Cable Beach is a stretch of white sand beach on the eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and the name of the surrounding suburb in

Broome, Western Australia Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. In the the population was recorded as 14,660. It is the largest town in the Kimberley reg ...

. Cable Beach was named after the

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

cable laid between Broome and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

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. In 2016, the population was 5,436.

Geography

Gantheaume Point Gantheaume Point is a promontory about from Broome, Western Australia. It was named on 24 July 1801 for Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume, by Nicolas Baudin during the Baudin expedition to Australia: this was a French expedition to map the coas ...

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 A fossil track or ichnite (Greek "''ιχνιον''" (''ichnion'') – a track, trace or footstep) is a fossilized footprint. This is a type of trace fossil. A fossil trackway is a sequence of fossil tracks left by a single organism. Over the year ...

estimated at 130 million years old are visible in the rocks at low tides. 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 The Yawuru, also spelt Jawuru, are an Indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Language A Japanese linguist, Hosokawa Kōmei (細川弘明), compiled the first basic dictionary of the Yawuru language in 1988, a ...

people.

Flora and fauna

Box jellyfish Box jellyfish (class Cubozoa) are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their box-like (i.e. cube-shaped) body. Some species of box jellyfish produce potent venom delivered by contact with their tentacles. Stings from some species, including '' ...

, also known as stingers, may be present between November and April 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. There have been cases where crocodiles have been sighted off the shore occasionally and preventative measures are taken.

Human use

Cable Beach is home to one of Australia's most famous

nudist beach A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nude. Nude beaches usually have mixed bathing. Such beaches are usually on public lands, and any member of the public is allowed to ...

es. 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, away.

Four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

vehicles are permitted north of the rocks. This allows people to explore the beach at low tide to a much greater extent than would be possible on foot. Camel rides are offered around sunrise and sunset hours on the northern parts of the beach just past a rocky section.

Crocodile park

The Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park is located near Cable Beach and was established in 1983 by the late Malcolm Douglas and holds 30 adult crocodiles that have been captured in the wild after threatening humans. The park is home to Fatso, a saltwater crocodile who on 12 July 2010 bit a Melbourne man, Michael Newman, who climbed into his enclosure.

References

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External links

Kimberley region tourism

Western Australia tourism
Beaches of Western Australia Suburbs of Broome, Western Australia Nude beaches