I pulled into Broome just as the last of the afternoon light turned Cable Beach a deep copper-red, and I remember thinking the next ten days were going to be hard to top. They very nearly were.
Adventure Tours Australia's Broome to Perth route is one of the longer overland circuits the company runs down the west coast, and it earns its reputation. You cover somewhere in the vicinity of 2,800 kilometres, staying in a mix of campgrounds and budget accommodation, with a small group (usually capped around fourteen passengers) and a guide who doubles as driver, cook, and local encyclopaedia. If you are the sort of traveller who wants to sleep under the Milky Way at Shark Bay, snorkel the Ningaloo Reef, and still have time to drink a Cabernet in wine country before the trip ends, this is the route that does it.
The Route at a Glance
The itinerary runs south from Broome along the Great Northern Highway and then Coastal Highway, hitting the key stops of the Kimberley fringe, Karijini National Park, Shark Bay, Ningaloo, and the South-West before rolling into Perth on day ten. The order matters: you leave the dry, ochre north and gradually move into greener, wetter terrain, which makes the landscape shift feel intentional rather than incidental.
Day 1–2: Broome and the Dampier Peninsula
Most groups spend the first morning in Broome itself — walking the pearling quarter on Dampier Terrace, looking at the open-air screening deck at Sun Pictures (said to be the world's oldest operating outdoor cinema), and getting acquainted with each other over coffee. By afternoon you are heading out to Cable Beach, which is genuinely as wide and unspoiled as the photographs suggest. The second day often includes a short detour toward the Dampier Peninsula if timing allows, though the full peninsula track to Cape Leveque is a separate excursion and not always included in the standard 10-day price. Confirm this with the operator before you book.
Day 3–4: Karijini National Park
This is the stretch that surprises most people who have not been before. Karijini sits in the Pilbara and the gorges — Hancock, Weano, Dales, Joffre — cut down through banded iron formations that are somewhere around 2.5 billion years old. The swimming holes inside the gorges are cold even in summer, fed by permanent water that seeps through the rock. I went into Handrail Pool at Weano Gorge and had to sit on the warm sandstone for a good twenty minutes afterwards to stop shivering. It is absolutely worth it. The campground inside the national park is run by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and the facilities are decent — flushing toilets, a camp kitchen, and enough space between sites that it does not feel overcrowded even during the busy dry-season months between May and September.
Ningaloo Reef and Coral Bay
Hitting the coast again after the red interior of Karijini is a genuine sensory shift. The water off the North West Cape is a particular shade of turquoise that you do not quite believe until you are floating in it. The Adventure Tours itinerary typically includes a snorkelling session off Turquoise Bay inside the Cape Range National Park, and if your timing is right between March and July you may still be in with a chance of a whale shark encounter (these are booked as an optional add-on through a licensed operator and the price varies by season).
Coral Bay
The overnight stop at Coral Bay is one of the highlights of the southern Ningaloo section. It is a small settlement — one main road, a handful of accommodation options, a few shops — but the reef comes almost to the beach here, meaning you can snorkel straight off the sand without a boat. I saw a loggerhead turtle within about three minutes of entering the water on my first afternoon. The town is also a reasonable base for optional glass-bottom boat tours if you want to see coral without getting wet. Do not expect nightlife or restaurant variety; bring a book and embrace the quiet.
Shark Bay World Heritage Area
Shark Bay is where the route starts to feel genuinely remote again after the relative activity of the Ningaloo coast. The Shark Bay region encompasses the Francois Peron National Park, the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool (living mats of microorganisms that are among the oldest life forms on earth), and Monkey Mia, where a small group of wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins comes into the shallows most mornings and has been doing so since the 1960s. The dolphin interaction at Monkey Mia is managed carefully by rangers — you stand in ankle-deep water and the dolphins approach on their own terms, with no touching allowed and feeding limited to a few designated individuals. It is a more considered wildlife experience than many expect, and better for it.
Hamelin Pool Stromatolites
The stromatolites do not photograph well and they do not do much. They sit in the hypersaline water of Hamelin Pool looking like lumpy grey rocks, and that is essentially what they are — except that they are built by living cyanobacteria using the same mechanism that first started producing oxygen in Earth's atmosphere roughly 3.5 billion years ago. Standing on the boardwalk reading about that context genuinely reframes the experience. Worth the half-hour detour.
The South-West and Margaret River
By day eight the landscape has changed almost completely. You are in the South-West now — jarrah and marri forests, limestone coastal cliffs, paddocks with actual green grass. The Margaret River region is the final natural highlight before Perth, and the contrast with the red country up north is striking enough that some passengers in my group said it felt like arriving in a different country.
What to Do in Margaret River on a Group Tour
Group tours through Margaret River tend to focus on the caves (Lake Cave and Jewel Cave are the two most commonly visited), a winery stop, and a walk to the river mouth at the town beach. If you have any flexibility in your schedule — some tours allow a free afternoon here — I would prioritise a walk along the Cape to Cape Track even if only for an hour or two. The coastal heath above the limestone cliffs is extraordinary in wildflower season (August to October), and the views back toward the Indian Ocean remind you how far you have come from Broome.
The wineries in the region are genuinely world-class and not just by Australian standards. The regional Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay styles have earned consistent international recognition, and most cellar doors are set up for visitors arriving by minibus. Ask your guide which doors the tour has a relationship with, as some operators have arrangements that include hosted tastings rather than a standard tasting fee.
Practical Information Before You Go
The best time to do this route is May to September, when the north is dry and warm rather than wet and oppressively humid, and the south is cool but not cold. Outside those months, Karijini can be inaccessibly hot and some gorge access is closed after rain. Pack for temperature variation: early mornings in the gorges in June can sit around 10°C while midday at Ningaloo will be mid-twenties. Layers and a decent sleeping bag liner will cover most situations.
Adventure Tours Australia operates this route as a fixed-departure small-group trip. Prices vary depending on the season and whether you choose camping or accommodation upgrades. Check current departure dates and pricing directly with the operator, and read the inclusions list carefully — some meals, park entry fees, and optional activities like whale shark swims are charged separately.
If you are travelling solo, the single-supplement question is worth asking directly; Adventure Tours has historically had a twin-share pairing system for solo travellers, but policies change. Book as early as you can for the May and June departures, which tend to fill first among international visitors arriving for the dry season.
