Port guide: Broome, Australia

This isolated West Australian town and gateway to the Kimberley has quirky character, multicultural history and a spectacular beach.

Who goes there Although some regular cruise ships visit as they relocate seasonally between Australia and Asia, Broome is all about small expedition ships that operate Kimberley cruises between Broome and Darwin, or the reverse. APT, Coral Expeditions, Ponant, Scenic, Seabourn, Silversea and Travelmarvel operate here. So do very small ships Kimberley Quest II, Paspaley Pearl and True North.

Gantheaume Point, Broome.

Sail on in Your ship will arrive early in the morning after finishing a cruise through fabulous scenery in the Kimberley, but the end is more a whimper than bang. You needn’t struggle up too early because the landscape, although a startling red, is low-lying.

Berth rites Broome Central Berth is eight kilometres out of town in a small working port, and is nothing but a pier jutting well out beyond land thanks to the region’s huge 10-metre tides. Don’t arrive early. This is a restricted area, sweltering hot, and devoid of facilities.

Before and after Don’t expect too much of Broome hotels, many of which are expensive and basic. You don’t need to stay more than a night unless you want to kick back on Cable Beach. Cable Beach Club Resort is the place to be thanks to its shady compound, swimming pools, day spa and restaurant choices. If you prefer to be in town, then clifftop Mangrove Resort Hotel, with a restaurant and bar that overlook the ocean from tropical gardens, is a walk to Chinatown.

Going ashore The discovery of pearl shells in 1861 brought Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Malay divers to Broome. Tiny Chinatown features old corrugated-iron buildings with neat verandahs, multi-lingual street signs, red lanterns and Asian eateries and cafes. Johnny Chi Lane has evocative photos and descriptions of Chinatown in the early 19th century. Across the road is venerable Sun Pictures, the world’s oldest still-operational outdoor cinema. Outside town lie Chinese and Japanese cemeteries full of neglected tombstones.

Don’t miss An excellent exhibition at Pearl Luggers allows you to inspect two restored pearling ships and provides an overview of Broome’s pearling history. Former pearl divers give guided tours, and the adjacent museum doesn’t flinch from describing the dangers of pearl diving and the forced labour that many Aboriginal and Asian workers endured.

Get active Broome is hot and oppressively humid, so you won’t want to do more than take a very slow walk around its sights or walk along Cable Beach, where you might get a trickle of moving air from the ocean. Witnessing a sunset is the classic Broome experience and walking trails lead through the red dunes of Minyirr Park.

Best bites Head to Matsuo’s Broome Brewery to try its famous mango beer or ginger beer. The brewery gets its name from a general store once run by the Matsumoto family. Now diners and drinkers sit under the lazily turning fans of this wood-and-iron building, or sit under the trees in the garden. Asian influences are to the fore on the menu – try Singapore chilli crab, groper with pineapple and pawpaw salad, and the excellent Indian fish curry with mango pickle.

Further afield Beyond town, excursions will take you to see massive saltwater crocodiles at Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park or to visit Willie Creek Pearl Farm to learn about how oysters are seeded and pearls harvested. Gantheaume Point at Cable Beach’s southern end has dinosaur footprints preserved in orange sandstone. For a splurge, scenic flights will take you over the Buccaneer Archipelago, Horizontal Falls and Dampier Peninsula.