Broome: Natural Wonders, History and Coastal Landscapes

Broome is the gateway to the Kimberley wilderness region. Dinosaur footprints, the town’s cultural history, a special full-moon phenomenon and the coastal landscape offer different ways to experience the destination. As you plan your trip, consider whether you’d prefer to focus on nature, history or particular events.

Dinosaur Footprints and Traces of History

Broome’s footprints offer important insights into the diversity, community structure and movement of Australian dinosaurs. They provide a window into prehistory that goes beyond individual animals: questions about how dinosaurs moved and lived in communities are also part of their significance. In 2011, Broome’s dinosaur footprints were added to the Australian National Heritage List. If you’re interested in natural history, they’re a special reason to discover Broome from this perspective too.

Broome Cemetery offers a different kind of historical insight. Established in 1890, its Japanese, Chinese and Muslim sections reflect distinct cultural traditions through their materials, form and style. The design of these sections makes cultural differences an integral part of the cemetery, without reducing them to a single shared form. Alongside the dinosaur footprints, Broome thus highlights both natural history reaching far back into the past and cultural traditions.

Culture, Museum and Sun Pictures

The Broome Historical Society & Museum is open daily during the 2026 season. Its collection is housed in two of Broome’s oldest buildings. Both the collection and the historic buildings offer starting points for a visit focused on local history. As you weigh up different topics for your trip, you can consider the museum collection and the cultural-history sections of the cemetery as different ways to explore Broome’s history.

Sun Pictures is the world’s oldest operating outdoor cinema. The building was constructed in 1903 in Broome’s Chinatown. The venue brings together its present-day identity as an outdoor cinema with a historic building and a specific location in Broome’s Chinatown. When choosing what to experience, it offers a different cultural theme from the museum or cemetery: the focus here is cinema history and an outdoor cinema that is still in operation. Pearl Luggers on Dampier Terrace in Broome offers tours, providing another way to plan a visit in the area.

Full Moon, Markets and Coast

Staircase to the Moon is a natural phenomenon that occurs when a full moon rises over the exposed tidal flats of Roebuck Bay | Yawuru Nagulagun. The experience is shaped by the combination of the full moon and the exposed tidal flats; consider this if you’d like to make a natural phenomenon a focus of your trip. On selected dates during Staircase to the Moon, the Staircase to the Moon Night Markets take place from 4 pm to 8 pm at Town Beach | Guwarri. The markets are therefore held only on specific dates and complement the natural phenomenon with an event of their own. You can take this difference into account when planning your schedule: the museum is open daily during the 2026 season, while the Night Markets take place on selected dates.

Cable Beach is another striking landscape. The beach stretches for 22 km and features white sand and clear tropical water. These specific features give this stretch of coast its own place among Broome’s attractions: here, the focus is on length, sand and water, while Staircase to the Moon centres on the interplay of the full moon and tidal flats. Which of these experiences interests you most can help shape the focus of your trip.

Choosing Broome as a Destination

When looking for a holiday rental in Broome, it can help to first sort out your interests: are you drawn to dinosaur footprints and natural history, cultural traditions, Sun Pictures and tours, or the coast and the full-moon phenomenon? These themes offer different reasons to visit. You can choose accommodation to suit the kind of trip that matters most to you, without needing to give every experience the same priority.

If you’d like to explore more destinations, you can also find the Dampier Peninsula here.

For the wider travel overview: Shire of Broome.