The Kimberley is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia, with a population of just under 40,000 in 2023. These people are clustered in four medium-sized towns, with very few in the rest of its 421,000 km² (163,000 sq mi) extent. It's bordered by the Northern Territory to the east, the Pilbara to the south, the Indian Ocean to the northwest, the Timor Sea to the north, and utter desert to the south.

Towns

• 1 Broome is the main town, a substantial beach resort.
• 2 Derby is a small town with a big Boab, a big jetty and a big tide.
• 3 Fitzroy Crossing is starting point for trips to Geikie Gorge National Park and cruises on the Fitzroy River.
• 4 Halls Creek is gateway to Wolfe Creek Crater.
• 5 Warmun or Turkey Creek is an entry point to Purnululu National Park, and has an Aboriginal art scene.
• 6 Kununurra is on an artificial lake in a lush irrigated area.
• 7 Wyndham is the terminus of the Great Northern Highway, at the outflow of five rivers.

Other destinations

• 1 Camballin has fishing on the Fitzroy River.
• 2 Windjana Gorge National Park is a beautiful gorge through an ancient coral reef, reached via Gibb River Road.
• 3 Wolfe Creek Crater National Park is a large circular crater.
• 4 Purnululu National Park is a UNESCO world heritage site for its Bungle Bungles landscape.

Understand

A craton is a raft of the earth's crust that has somehow remained intact over millennia, without being subducted or broken up - they're typically very hard rocks rich in minerals. From 2.5 billion years ago the Kimberley craton crunched into a larger one to the south, so slowly that this took a billion years, but with enough force to heave up mountains. Later the ground sank to be covered by sea, so there was a build-up of sandstone and limestone subsequently lifted into a plateau. There were later phases of mountain-building, not very high, but steep especially once rainfall eroded them. And there you have the landscape of The Kimberley, with vast dusty savannah plains and abrupt lines of hills with fantastically weathered gorges and rock formations.

It nowadays symbolises remoteness, wilderness, yet this region was the first part of Australia settled by humans, some 65,000 years ago. These Aboriginal people evolved 50-60 languages in four linguistic families, invented the boomerang, grew yams, and established a tradition of rock art. There are thousands of rock paintings and etchings, in a variety of styles and techniques.

The Dutch probed the coast in the 18th century but didn't stay. 19th century British explorers had a miserable time of it but saw the land's potential for farming, if only they could work around the monsoon climate and lack of natural harbours. Sheep farms were set up, there were heroic long cattle drives, and fresh fruit & veg was grown. The British named the region for the Earl of Kimberley (1826-1902), Secretary of State for the Colonies, and Kimberley in South Africa was named at the same time. He'd earned his title by facing down the Fenians in Ireland, but it was on his watch that gold and diamonds were discovered in both namesake regions. The coast also developed pearl-fishing, and harbours were built to ship out livestock.

In the 20th century the fertile area expanded when irrigation schemes modified the monsoon cycle of drought to deluge - the most successful of these was at Kununurra. Tourism also developed when the Great Northern Highway forged a connection to Perth, and leisure air travel became affordable.

Climate

Gwion Gwion rock paintings

The Kimberley lies in the equatorial monsoon belt and has three seasons: the Wet is Dec-April, the Dry is April-Sep and the Buildup is October and November. These dictate everything you do or don't do here, whether as a visitor or resident. These seasons are most marked north towards the coast, while the south gets far less rainfall and is on the fringes of deserts.

The Dry is the ideal time to visit but carries peak prices. It sees six months of blue skies, daytimes of 30°C and nights of 15°C. Roads, facilities and sights are all open and the sea is calm. One thing you don't get is waterfalls, but drought concentrates the birds and other wildlife around the waterholes.

The Buildup is hot and sticky, 40°C day in, day out. Sultry afternoon clouds mount up into huge thunderstacks then demonic raging lightning displays. But these don't produce much rain and don't alleviate the stifling heat. Visitor numbers and accommodation prices tumble.

The Wet is cooler but it rains and rains and then some. Many facilities close up for the season. Sealed roads stay open but unsealed tracks are difficult at best, and are often impassable as the creeks become churning torrents. This "set-in weather" may be enlivened by cyclones, dangerous and damaging even though their track may be some way off. You must stay tuned to the weather warnings and heed local advice if these are looming. The plus side is the gushing of waterfalls and riot of wild flowers.

Talk

English is the universal language and other European languages are seldom understood.

The Aboriginal languages in contact with English have spawned several Pidgin or Creole hybrids, but they all look to be dying out.

Get in

Most arrivals are from Perth to the west. Those coming from Northern Territory to the east, please be aware that i) there's a one-hour time switch and ii) there's an agriculture inspection, with rules on food and plant material. They're trying to keep pests at bay, especially cane toads, with stiff fines for failing to declare or dump (say) a stash of apples.

By plane

Fly in via Broome

The principal airport is Broome, but its only international flights are in the dry season by Jetstar from Singapore. Qantas and Virgin Australia fly from Perth to Broome, and AirNorth fly from Darwin via Kununurra (which also has flights from Perth). Nexus hops along the west coast from Geraldton via Karratha and Port Hedland to Broome. Derby airport only has flights from Broome.

By road

Distances are formidable. From Perth to Broome by road is 2360 km by the North West Coastal Highway via Carnarvon, or 2050 km by the Great Northern Highway inland via Newman. The highways join at Port Hedland.

From Broome at the west end of the region the only safe, all-weather onward route is the Great Northern Highway. This courses via Camballin, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek and Ord River to Wyndham and Kununurra at the east end of the region, just over 1000 km. This is close to the NT border but still 900 km from Darwin, the nearest sizeable town. Gibb River Road is a mostly unsealed track from Derby to Wyndham that looks like a short cut on the map but that takes most of a week in the dry season. In the wet it might take the rest of your prematurely-terminated life.

Tanami Road is a mostly unsealed track from Alice Springs via Wolfe Creek Crater to Halls Creek, 1150 km and passable only in the dry season. Work is under way to seal it but this is years from completion.

By bus

Palms in Echidna Chasm, Purnululu

From Perth, Integrity Coaches run two days a week to Broome, taking 36 hours along the coast via Geraldton, Carnarvon, Exmouth and Port Hedland. A third bus goes inland via Mount Magnet and Newman to Port Hedland to connect onto the coastal bus.

From Broome the Greyhound runs five days a week to Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Durack and Kununurra. It continues overnight into Northern Territory, via Katherine, Hayes Creek and Palmerston to Darwin, which has buses and trains from Adelaide via Alice Springs.

By boat

The lack of harbours has been a major impediment to Europeans in this region, and those that were built were often smashed up by cyclones. Shipping for livestock, people and goods ceased once the highway came through.

Cruise ships occasionally visit the region, with passengers brought in for excursions by tender as the ships are too large to dock. See below for local cruises within The Kimberley. All of them are on round trip tours not point-to-point ferry lines.

Get around

By plane

Regular flights link Broome, Derby and Kununurra as above. Private air charters may be possible, their limitation is in finding somewhere to land that won't send cobbles through the prop and windscreen.

Scenic tourist flights visit several sites that are difficult to access overground, but they're non-landing. See Kununurra for flights over Purnululu / Bungle Bungles, and Broome for those over Horizontal Falls.

By road

Entrance to Gibb River Road

You need your own vehicle, and a car affords shelter from the sun, dust and flies. This is simplest arranged from your arrival airport, but never mention the word "Outback" or the rental clerk will have a conniption fit. Kimberley is remote but only its arid southern fringes are truly Outback, though Mitchell Plateau is getting close. WA rental clerks are fine judges of the distinction: the Wild is somewhere a busted car might eventually be towed out of, while the Outback is where car and occupants will just have to be left for the crows to pick bare, serve them right for breaching the rental conditions.

One-way car hire is expensive so plan a round-trip itinerary, allowing a minimum of a week.

Great Northern Highway (Broome to Wyndham / Kununurra) is sealed, and suitable in all seasons for all vehicles including 2WD, motorbikes and motorhomes. This includes the branch to Derby, and the continuation east into NT which is called Victoria Highway. In the Wet, the problem is not the highway but your destination: that last 500 m from turn-off to the door might be a morass. Filling stations and other supplies are far apart but at least they exist.

Gibb River Road (Derby to Wyndham) has been sealed at its west and east ends, so these limited sections are nowadays just like the GNH. But most of it is unsealed, passable only in the Dry by high-clearance 4WD: visitors should aim for June-Aug when that dry is assured. It's not suitable for motorhomes, and bear in mind that many sights are up lumpy side-tracks. Filling stations are very far apart.

Other unsealed dirt roads you might use in the Dry are Kalumburu Road (the long branch off Gibb River Road to Mitchell plateau), the branch from Warum to Purnululu, and Tatani Road from Halls Creek to Wolfe Creek Crater. They're 4WD only, and filling stations are as frequent as those in the Martian deserts.

If you can't or won't drive yourself, best bet is an extended motor tour, see below.

See

Prison Boab in Derby

• Museums: most towns have a local history museum.
• Beaches: Cable Beach in Broome is the standout, named for the telegraph cable that linked Australia to the rest of the world. It's long and sandy, and you get to ride camels. Most other sea beaches are muddy (eg Derby) or difficult to access (eg Dampier Peninsula), with huge tides and currents. Don't swim if Box Jellyfish or Irukandji are around. But there are river or lake beaches, for instance at Kununurra and Lake Argyle.
• Staircase to the moon is an optical effect where the rising full moon coincides with low tide, so its beams reflect in water trapped in the beach ripples. It can be seen during the unclouded dry season from any sandy beach with an unobstructed view to the east horizon, for instance in Broome. Local visitor centres post the viewing dates and times.
• The Wild is the uninhabited, unfarmed interior of Kimberley. Just a few km drive off the sealed highway plunges you into the immensity of this region. Thousands of birds throng, making a racket at sunrise, fuzzy-faced creatures scurry behind the spinifex, and crocodiles lie in wait at the waterholes. Freshwater crocs can be unfriendly, saltwater crocs delight in ripping your limbs off when you wade in to rescue the dog. The term "Outback" is more applicable to the arid southern areas much further from roads.
• Boabs are the bloated trees dotting the landscape. One at Derby was supposedly used as a prison: that's a myth, but one at Wyndham was so used.
• Gorgeous gorges: they're shadowy until the sun gets to the right angle, then the rock takes fire. Purnululu National Park is best known for the Bungle Bungles, great beehive formations with alternating bands of orange and grey, but don't miss Echidna Chasm and Mini Palms, deep gorges with palms in their floor. Gibb River Road has Bell Gorge, Geikie Gorge, Windjana Gorge and many more.
• Aboriginal rock art: the indigenous people fashioned art in many mediums (fabrics, wood, jewellery, sculpture) and continue to do so, but rock art is the oldest work and the most likely to stay at its original site. Some has been moved to museums, some stolen or defaced, so the in-situ examples are in remote spots guarded by their traditional custodians. Best known are those on the Mitchell Plateau, with the Gwion Gwion or Bradshaw Figures and the Wandjina Figures. That area is reached by a 300 km track branching off Gibb River Road towards Kalumburu. Ancient art may have been retouched or reworked in later times, as skilfully and respectfully as the Europeans repair their churches.
• Horizontal Falls are a tide rip in Talbot Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago, where the massive tidal cycle is pinned between cliffs to create an churning overfall. But realistically you can only reach it by a pricey air tour or cruise.

Do

Just waiting for you to take a dip

• Spectator sports such as footy and cricket are only played at amateur level. The population is too sparse to support professional teams.
• Scuba diving is limited compared to places further west such as Ningaloo. The few harbours, big tides and muddy river outflows are factors, but mostly it's again the limited population, so dive shacks struggle to be viable. For instance Lake Argyle inland from Kununurra has freshwater diving if you're self-sufficient, but don't rely on finding air fills or kit supplies there. Rowley Shoals are the highlight but these lie 300 km north of Broome, only accessible by a liveaboard / cruise boat trip lasting several days.
• Golf if you're hard enough. Broome and Derby have courses.
• Coach tours of a week or so explore the region, in small groups usually starting from Broome. Operators include Kimberley Outback Tours and Kimberley Adventures part of the Travelwild Australia group.
• Cruises typically last 10-14 days, given the sailing time between attractions: several get out to Rowley Shoals. Operators include Kimberley Cruises, True North and Coral Princess.

Eat

The larger towns have free-standing restaurants / bars, and the hotels generally offer the best grub.

Stock up in town if you're venturing away for more than a few hours, there are no chain pizzerias out in those wilds.

Drink

Sunset on Cable Beach

• Drink lots of water, you may not realise how much you're sweating as it evaporates so fast.
• Alcohol is served in cafes and restaurants, it's usually okay to drink without having a meal, and there aren't free-standing bars.
• Broome has a brewery and a gin distillery.

Stay safe

• Avoid driving at night, wild animals and livestock enjoy parading along the highways at night. Their eyeballs are dark so you don't see them before impact.
• No mobile phone reception beyond town, consider a satellite phone if you're going to be off the principal roads.

Go next

• West is the Pilbara, reckon a day's drive. It's a mining region and the towns are ugly, but Karijini National Park has spectacular canyons.
• Another day's drive west brings you into more touristy areas around Exmouth. You're still 2-3 days drive from Perth.
• East is Northern Territory. Darwin is the first town reached, by a sealed highway, and there's lots to do and see there.
• South is desert, but in the Dry with 4WD you can follow Tanami Road to Alice Springs. The Canning Stock Route peels off this to Wiluna and the road to Perth, but this is a full-on expedition beyond the scope of these pages.