Cable Beach
Western Australia
Cable Beach at low tide
Cable Beach is located in Western Australia
Cable Beach
Cable Beach
Coordinates17°57′08″S 122°12′20″E / 17.952226°S 122.205577°E / -17.952226; 122.205577
Population5,730 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)6726
Area9.4 km2 (3.6 sq mi)
Location4 km (2 mi) west of Broome CBD
LGA(s)Shire of Broome
State electorate(s)Kimberley
Federal division(s)Durack

Cable Beach is a 22 km (14 mi) stretch of white sand beach on the eastern Indian Ocean and the name of the surrounding suburb in Broome, Western Australia. Cable Beach was named after the telegraph cable laid between Broome and Java in 1889. Low cliffs of red ochre rise behind the very flat and wide beach, with waves that are mostly gentle in the dry season from May to October.[2] In 2016, the population was 5,436.[3]

Geography

Gantheaume Point is located at the extreme southern end of the beach. The Gantheaume Point lighthouse is a good place for observing dolphins and migrating whales during their migration seasons. Dinosaur footprints estimated at 130 million years old are visible in the rocks at low tides.[2]

Minyirr Park is located adjacent to the southern section of the beach with walking trails that traverse the area behind the red ochre dunes. The park is a coastal reserve that protects the traditional land of the Yawuru people.[2][4]

Panorama of Cable Beach

Flora and fauna

Box jellyfish, also known as stingers, may be present between November and April[5] and caution is required when swimming there during this period. Warning signs are posted on the beach and stingers may be present outside the normal wet season months.[6][7]

There have been cases where crocodiles have been sighted off the shore occasionally and preventative measures are taken.

Human use

A camel train on the beach

Cable Beach is home to one of Australia's most famous nudist beaches.[8] The clothes-optional area is to the north of the beach access road from the car park and continues to the mouth of Willie Creek, 17 km (11 mi) away.[lower-alpha 1]

Four-wheel drive vehicles are permitted north of the rocks.[2][4] This allows people to explore the beach at low tide to a much greater extent than would be possible on foot.

Camel rides are available around sunrise and sunset hours.[9]

The suburb contains a government primary school, Cable Beach Primary School.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Cable Beach (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Cable Beach". Tourism Australia. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Cable Beach". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Cable Beach". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Cable Beach". Kimberley Australia. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Irukandji stings close Cable Beach". The West Australian. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Cable Beach in Broome closed after irukandji jellyfish scare". ABC News. 10 September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Parke, Erin (24 July 2016). "Broome nudists in battle for beach as naturism declines". ABC News. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Camel Rides". Broome Visitor Centre. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
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