14 Of The Best Broome Tours - Australian Traveller

Drag yourself away from the beach for the day on a Broome tour and you’ll be rewarded with some truly amazing experiences.

This seaside country town might be small, but it has a mighty history and even mightier modern-day experiences. To really understand how it came to be – from its multi-cultural food scene to its wild pearling history – these Broome tours are a must.

Be sure to contact tour providers before you go, as tours can be very dependent on the weather and the seasons, thanks to rapidly changing tides.

1. Broome And Around Tours

First things first, get situated and familiar with Broome on a Panoramic Town Bus Tour with Broome and Around Tours. Do this right at the start of your trip to get all the local knowledge on where to eat, where to find local art, secret swimming spots and a good overview of the fascinating and brutal history of Broome.

2. Mabu Buru Broome Aboriginal Tours

Your second stop should be Mabu Buru Broome Aboriginal Tours for the Cable Beach Cultural Talk with local Yawuru, Karrajarri, Nyul Nyul, Bardi man, Johani. Meet on the famous Cable Beach where he will walk you through some local Indigenous history and customs, a song performance, and he’ll even help you find the hidden-in-plain-sight dinosaur footprints left in the rocks. More than a tour, however, this is a conversation during which Johani creates a safe space for asking, learning and sharing.

3. Red Sun Camels

Have you even been to Broome if you didn’t ride a camel? It may be an iconic tourist activity, but it’s also a whole lot of fun. There are multiple tour providers who will line up along the beach in the mornings and at sunset, but our pick is Red Sun Camels for their friendly staff, relaxing atmosphere and camels that are far less smelly than some others (trust me on this one).

Red Sun Camels, Broome — Tick off a Broome bucketlist experience with Red Sun Camels. (Image: Kassia Byrnes)

4. Moontide Distillery Tour

While there are a million gorgeous views to stop at on tours around Broome, beverage aficionados will be pleased to know Moontide Distillery is leading the way in craft liquor, even boasting a few awards for their unique gin flavours – like The Pearler’s Gin, crafted with actual oyster mantle. Take a tour to see the behind-the-scenes action, or just have a tasting with nibbles.

Moontide Distillery, Broome — See how the gin is made, then test it out in the tasting room. (Image: Kassia Byrnes)

5. Matso’s Brewery Tour

Speaking of craft brews, Matso’s Mango Beer is a staple on the taps of pubs around Western Australia, and it all started in Broome. A brewery and a restaurant, you can book in for a tour and then sit down to an award-winning lunch.

Matso’s Brewery Tour, Broome — Treat yourself to a Mango beer at the end of your tour.

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

6. Broome Tours Mudcrabbing Adventure

To brag about catching your own dinner, you can join a Mud Crabbing Adventure with Broome Tours. Follow your guide through the mangroves of Roebuck Bay on a hunt for the prized Kimberley Mud Crab, then cook up your catch for the freshest of seafood lunches. Be prepared to get dirty as you leave the catamaran and wade in shallow water, and also be aware that this tour is weather dependent.

7. Broome Tours Sunset Cruise

Join Broome Tours for the mud crabbing, but stay for a Sunset Cruise along Cable Beach to catch the shoreline from a different perspective. Broome subsets have not been overhyped, and an unforgettable way to experience it is with a beverage in hand, being served snacks, while sitting on the back of a 42-foot catamaran.

The crew know many Broome tours require concentration, so they’re here to bring the chill vibes and relaxed fun – you can even go swimming in a boom net off the back of the boat (April to early October).

Broome Tours Sunset Cruise — Jump onboard a 42-foot catamaran and sail into the sunset. (Image: Kassia Byrnes)

Thanks to the unique immigration history in Broome, it’s an unexpected foodie haven. Locals are more than happy to offer up their favourites, but a Small Bar Walking Tour of Broome’s historic Chinatown with Salty Plum Social is the perfect way to hit all the best spots in one afternoon.

Eat, drink, walk and talk your way through the town, discovering the truly unique background of the area, stopping along the way for drinks and canapes.

Salty Plum Social Broome Chinatown tour — Eat, drink, walk and talk your way through Chinatown. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

9. Horizontal Falls

Described by David Attenborough as “one of the greatest natural wonders in the world", the Horizontal Falls near Broome are caused by the rise and fall of the tides, as water rushes to get through two narrow gaps into the seas beyond.

Join Horizontal Falls Adventures to see this phenomenon from all angles – from your seaplane flight into Talbot Bay, to a jet boat ride through the falls themselves and even a swim with the Tawny Sharks that call this area home.

There’s a huge range of tour options, from day tours to the brand new luxury overnight epic during which you stay aboard The Jetwave Pearl and get to see this incredible part of The Kimberleys at all times of day.

Horizontal Falls Adventures, Broom tours — Zoom through “one of the greatest natural wonders in the world". (Image: Kassia Byrnes)

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10. Pearl Luggers Tour

If you don’t have time to visit Willie Creek Pearl Farm 38 kilometres north of Broome, you can still get an insight into the wild history of pearling in Broome on their Pearl Luggers Tour, located in Chinatown. Hold a pearl, taste pearl meat, hold original diving gear and even see a fully rigged and restored pearl lugger, originally built in 1903.

Willie Pearl Farm Pearl Luggers Tour — See a fully rigged and restored pearl lugger.

11. Broome Dinosaur Adventures

Before there were people in Broome, there were dinosaurs, and you can’t leave without discovering the evidence they left behind. Journey across Roebuck Bay with Broome Dinosaur Adventures’ Dinosaur Adventure Tour. Explore secluded bays, creek inlets and beaches to find 120 million-year-old dinosaur tracks, with cocktails, of course.

You’ll need a moderate level of fitness for the walking portions of this tour and be sure to pack your reef shoes. Tour dates depend on the tides.

Cable Beach dinosaur footprints — Jump on a Dinosaur Adventure Tour at low tide to find evidence of dinosaurs. (Image: Kassia Byrnes)

12. Broome Trike Tours

Bikes and buses are nothing new; but a trike or better yet, being chauffeured in a limo trike is certainly unique. This is one of the options with Broome Trike Tours, which takes guests around the local area. Other tour options include meeting crocodiles at the Croc Feeding Tour at Malcolm Douglas Wildlife Park and taste-testing bush tucker.

13. Broome Aviation Tours

This is The Kimberleys for the time poor: Broome Aviation’s Gorgeous Gorges Tour is a full-day adventure – starting and ending in Broome – that encompasses the region’s must-dos, with scenic flights over gorges, waterfalls, red ranges and remote islands that make up the Buccaneer Archipelago.

But what makes this experience so special is the opportunity to travel on land too. Among the many stops is Windjana Gorge, home to the revered Johnstone River Crocodile and an ancient reef system that’s significant to geologists. Passengers can cool off with a swim at Bell Gorge waterfall.

Stop for a swim at Bell Gorge waterfall. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

This article has been updated, the original version was written by Tawnee Rothe.

With unhurried mornings, long, sun-filled afternoons, evenings shaped around sunset, this iconic beach offers an all-day experience (and it’s about to get even better).

As the sun slowly rises over the languid waves and fine sand of Broome’s Cable Beach, the morning colours shift from rich apricot to pale gold and frosty pearl. Remnants of life reveal themselves in the subtle shadows – crab claw marks, towel impressions, footprints. Life here is unhurried, but don’t be fooled. This town is continually shifting like the desert dunes that surround it.

And with a $75 million upgrade – offering easier and more inclusive access for people of all abilities – it’s getting even better.

Cable Beach upgrade foreshore redevelopment stage 1 — Discover the Cable Beach redevelopment.

The addition of comfortable and welcoming spaces has begun (and will continue). This means visitors will be able to spend longer enjoying this beautiful environment, while knowing that the upgrade will create a more environmentally protected setting that preserves the natural character visitors come for. Come sunset, soak it in all the better thanks to the already improved foreshore areas, made for lingering while the light changes. And for the kids, a new splash park and accessible dry playground will make it easy to while away the hours.

Think you know what a day at this beach is like? Think again.

Morning colours

car on cable beach at sunrise — Cable Beach comes alive after sunrise. (Credit: Tourism WA)

As the sun colours the sky, Cable Beach shows signs of life (and not just the aquatic kind). Locals and visitors alike float in the cool water as it laps the shore, landlubbers explore the coast on foot, runners pace and beachside yoga classes bring quiet movement to the day.

When the sky is blue and the sun is firmly in position, head down to the well-known Cable Beach House for a long, slow breakfast overlooking the ocean. Think fresh tropical fruit, eggs cooked your way and strong coffee in the warm morning breeze.

Afternoon adventures

camel train on cable beach in broome at sunset — Join a camel train at sunset. (Credit: C J Maddock)

When you’re ready to explore, carve a path along the Minyirr Park Trail – a gentle 1.5-2km track through coastal bushland with spectacular views of the dunes. Refuel at the nearby Spinifex Brewery for lunch with its low-key, outdoor beer garden. There’s even an outdoor playground if you’re travelling with young humans.

Walk off your lazy lunch by watching (or joining) one of the beach soccer or volleyball games, or even try Silent Beats Broome – a silent walking disco through the dunes. Or book a spot on the famous camel trains, watching the sun drop below the horizon along the way. They’re a constant reminder of the fascinating history, landscape and cultural mix in this part of the country.

Evening degustation

server at Cable Beach Club — Stop into the Cable Beach Club. (Credit: Tourism WA)

As the day closes, watch the world-famous Cable Beach sunset from the appropriately named Sunset Grill at Cable Beach Club. This open-air terraced dining spot overlooking the beach is the kind of place where the view takes centre stage.

While you sip on a lychee, lime & lemonade mocktail or a local beer, enjoy the bustle of life and nature outside as the day comes to an end.

For dinner, nab a table at the Bali Hai Cafe, where they offer pan-fried crispy barramundi, Abrolhos Island scallops and deep-sea snow crab. When you’re ready for bed, check in to Pinctada Hotel Broome – a lush, tropical resort with palm-dotted gardens and a large, lagoon-style pool to cool off in.

Beyond the beach

Beyond the wide, open beach and never-ending sky of Cable Beach, there are many more reasons to visit North West Australia. These are just a few.

Unmatched experiences

Shinju Matsuri Festival's popular Long Table Dinner on cable beach — Join Shinju Matsuri Festival’s popular Long Table Dinner. (Credit: Tourism WA)

Engage with the history of the land and its people on an Indigenous cultural tour exploring everything from the local wildlife to the tastes of bush tucker. To understand the importance of pearling to this town, take a tour of Chinatown, or head outside of town to the live pearl harvests at Willie Creek or Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, one of Australia’s oldest pearl farms.

Learn why Japanese pearlers were central to Broome’s pearling success and visit the largest Japanese cemetery in Australia, where 900 Japanese pearlers were buried – a testament to the risks and rewards of this dangerous profession.

And book ahead every spring for when communal tables, freshly cooked local fare and festoon lighting fill the beach for the extremely popular Long Table Dinner on Cable Beach. It’s a highlight of the Shinju Matsuri Festival, along with the Floating Lanterns Matsuri, where you can personalise a lantern and gently release it into the sea to honour those you love.

Dining discoveries

Further your culinary adventure at the laid-back Sunday Sesh at Matso’s Broome Brewery. Chow down on smoked crocodile or Aussie barramundi while kicking back to a local DJ as the heat of the day fades.

For more tunes, the beautiful outdoor Bay Club at the Mangrove Hotel is a great choice for dinner with live music, DJs or an event that stretches on into the early hours. Still hungry? Pop by Johnny Sausage for Italian-influenced meals paired with impeccable wines.

Natural beauties

Gantheaume Point cabnle beach broome — Experience the striking colours of Gantheaume Point. (Credit: Tourism WA)

Avoid the crowds and head to Town Beach for a quieter vantage point to see the phenomenal Staircase to the Moon – a natural illusion where the rising full moon is reflected on the tidal flats, creating a shimmering ‘staircase’ stretching up to the sky.

Just south of Cable Beach are the deep red cliffs and dramatic ocean views of Gantheaume Point, where 130-million-year-old dinosaur footprints can be seen, revealed at low tide. Or head to Roebuck Bay to visit the internationally significant wetlands, where vast tidal flats are home to shorebirds and coastal fauna.

Between October and March, watch turtles nesting and hatchlings emerge from the sand. You’ll be holding your breath as they make their way down to the shoreline, ready to start their life in one of Australia’s most beautiful landscapes.

For more on Cable Beach and Australia’s North West, visit australiasnorthwest.com.

14 of the most incredible Broome tours