Best Things to Do in Broome: Camels, Dinosaur Footprints, Pearls and the Staircase to the Moon

If you do one thing in Broome, do this. As the afternoon cools, strings of camels file along the firm low-tide sand of Cable Beach, and riding one as the sun drops into the Indian Ocean is the image that sells the whole town — and, unusually, lives up to it. Long-running operators run morning, pre-sunset and sunset rides; the sunset ride is the one to book, with the camels silhouetted against an orange-to-crimson sky and the wet sand mirroring the light. It lasts around an hour and needs no experience.

It suits almost everyone — couples making a moment of it, families with kids who'll talk about the camel for the rest of the trip, and solo travellers happy to share a quiet hour on a moving beach. Less-mobile visitors should ask operators about mounting assistance, as you board a kneeling camel. Book ahead in the Dry, when rides sell out days in advance, and bring a little cash for tips and photos. If you'd rather not ride, simply walking the beach alongside the camel train at sunset, drink in hand, is free and almost as good.

Five to ten minutes' drive from town, Gantheaume Point is where Broome's red pindan cliffs meet turquoise water — a tumble of rust-orange rock above the Indian Ocean that's spectacular at any tide and at its best when the late light sets the stone glowing. Preserved in the reef rock below are dinosaur footprints more than 125 million years old, among the oldest in the world, but they're only exposed and reachable at very low tide. Plaster casts of the tracks sit at the top of the cliff so you can see them whatever the tide is doing.

A short walk to the northern side leads to Anastasia's Pool, a rock pool cemented by an early lighthouse keeper for his arthritic wife — storm-damaged in 2014, but the remains and the story remain. It suits photographers, families chasing the footprints across the reef at low tide, and anyone who wants the red-cliff-and-turquoise shot Broome is known for. Check a tide chart before you go for the real footprints, wear grippy shoes on the slippery reef, and don't swim — this is unpatrolled, croc-and-stinger country.

Catching a film at Sun Pictures is one of those experiences that's about far more than the movie. Opened in December 1916 and recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest operating outdoor picture garden, it screens current-release films under the Kimberley stars from rows of canvas deck chairs, with the warm night air, the occasional fruit bat overhead, and a century of Broome history in the corrugated-iron walls. The building started life as an Asian goods store and a Japanese theatre before becoming a cinema — the layers of the town's pearling-era multiculturalism are baked into the place.

It's a genuine Broome institution and a perfect plan for a warm evening or a Wet-season night when the day's heat or a storm sends you looking for somewhere covered. It suits everyone — couples on a date, families on a relaxed night out, solo travellers and film buffs. Bring a cushion or hire one, a light layer for later, and insect repellent. The deck chairs are charming but not built for limited mobility, so ask about accessible seating when you book, and check the current session times, as they run a real cinema schedule.

Pearls built Broome, and Willie Creek is the easiest place to understand how. On a working pearl farm set on a tidal creek about half an hour north of town, the tour walks you through the whole cultured-pearl process — from seeding the oyster to harvest — and out onto the turquoise creek by boat to see the pearl lines suspended below the surface. It's genuinely interesting even if you've never thought twice about a pearl, and the setting alone, with the vivid creek against the red pindan, is worth the trip.

You can self-drive (the access road is unsealed and can need a 4WD, especially after rain) or take a coach tour from town that handles the road and the timing. It suits couples, history-minded travellers, and anyone curious about the industry that made Broome; kids manage well on the boat portion. The showroom at the end is, predictably, where the South Sea pearls are for sale — beautiful and not cheap, but there's no pressure to buy. Book ahead in the Dry, and check whether your vehicle suits the road if you're self-driving.

On the right nights, Broome puts on a show no one organised. When a full moon rises over the exposed mudflats of Roebuck Bay at very low tide, the reflection breaks into a shimmering ladder of light that looks like a staircase climbing to the moon. It happens on just two to three nights each month between March and October, and it draws crowds to the Town Beach foreshore and the Mangrove Hotel lawn, both of which look straight out over the bay.

The experience is as much about the evening as the moon. On the market nights, the Staircase to the Moon night markets fill the Town Beach precinct with food stalls, music and craft, and the whole town turns out. It suits everyone — couples, families, solo travellers and photographers (bring a tripod). It's completely free. The catches: it only happens on specific dates, so check the current Visit Broome calendar and plan your trip around it if you can; arrive early on market nights for a parking spot and a patch of grass; and remember Roebuck Bay is for looking, not swimming.

The Horizontal Falls aren't a waterfall at all — they're a tidal phenomenon where enormous Kimberley tides force seawater through two narrow gorges in the McLarty Range, stacking the sea up to several metres higher on one side and creating a roaring 'horizontal waterfall'. Sir David Attenborough called them one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, and the way most people see them is by seaplane or fast boat from Broome, on a half- or full-day tour out over the Buccaneer Archipelago's maze of red islands and turquoise channels.

It is the big splurge of a Broome trip, and worth it for the scale of the country alone — the flight over the thousand islands is as memorable as the falls. It suits adventurous couples, families with older kids, and anyone who wants to grasp how vast and wild the Kimberley is. Note that boat transits through the falls themselves have been restricted on safety grounds, so confirm exactly what your tour includes when booking. It's weather- and tide-dependent, pricey, and books out in the Dry, so reserve early and build a buffer day in case of cancellation.

Given that Broome's waters genuinely hold saltwater crocodiles, the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park is both a great family outing and a useful reality check. Set up by the late wildlife filmmaker Malcolm Douglas as a refuge for problem and rescued crocs, the park houses hundreds of saltwater and freshwater crocodiles in landscaped enclosures, and the daily feeding tour — where the keepers walk you through and feed the big males — is genuinely riveting and a little terrifying. Seeing a four-metre saltie launch for its food brings home exactly why you don't swim in the creeks.

It suits families above all — kids are transfixed — but also any adult curious about the apex predator that shapes how everyone uses the water up here. The feeding tour is the thing to time your visit around, so check the current tour times before you go. It's outdoors and hot, so come earlier in the day, bring water, hats and repellent, and wear closed shoes. Paths are mostly flat and manageable, but confirm accessibility if needed. It's an easy, educational half-day and a smart one to do early in your trip.

To understand Broome you have to understand pearling, and Chinatown is where the story lives in town. Pearl Luggers, on Dampier Terrace, preserves original pearling boats and tells the brutal, fascinating history of hard-hat diving for pearl shell — the bends, the cyclones, the divers of many nationalities who risked everything for a living. The talks and the historic luggers bring home just how dangerous the trade was. Around it, the lanes of Chinatown still carry the corrugated-iron verandahs and pearl showrooms of the boom era, alongside cafes, galleries and the Sun Pictures cinema.

A couple of hours wandering here — a guided Pearl Luggers session, a slow loop of Chinatown's heritage buildings and pearl shops, a coffee under a verandah — is one of the best ways to spend a hot middle-of-the-day. It suits history lovers, couples and curious travellers of any age; it's flat, central and easy on the legs, which makes it a good option for less-mobile visitors too. Pair it with the Japanese Cemetery a short drive away, where more than 900 pearl divers are buried, for the full, sobering picture of what built this town.

Roebuck Bay is one of the most important shorebird sites on Earth, and the Broome Bird Observatory on its shore is the place to experience it. Each year tens of thousands of migratory waders — godwits, sandpipers, knots and more — arrive from as far as the Arctic to feed on the bay's rich mudflats, and the observatory runs guided tours, courses and accommodation for birders. Even for casual visitors, standing on the red pindan shore as enormous flocks wheel over the turquoise bay is a genuine wildlife spectacle. The bay is also home to the rare Australian snubfin dolphin.

It suits keen birdwatchers most of all, but also families and wildlife lovers happy with a quieter, slower outing away from the main tourist beat. The access road is partly unsealed and can be rough, so check conditions and vehicle suitability, or join an organised tour. Bring binoculars, water, sun protection and repellent. And the standing rule of Roebuck Bay applies here too: it's a look-don't-swim bay — crocodiles move through these creeks, so stay on the shore and well back from the water's edge.

Every Broome trip seems to end up at Matso's at least once, and for good reason. Set in a heritage building on a breezy verandah overlooking Roebuck Bay, this is the brewery behind the famous Mango Beer and Ginger Beer that you'll see in fridges right across the country — and there's something fitting about drinking them at the source, in the tropical heat, with the bay shimmering below. The food is solid pub-plus fare with a local seafood lean, and the verandah catches whatever breeze is going.

It suits everyone — couples after a relaxed lunch or sundowner, families (it's welcoming to kids in the daytime), groups and solo travellers wanting somewhere easy and social. The Mango Beer is the one to try even if you're not usually a beer drinker; the tasting paddle is the way to sample the range. It's busy in the Dry, especially around sunset and lunch, so book a table for a meal in peak season. It's central, flat and easy to reach, which also makes it a comfortable option for less-mobile visitors.