Dampier Salt loading facility

Dampier is a company town and port of Hamersley Iron Pty. Ltd. which operates mines at Tom Price and Paraburdoo 290 km to the east in the Hamersley Ranges. The town was created in the 1960s for workers at Hamersley Iron's bulk loading terminal on King Bay. Its name recalls British sea captain William Dampier, who visited and explored the coastal region in 1688 aboard Capt. Swan's Cygnet, returning in 1699 aboard Roebuck. His findings were published in two volumes which were the first descriptions about the Australian continent to be published.

Karratha

A sister town to Dampier, it operates as the administrative and commercial centre of the region and the massive North West Shelf Project, situated on nearby Burrup Peninsula. Karratha came into existence because of the Hamersley Iron Project and the lack of suitable land for expansion at the port of Dampier. It has become a base for visitors to explore Dampier, Roebourne, Wickham, Cossack and Point Samson.

Port Hedland

The oldest port in the Pilbara region, Port Hedland today serves the iron ore mines of Mt Goldsworthy, Shay Gap and Mt Newman. Built on an island 13 km long and 1.6 km wide, it is connected to the mainland by four long causeways over tidal creeks. South Hedland was established in the early 1970s to house the workforce that increased dramatically after the establishment of the shipping operations associated with Mt. Newman Mining Company.

Roebourne

Roebourne Historic Prison

An old goldming town, Roebourne prospered during its gold boom of the late 19th century and was once the biggest settlement between Darwin and Perth. Now the administrative cdentre of the West Pilbara Coast region, Roebourne has retained its special character with its historic buildings and pioneering history. The town has continued to develop and is a thriving hub for Aboriginal enterprise and culture.

Onlslow and the Mackerel Islands

Onslow

One of the oldest settlements on the West Pilbara Coast (it was settled in 1883), Onslow was originally home to a fleet of pearling luggers. Due to the movement of the river over the years, the town and many of its historic buildings were relocated in 1925 to the new township site. Over the years it has been battered by more cylones than the locals care to remember, but the town has always picked itself up and got back to business.
That business today includes tourism. One of the big attractions is Mother Nature’s amazing monthly event, the Staircase to the Moon.

Another is Mackerel Islands, located 22 kilometres off the Onslow coast. The surrounding reef system provides a valuable link for marine life between the Ningaloo Reef to the south and the Dampier Archipelago, Montebello Islands and Rowley Shoals to the north. This makes it an ideal site for diving, snorkeling and fishing. The daily catch includes red emperor, spangled emperor, golden trevally, giant trevally and coral trout.

Hearsons Cove

Hearsons Cove, located on the Burrup Peninsula between Karratha and Dampier, is one of the many beautiful beaches in this region. This lovely sheltered cove is a popular swimming and picnic spot all year round and is ideal for children as its water is calm and clear. It’s also one of only a few locations where you can view the spectacular Staircase to the Moon event. Hearsons Cove is a half-hour drive from Karratha.

Cape Keraudren

A Nature Reserve, Cape Keraudren is a popular rest stop for travellers driving from the West Pilbara Coast to Broome. Here there are turtles, sea anemones and octopus to be found in its many tidal pools. White sands, aquamarine waters and fabulous fishing not to mention the mud crabs make this a very pretty and interesting spot. Its pristine whie sands, which stretch as far as the eye can see, mark the beginning of Eighty Mile Beach. Cape Keraudren is 165km north of Port Hedland.

Staircase To The Moon

Between March and October each year, when conditions are just right, visitors to the North West region of WA are treated to a natural spectacle - the Staircase to the Moon. This natural phenomenon of the Staircase to the Moon occurs only when the full moon rises over the exposed mudflats at times of extremely low tides, creating the optical illusion of a staircase reaching for the moon.

The staircase occurs three nights each month from March to October. The best viewing spots are at Roebuck Bay in Broome; Cooke Point in Port Hedland; the Lookout at Cossack; Hearson's Cove, located on the Burrup Peninsula between Karratha and Dampier; and Sunrise Beach in Onslow.
Local night markets are often held at Town Beach in Broome on Staircase to the Moon dates, where you can sample local fare, purchase crafts and see talented local entertainers perform.
Note: being a natural phenomenon, the “Staircase to the Moon” cannot be guaranteed to be seen due to prevailing weather conditions on the day.
Staircase to the Moon scheduled dates

Cossack

This former centre for pearling activities in the region, now a ghost town, has been turned into a tourist attraction. Situated at the mouth of the Harding River 12 km north of Roebourne, Cossack prospered for many years through pearling until the turn of the 20th century, when the port silted up and its activities were transferred to Port Samson.

Dampier Archipelago

The Dampier Archipelago is a string of 42 pristine islands that lie off the coast of Dampier and Point Samson. Home to a large and diverse number of marine species, 25 of the islands are protected as part of the Dampier Archipelago Marine Park, making them one of Western Australia’s best diving and snorkelling spots. The islands’ white sandy beaches and blue waters also make them an ideal location for swimming or just lazing the day away.
Dugong and bottlenose dolphins are often sighted in the waters of the Dampier Archipelago, while humpback whales are regularly seen between July and September, as they make their way north to breed. Green, loggerhead, flatback and hawksbill turtles use the beaches during the nesting season, from September to April.
This coastal playground also offers world-class fishing spots for deep water, reef or sheltered inlet fishing.

Burrup Peninsula

"The Burrup," as the locals call it, is the site of hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal rock engravings that are distributed over an area of 88 sq. km. Situated 28 kilometres northwest of Karratha the peninsula - once an island - takes its name from its highest hill, Mt. Burrup. The former island in the Dampier Archipelago was connected with the mainland by a causeway for a railway line and a road in 1979.
Deep Gorge is at the centre of the peninsula's wonderful natural record of Aboriginal culture. This area is recognised as one of the most prolific Aboriginal art sites in Australia. Over 10,000 individual rock engravings (petroglyphs) and etchings have been located in this archaeologically rich region. The rock art ranges from small engravings of Emu tracks to very large ones representing a corroborree or ceremony, and even Aboriginal figures climbing a ship's mast. They depict a Tasmanian tiger, whales, kangaroos, emus and thousands of Aboriginal ceremonies.

Barrow Island

The first European record of the island was made in 1622 by John Brooks, master of the Dutch East India Company ship Tryal. In 1818, Lieutenant Phillip Parker King, who was surveying the northwest Australian coast, named the island 'Barrow's Island', after John Barrow, a Secretary of the British Admiralty.
In 1954, geologists working for West Australian Petroleum (WAPET) recognised the potential for oil fields. Oil first flowed on Barrow Island on 7th July 1964, and on 26 May 1966 Barrow was declared a commercial field. Within 8 years, WAPET had produced its 100 millionth barrel of oil from Barrow Island. Today, there are over 400 production wells on the island. Production peaked in 1971 at 50000 barrels a day. The average today is around 14000 barrels per day.

Montebello Islands

Situated approximately 75 nautical miles north of Onslow and 20 km north of Barrow Island, the Montebellos were named by the French navigator Nicolas Baudin in August 1801. The earliest known European use of the islands was in 1622, when one of Australia's first recorded shipwrecks, that of the Trial took place just west of the Monte Bellos. The survivors of the wreck spent seven days on the northern islands before setting forth for the East Indies.
3rd October 1952, Britain detonated its first atom bomb aboard the HMS Plym, which was anchored offshore of Trimouille, one of the Monte Bello Islands. It was the beginning of a series of 29 British nuclear tests in Australia and several South Pacific islands from 1952 to 1958.
Today the waters around the Monte Bello Islands provide excellent sheltered anchorages for vessels of all sizes and are frequently visited during the winter months by numerous boats. Some islands have been zoned for recreation, while others have been reserved for the protection of nesting seabirds and turtles.