April marks the beginning of the Kimberley season, when the remote Australian region starts bursting to life with new growth and greenery after the summer rain, and the rivers, rock pools and waterfalls are flowing.
The Kimberley is one of the most awe-inspiring wilderness adventures in the world, offering ancient culture, other-worldly landscapes and incredible natural encounter. If you’ve been waiting for your chance to visit this stunning locale, there’s a host of new developments brewing. For the 2024 season, the Kimberley will be welcoming a number of new experiences and adventures – and we’ve listed some of the best below.
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Houseboat Adventures at Willie Creek Pearl Farm
Broome’s Willie Creek Pearls has released new multi-day adventure getaway packages for the 2024 season. Partnering with Kimberley Getaway, the family owned and operated pearl farm is now offering two action-filled packages that explore the best parts of Willie Creek – located just a 38 kilometre drive from the town of Broome. Guests will stay onboard luxury floating accommodation, ‘The Barra Shack’ – a spacious three-level custom built houseboat featuring a large entertainment area and stunning panoramic views accommodating up to 12 guests.
There are two experiences on offer, a three-day Adventure Getaway, or a five-day Group Adventure Getaway for private group bookings of six to 12 guests. Both experiences include a tour of the Willie Creek Pearl Farm, then the option to choose from a range of action-packed activities including fishing, mud crabbing, and a wildlife cruise onboard a private Category Five power catamaran.
Enjoy a brew at Spinifex Brewery Cable Beach
Enjoy a refreshing locally brewed beverage at Spinifex Brewery Cable Beach in Broome. The multi-million-dollar venue – ideally located opposite Broome’s iconic Cable Beach – caters for up to 600 guests, offering a unique family-oriented venue with a children’s playground, gubinge garden, large outdoor LED screens, a stage for live performances and onsite brewery. The kitchen serves up a modern Australian menu utilising fresh seasonal produce, alongside wood fired pizzas. Spinifex Brewing Co is Australia’s first part Aboriginal and veteran-owned craft brewery. The brewery uses native ingredients that support Aboriginal producers and supply chains throughout WA, with ingredients such as lemon myrtle, wattle seed, pepper berries and Kimberley gubinge flavouring the brews.
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Women Only Aboriginal Cultural Tours
The Kimberley region is one of the best destinations in Australia to have an authentic Aboriginal experience. In keeping with the current trend of women’s only travel, a number of new Aboriginal women only cultural immersion experiences are available for the 2024 season.
Broome Elder Pat Torres from Jarndu Ngaank Tours is now offering Reddell Beach Walk and Talk Experiences – a refreshing and healing women’s only tour on Djugun and Yawuru Country. Guests will experience a Welcome to Country, Smoking Ceremony and Water Ceremony, with Pat talking through the ceremonial meanings and the positive impact it can have on your personal wellbeing.
North of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula, bookings are now open for a Women’s Only Exclusive Bardi and Jawi Cultural Experience of Oolin Sunday Island near Cygnet Bay. Join Jawi woman Rosanna Angus on a four-night experience discovering the culture and ‘secret women’s business’ of the local Bardi and Jawi women. With accommodation at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, guests will participate in traditional activities such as fishing, oystering, collecting of bush tucker and bush medicine.
Kimberley Cruising
The Kimberley cruising season is set to sail in 2024, with more Kimberley departures than ever.
Scenic Eclipse II will start cruising the Kimberley in May 2024, with the discovery yacht offering a new level of six-star ultra-luxury experience – and the only ship sailing the region with two helicopters on board. The vessel caters for up to 228 guests, with spacious all veranda suites, personalised butler service, a spa, two vitality pools, up to ten dining experiences, next-generation Zodiacs and the two state-of-the-art helicopters.
The second of two luxury, purpose-built expedition ships to be operated by Seabourn will sail the Kimberley coastline in mid-2024. Seabourne Pursuit will operate in the Kimberley from early June through to mid-August, with 10-day expedition cruises through the waterfalls and wonders of the Kimberley on-board a luxury expedition cruising ship with 264 suites.
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French-flagged expedition cruise line Ponant and luxury pearling company Paspaley will debut a boutique expedition motor yacht Paspaley Pearl by PONANT in the Kimberley when it begins its inaugural season in June 2024. The 30-guest vessel will bring a new era of luxury explorations in the Kimberley as the only boutique expedition motor yacht with private balconies. It will also offer the highest level of environmental and technical systems, offering a new standard of excellence in the region.
A Kimberley Icon – El Questro Opens for the Season
After an incredible wet season in the eastern region of the Kimberley, the iconic El Questro (above) is a tropical oasis with lush greenery, cascading waterfalls and refreshing waterholes, and is ready to welcome visitors for the 2024 season. The exclusive and luxurious Homestead opens this month, along with The Station – the central hub of El Questro, with chalet accommodation, campgrounds, bar and restaurant. Emma Gorge Resort will welcome back guests in May 2024 to its safari-style tented cabins, located a short hike from the dreamy Emma Gorge.
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Camp with Custodians at Lombadina
The seventh Camping with Custodians site in WA Lombadina is set to open on April 11, 2024. Located on the Dampier Peninsula, just over a two-hour drive north of Broome, and will have up to 35 campsites, a camp kitchen and ablution facilities. Several Aboriginal cultural tours are also available from Lombadina to enrich the visitor experience, including mud crabbing tours, ancient footprint tours to discover the history of the Lombadina Mission, kayaking tours, and four-wheel-drive tours to Cygnet Bay, Swan Point and One Arm Point.
Camping with Custodians in WA is an Australia-first program that develops high quality public campgrounds on Aboriginal lands, which are then owned and operated by the Aboriginal community and located in the Kimberley and Pilbara region. Lombadina is the first site to be located within an Aboriginal community.
Hit the Road on an Epic Kimberley Road Trip
It’s the year to make road trip dreams a reality in the Kimberley as the new Fitzroy River Bridge over the Martuwarra River opened in late 2023. Connecting the eastern part of the Kimberley to the west along the Great Northern Highway, this vitally important piece of infrastructure was destroyed during the catastrophic flooding from Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie in January 2023.
The new bridge allows visitors and tourism operators to drive the dream in the Kimberley, with the Great Northern Highway connecting Broome to Kununurra, and providing access to iconic destinations such as the Bungle Bungle Range, El Questro, and ancient gorges and waterfalls.
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The highway also provides access to the Gibb River Road – one of Australia’s most iconic 4WD adventures. Starting in Derby or Kununurra, this 660 kilometre road trip is a bucket-list outback adventure, taking travellers through spectacular gorges, thundering waterfalls, secluded swimming holes, ancient rock art and endless wildlife encounters.
New Flights into the Kimberley
A non-stop seasonal service between Singapore and Broome will take off in June, providing easier access for Southeast Asian visitors to experience the pearling capital. Operating twice weekly from June 25 to October 26, 2024 on an Airbus A320 aircraft, Jetstar Asia‘s seasonal service will reduce travel time between the two destinations by more than eight hours, and will be one of Jetstar’s most affordable international flights into Australia. The service will also provide visitors increased connectivity into the Kimberley region via Singapore’s international transport hub, Singapore Changi Airport – opening up the region to visitors from the UK and Europe as an alternative gateway into WA.
In domestic news, Nexus Airlines launched its Northern Route in July 2023, departing from Broome, bound for Kununurra before heading onwards to Darwin. The Northern Routes flight provides daily air services and has been developed to allow for same day connections from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide to the ancient wonders of the Kimberley.