What's on in Broome (Cable Beach), Australia through the year

Busy — Summer holidays in Australia, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Irukandji and box jellyfish (1 Nov – 30 Apr), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Irukandji and box jellyfish (1 Nov – 30 Apr), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)

Busy — Staircase to the Moon

• Nature

  Staircase to the Moon

  1 Mar – 31 Oct · usuallyDark-sky seasonCrowded

  On two or three nights around each full moon between March and October, the moon rises over the exposed mudflats of Roebuck Bay and the reflection reads as a stairway. Town runs a market for it and the viewing spots fill early. Source ↗

Still on: Irukandji and box jellyfish (1 Nov – 30 Apr), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)

Peak crowds — Staircase to the Moon, Autumn / Easter break in Australia

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Staircase to the Moon (1 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), Irukandji and box jellyfish (1 Nov – 30 Apr), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)

Peak crowds — Staircase to the Moon, Dry-season peak

• Season

  Dry-season peak

  1 May – 30 SepDry seasonCrowdedBook early

  May to September is the town's whole year: the Kimberley tracks are open, the caravan parks fill with people driving north out of the southern winter, and rooms cost what the market will bear.

Still on: Staircase to the Moon (1 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Staircase to the Moon, Dry-season peak

• Nature

  Humpbacks off the Kimberley

  15 Jun – 15 Sep · usuallyWhale season

  One of the largest humpback populations anywhere calves in Kimberley water and passes Broome from late June. The boats run daily through July and August; from the shore, Gantheaume Point is the patient option. Source ↗

Still on: Staircase to the Moon (1 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), Dry-season peak (1 May – 30 Sep)

Peak crowds — Staircase to the Moon, Dry-season peak

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Staircase to the Moon (1 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), Dry-season peak (1 May – 30 Sep), Humpbacks off the Kimberley (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Staircase to the Moon, Dry-season peak

• Festival

  Shinju Matsuri

  21 Aug – 6 SepMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The Festival of the Pearl runs a fortnight at the end of the dry, built around the Japanese, Malay, Chinese and Aboriginal families the pearling luggers left behind. Lantern parade, long-table dinners on the sand, dragon boats. Source ↗

Still on: Staircase to the Moon (1 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), Dry-season peak (1 May – 30 Sep), Humpbacks off the Kimberley (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Staircase to the Moon, Dry-season peak

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Staircase to the Moon (1 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), Dry-season peak (1 May – 30 Sep), Humpbacks off the Kimberley (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Shinju Matsuri (21 Aug – 6 Sep)

Peak crowds — Staircase to the Moon, Spring break in Australia

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Staircase to the Moon (1 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Irukandji and box jellyfish

  1 Nov – 30 AprInsect season

  Through the wet the shire advises a stinger suit or no swim at all, and lifeguards drag Cable Beach twice a day. Stings have happened outside the window too, so treat it as the risky half rather than the only half. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Cyclone season

  1 Nov – 30 Apr

  The north-west is the most cyclone-exposed coast in Australia. Broome is built for it and most weeks pass quietly, but a warning shuts the airport and empties the caravan parks in a day. Source ↗

Busy — Summer holidays in Australia, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Irukandji and box jellyfish (1 Nov – 30 Apr), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)