Broome - Western Australia

Broome is a historical pearling town situated in the Kimberley region in Western Australia.

In the dry months the weather is ideal. Broome has sunny days with temperatures around 30C and balmy evenings and nights when the temperature fall to the low twenties.

The town of Broome is situated on the Indian Ocean and the main beach, Cable Beach, is a beautiful expanse of golden sand.

The sunsets on Cable Beach are magnificent and can be enjoyed on the beach or from one of the restaurants on the esplanade.

The population of Broome expands from about 12,000 in the wet to a high of about 30,000 at the height of the tourist season. The camping grounds are booked out pretty early and accommodation can be hard to find at the height of the season.

Broome has an interesting history based around the exploits of the men and women who developed the pearling industry, starting with the harvesting of oysters for mother of pearl in the 1880s to the current major cultured pearl farming enterprises.

The riches from the pearl beds did not come cheap and Broome's Japanese cemetery is the resting place of more than 900 Japanese divers who lost their lives working in the industry. Many were lost at sea and their number is unknown.