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Vlaming sailed past it. Dampier never noticed it. Flinders didn't see it. 19th Century pearl fishermen knew about it. Ships once stoped there to load ore. Flying from Derby will take you 35 minutes. Fly from Broome and it'll take you 65 minutes. Take a holiday there and it'll last forever. Part of the Buccaneer Archipelago - a thousand islands, a million bays. The lost paradise located.
From Collier Bay to King Sound, just north of Broome lies a group of scattered islands and low-lying reef known as the Buccaneer Archipelago. Named after William Dampiers adventurous ways, they comprise more than 800 islands covering an area of 50 square kilometres.
| Buccaneer Archipelago Hotels Cars Tour Specials | |
| Buccaneer Archipelago History | |
There are places sacred to the Aboriginal owners in the Buccaneer Archipelago. The Bardi people of the Kimberley for instance, were one of the few Aboriginal peoples that were seagoing.
The Buccaneer Archipelago and the Broome and the Kimberley regions were important parts of the trading route of the many Aboriginal tongues and the artefacts from the Kimberley region, such as the ochre earth and large trochus shells were valuable trading items.
Early pearling luggers stopped to gather ballast at Yampi Sound, now a popular place for whales to breed. Cockatoo and Koolan islands were made famous by BHP, the British company that mined iron-ore there. It closed its operations in 1984 and Cockatoo Island was once again open to the public.
More recently however, mining operations have recommenced and Cockatoo Island has been closed off again as a beautiful tourist resort, while the mine workers enjoy the spectacular location.
| Buccaneer Archipelago Today | |
Today, the Buccaneer Archipelago is otherwise practically uninhabited except for the diverse range of unusual and exciting animals found on the scattered islands. Many species of snake, gecko, monitors, lizards and dragons, bats, sea snakes, rock rats and crocodiles have been found.
The oceans off Australias North West have some of the highest tidal rise and falls of the world. A major attraction of the Buccaneer Archipelago is the Horizontal Waterfall caused by the powerful tidal movements in the area.
| Horizontal Waterfall Talbot Bay | |
Massive 11 metre tides pound through the close walls between two islands at Talbot Bay, creating the impossible effect of a horizontal waterfall flowing across the face of the ocean as waters surge at a massive pace through the tight spaces between narrow island gaps; the huge tides creating the effect of a flat waterfall flowing horizontally across the face of the ocean.
Another feature of the massive tidal flows are the stupendous whirlpools in the bays of the archipelago, an amazing sight to see. Any trip to Australias North West is not complete without a flight over the thousand islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago.
The Dampier Peninsula points its finger into the Buccaneer Archipelago. This remote area north of Broome and Derby is home to a number of Aboriginal Communities. The Dampier Peninsula is as breathtakingly beautiful as it is remote. Visitors are required to get permission before entering communities.
Central Buccaneer Archipelago Kimberley WA - Western Australia
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Western Australia - Map of Buccaneer Archipelago Australia
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