, and fun under some of the best stargazing skies on the planet. It's one of the most incredible things to do in Broome.  

Greg runs star shows for the public from April/May to October/November at the Astro Tours dark site, which is an easy 20-minute drive out of Broome. 

Explore Broome's Spectacular Beaches

Broome's famed beaches beckon, none more so than Cable Beach at sunset, a serene stretch patrolled by surf lifesavers. It's ideal for a dip - unless a crocodile sighting prompts closure, that is. Don't miss the quintessential camel ride along its sands as the sun dips low.

Town Beach offers equally inviting turquoise waters against pink sands, while Roebuck Bay unveils a natural spectacle with turtles, dolphins, and dinosaur footprints, best explored via boat tour with Dinosaur Adventures.

Entrance Point boasts striking rock formations, a haven for photography and weddings, while Reddell Beach and James Price Point are pristine gems to adorn your Broome itinerary with. 

Horizontal Falls

Nestled amidst the Buccaneer Archipelago in Talbot Bay, the Horizontal Falls are a breathtaking sight, best experienced from above on a scenic flight. Yet, nothing compares to the exhilaration of cruising between the McLarty Ranges, feeling the rush of the wild spray against your face as you speed through the twin peaks.

This natural marvel occurs as seawater accelerates faster on one side of the channel, creating a horizontal waterfall effect. With each tide change, the direction shifts, causing a mesmerizing whirlpool effect, showcasing Broome's intimate connection with its tides and the substantial fluctuations between low and high tides.

Various tour operators, such as Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures and Kimberley Boat Cruises, offer diverse ways to immerse yourself in this wonder, affectionately known as the "Hairy Horries."

Gantheaume Point

Turquoise and red pindan hues are ever present in the Kimberley, often inspiring works of art depicting the landscape. Gantheaume Point is a prime example of this colour palette and is also the site of Broome's first spa named Anastasia's Pool, where the high tides create a whirlpool effect in the carved-out rock.

If you visit during low tide, check out the ancient dinosaur footprint, one of the many scattered along Broome's extensive coastline. 

Chinatown

Remnants of Broome's colourful past are still evident in Chinatown, particularly with its original tin buildings, a material favoured for its availability, cyclone rating and ease of transportation in the late 1880s. One prime example is the iconic Sun Pictures building on Carnarvon Street, constructed at the turn of the century. Originally owned by the Yamasaki family, it was a Japanese emporium and then a playhouse before it was sold and converted into an outdoor theatre.

In keeping with its heritage, the red carpet on opening nights is often replaced with the red soil of Kimberley. Today, Chinatown's streets are lined with pearl and jewellery showrooms, boutiques, galleries and cafes. While in town, stroll along the revamped Streeter's Jetty, once lined with wooden pearling luggers that bobbed among the mangroves. 

Staircase to the Moon

Witnessing the Staircase to the Moon is an unforgettable natural marvel worth making the journey to Broome alone. The full moon rises over the exposed tidal flats of Roebuck Bay two to three days a month between March and October and is best witnessed from Town Beach or the Mangrove Hotel Resort, where you can enjoy the spectacle over dinner and a bevy or two. For 2024 Staircase to the Moon dates, check the website.

Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park

Enter another world through the jaws of a giant saltwater crocodile. Welcome to Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park. You're here for one reason: the famous daily feeding tour. It showcases some of the most giant crocodiles on display in Australia - and it's a jaw-dropping sight!

A wee bit chicken? The park is also home to breathtakingly colourful birdlife, a cassowary, kangaroos, euros, wallabies, emus, jabirus, snakes, and lizards.

The shop museum is another highlight, presenting an extraordinary display of Malcolm Douglas's forty years spent producing his famous adventure films. 

Broome Road, Roebuck

Moontide Distillery

As Broome's only distillery, Moontide Distillery proudly incorporates native and local botanicals into its gins and spirits. Kakadu plum (gubinge) and native lemon myrtle are just some of the unique flavours of the Kimberley used, combined with the purity of the monsoonal rain to create a refreshing backdrop to the tropical climate. While here, enjoy a tour of the distillery, and a gin tasting, browse their store, and devour a cheeseboard with a gin paddle.

17 Gwendoline Crossing, Billinngurr

The Aarli

For one of the most innovative menus in town, The Aarli embodies Broome's Asian heritage with dishes like the pork belly with pineapple caramel, prawn wontons, jungle curry, sweet and sour lamb ribs, and pork banh mi.

The menu is designed to be shared, meaning you and your dining companions can indulge in as many dishes as humanly possible. Situated in Chinatown, it's also an excellent spot to chat with the locals over cocktails. Eating your way through the local produce is undoubtedly one of the best things to do in Broome. 

6 Hamersley Street, Broome

Matso's

As Matso's is the only brewery in town and the most remote one in Australia, this mash brewery is a must on any trip to Broome. Famed for its alcoholic ginger beer and award-winning craft beer, including mango beer, few things are as iconic as sitting on the deck with a brew in hand overlooking Roebuck Bay.

And what could be more Australian than enjoying such moments with a steak sandwich, sharing plates, or grilled barramundi, right? Well, perhaps a stay across the road at the Moonlight Bay Suites (from $265 per night) in a self-contained apartment might top it.

60 Hamersley Street, Broome

The Mangrove Hotel 

If you've timed your trip to coincide with the Staircase to the Moon, the Mangrove Hotel is one of the best spots to witness this spectacular phenomenon. As you can imagine, the hotel gets pretty busy on those nights, so luckily, there are two fantastic restaurants to choose from – The Bay Club and Johnny Sausage.

Leaning into Broome's Bali-esque vibes thanks to the tropical and laid-back pace, The Bay Club invites lengthy lingers over grazing plates, preferably with some horizontal time in one of the cabanas overlooking Roebuck Bay. Those cabanas will also be helpful after indulging in the tempting Italian menu at Johnny Sausage.

47 Carnarvon Street, Broome

Papa Fuego

There are two main seasons in Broome – hot and humid – with variations in intensity depending on the time of year you visit. Since Papa Fuego opened, the dining scene has become even hotter. The clue is in the name with "fuego," bringing the "fire" to its Argentinian menu where meaty dishes, aka parrilla, are flame grilled over Western Australian hardwoods.

We're drooling over the Tira de Asada (Argentinian-style crosscut beef short rib) and the Cuadril de Cordero (lamb rump marinated in garlic, chipotle, and cilantro). Begin with empanadas or ceviche and end with the churros or crème caramel flan. Unless you go all out with the Feed Me Fuego menu for $99 per person – and cue the meat coma.

2 Louis Street, Broome

Roebuck Bay Hotel

Like a bit of live music and nightlife on your itinerary? You'll love the historic Roebuck Bay Hotel, where you can experience a slice of authentic Broome life in a fun and affordable fashion. Broome's longest-standing hotel can be found nestled in the centre of the original Chinatown, right in the heart of the city, and its passion for entertaining locals and tourists alike is what gives the Roey that special kind of atmosphere inherent to a winning night out.

Not just for drinking and boogying on into the early hours, The Roey is an extensive complex with good quality accommodation, a relaxed bar and bistro, and a sports bar. But for the more lively crowds, the outdoor music venue Oasis Bar and late-night club Skylla Lounge are where you need to gravitate. 

26 Dampier Terrace, Broome

Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm

Since the road 200 kilometres north of Broome along the Cape Leveque Road was sealed, Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm is an easy drive during the dry season or a short flight with Air Kimberley - and has truly become an essential Broome activity. But did you know that it also hosts an array of gorgeous accommodation options?

Stay in the original pearling shacks, cottages, private retreats or safari tents in air-conditioned comfort with ensuites. Pearling experiences, sea safaris, a visit to Shell Island, fishing adventures or an indigenous cultural tour keep visitors enthralled, plus the infinity pool is a refreshing end to a tropical day. 

Cygnet Bay, Cape Leveque Road, Broome

Kimberley Quest

Cruising through the Kimberley on a luxury yacht is the ultimate bucket list item and one of our favourite things to do in Broome. The sleek Kimberley Quest is one of the most idyllic ways (and often the only way) to explore the region's rugged cliffs, hidden river systems, wildlife, caves, rainforests, waterfalls, and idyllic beaches. Itineraries run from February to October, and serving seafood that may have been recently swimming by to a select few guests, there is no better way to sail off into the sunset. 

14 Tanami Drive, Broome

The Billi Resort

Step into paradise at the luxurious Billi Resort. Just ten minutes away from Broome and moments from Cable Beach, this secluded escape is surrounded by lush, tropical gardens, raised timber walkways, and tranquil surroundings. The Billi Resort offers premium holiday villas with fully equipped kitchens, outdoor showers, and a private patio with a barbecue. All rooms have access to the gardens and swimming pool.

97 Oryx Road (Lullfitz Drive), Cable Beach

Cable Beach Club Resort & Spa

As the name suggests and situated opposite Broome's most famous beach, Cable Beach Club offers studios, bungalows, villas and suites designed with a mix of colonial and Asian charm with corrugated iron, natural timbers and a rich colour palette typical of the Kimberley. There are several excellent dining options, with the Sunset Bar and Grill providing iconic sunsets as camels sway by every evening. The day spa, pools, a range of facilities and the Buddha Sanctuary ornamental garden ensure this resort maintains its international status.

Cable Beach Road, Broome

Bali Hai Resort and Spa

Drawing on its proximity to Indonesia, the Bali Hai Resort and Spa exudes Balinese style in each of its studios and villas with private courtyards and stone and timber details - some even have outdoor bathrooms for tropical bathing. The onsite Bali Hai Café serves up Asian-inspired fare, and if you don't already feel like you had been transported to Bali, the day spa will complete the journey. 

6 Murray Road, Cable Beach

Seashells Broome

Just entering the tropical grounds of the Seashells Broome instantly infiltrates your being with holiday vibes. The self-contained one, two and three-bedroom apartments invite you and your entourage to make yourselves at home before hitting the pool or strolling to the Wharf Restaurant and Cable Beach. With properties across the state, the Seashells group regularly has special offers, especially if you sign up for their rewards program and mobile app.

4-6 Challenor Drive, Cable Beach

Mangrove Hotel

Overlooking Roebuck Bay, the Mangrove Hotel has one of the most idyllic views in Broome and a front-row seat to the Staircase to the Moon a couple of times a month. Plenty of other activities, like live music on Friday nights, yoga on Saturday mornings and culinary adventures at Johnny Sausage and the Bay Club while keep you entertained when venturing out from your stylish room or suite overlooking the bay.

47 Carnarvon Street, Broome

Eco Beach Wilderness Retreat

Imagine waking up to the sound of waves lapping metres away while cocooned in luxury in the Kimberley? About 130 kilometres south of Broome and on the pristine coastline of Cape Villaret, lies oceanfront eco tents, villas and beach houses at the Eco Beach Wilderness Retreat.

Energy and water-saving appliances and fittings are part of the clever design ensuring sustainability within this virtually untouched environment, where guests are encouraged to literally immerse themselves in by taking a mud bath in the mangroves... accompanied by Australian bubbles, of course. Fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, yoga, caving and helicopter flights are also on offer. 

323 Thangoo Station, Great Northern Highway, Broome

Accessible via a short flight from Perth with Qantas or Virgin Australia, Broome is also reachable from other major cities and internationally. For adventurous souls, a road trip from Perth offers a scenic journey with stops at the Pinnacles, Kalbarri, Coral Bay, Exmouth, Karijini National Park, and Eighty Mile Beach. Aim for the dry season between May and October to avoid road closures, but consider visiting during the wet season from November to March for stunning thunderstorms and breathtaking skyscapes.

Once you've landed, you'll need to know how to navigate Broome effectively. Consider renting a car upon arrival at the airport due to limited taxi and Uber availability. Check the Road Safety Commission for guidance, especially during monsoon season.

Local tour operators like InStyle Adventures offer unique Kimberley experiences, while Broome Trike Tours provide thrilling rides around town, including bush tucker tours and crocodile feeding. Don't miss the iconic camel rides on Cable Beach, offered by operators like Broome Camel Safaris, Red Sun Camels, and Cable Beach Camels.

Did you love our roundup of the best things to do in Broome? Keep exploring WA and pay a visit to the wine region of Margaret River, take a day trip from Perth, or discover the best of port city Bunbury.