Cable Beach: 22 km of sunset sand

The beach and its Yawuru name

Cable Beach, also called Walmanyjun, is about 22 kilometres of white sand on the Indian Ocean edge of Broome. Low cliffs of red earth rise behind it, and in the dry season, from May to October, the waves are mostly gentle. Behind the red dunes lies Minyirr Park, a coastal reserve that protects the traditional land of the Yawuru people and is looked after by the Shire of Broome together with the Yawuru. The beach is about seven kilometres from town along a sealed road.

Where the name comes from

The beach is named for a telegraph cable laid from Broome to Banyuwangi in East Java in 1889, which connected Australia to England by wire. The landing point of that cable gave the beach its name. Broome was a pearling town long before it was a holiday town, and the cable tied it to the wider world. Its sunsets came later to the postcards; the first visitors to the shore were telegraph engineers and pearlers, not tourists.

Gantheaume Point at the southern end

Gantheaume Point sits at the southern end of the beach, south of town. Red sandstone outcrops there hold dinosaur footprints roughly 130 million years old, which can be seen about 30 metres out at very low tide. A lighthouse built in 1905 and rebuilt in 1984 stands on the point. There is no lifeguard patrol, rock pools should not be used for swimming because undercurrents can pull swimmers out to sea, and walkers should stay on the marked paths.

Tides, flags and lifeguards

Cable Beach is washed by tides that can reach more than nine metres, and Visit Broome advises checking tide information before visiting any Broome beach. During the dry season, lifeguards patrol the swimming area marked by red and yellow flags in front of the Broome Surf Life Saving Club. In the tropical season, usually late October to early April, Broome's beaches are not patrolled, so swim between the flags only when the patrol is on duty.

Stingers and crocodiles

Box jellyfish may be present from November to April, and Irukandji jellyfish occasionally appear in the wet season, so warning signs go up on the beach. Stingers can occur outside those months, too. Crocodiles have also been sighted off the shore from time to time. Read the signs, ask a lifeguard when one is on duty, and stay out of the water if a closure is posted.

The seasons on the sand

Broome has two seasons that matter for a beach evening. The dry season, from April to November, has nearly every day clear, with highs around 30 °C. The wet season runs from December to March, with highs around 35 °C, high humidity and erratic downpours, and about three-quarters of the year's rain falls between January and March. Sea temperature moves from about 25 °C in July and August to about 30 °C in March. The beach is gentlest from May to October.

Sunset on the sand

The sunset is the beach's main event, and it can be watched from the sand without a ticket. Sunset falls between about 5:20 and 6:35 pm over the year, so arrive well before it, because the light starts to change long before the sun reaches the horizon. Camel rides run around sunrise and sunset hours. On the cruise you see the same beach from the water, with the tide line and the red cliffs behind you as the light changes. Because the beach is so long, a short walk from the car park or the surf club puts you well away from the crowd.

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