80 Mile Beach near Broome; picture perfect coast camping

80 Mile Beach often gets a mention when people talk about camping around Broome. It’s a lovely little spot right behind a small sand dune where a huge number of people enjoy the amazing weather for months at time! For us, it was a stop over on the way to Broome, and Cape Leveque.

If you are looking for other sites nearby, check out 5 amazing camp sites between Port Hedland and Broome.

What’s there?

In essence, 80 mile beach is a Caravan Park with a few chalets. There are powered and unpowered sites, drinking water, a small store, lots of grass and a beautiful beach.

Everything runs off a generator. It is hugely popular, and we were quite shocked to see how many people were there when we arrived (early June).

80 Mile Beach camp — There’s lots of room, and lots of people

Where is it?

80 Mile beach is roughly 350km south of Broome, accessed by a 11km gravel road that is kept in fairly good condition. If you haven’t done much gravel driving, maybe you will consider it is a bit rough, but realistically, its in good condition.

Barn Hill Station is a further 256km north east of 80 Mile Beach, and is another hugely popular coastal camp site between Port Hedland and Broome. Alternatively, you also have Port Smith, the incredible Pardoo Station and Cape Keraudren.

80 mile beach

The beach itself is magic. Its blue, stretches forever, and you’ve got a big tide to follow up and down. We found more shells here than anywhere else on our travel, and had a lot of fun walking up and down the endless beach

How much is it to camp?

Camping is $35 per night for two adults, in an unpowered site.

What facilities do they have?

There’s a general store (which is fairly well stocked), nice toilets and showers, drinking water and the usual caravan park facilities.

Can you drive on the beach?

You are allowed to drive your 4WD on the beach, despite it being a turtle breeding location and very popular for those fishing.

This means you have a responsibility to drive sensibly, and look after the privilege. There’s a small section either side of the entrance that is limited to 15kmh, but you can drive north or south for many kilometres.

Beach driving at 80 mile — Driving down onto the beach

Fishing at 80 mile beach

One of the big attractions of 80 mile is the fishing. In peak season, the shore is lined with people fishing. Take your 4WD and drive north or south, if you want a slice of paradise to yourself! The prized catch is threadfin Salmon, which are in abundance with the right tide change.

Can you swim at 80 Mile Beach?

Everyone says you cant swim at Eighty mile beach because of the sharks. In actual fact, you can do what you want.

If you want to swim, you can; they don’t ban you from it, but there are sharks around. That said, the sharks are generally the smaller type that you regularly see up north and I don’t believe there’s ever been a shark attack there.

I wouldn’t hesitate to have a dip close to the shore, but you have to accept the risk yourself! If you do go in, stay close to the shore, keep your wits about you and enjoy the beach for what it is.

Long term residents

We were amazed to see how many people were staying at 80 mile on a more permanent basis. A lot of people only came in for a few nights, but plenty of people were staying for more than a couple of weeks, with some up to several months of the year. It must be alright if you’d want to spend that long!

80 mile beach store

The store has quite a number of items stocked, including a good variety of ice creams (and spooned ones too). They also sell food in the evenings, and have hamburger nights etc

Market days

On Wednesday and Sunday, those staying at the Caravan Park can participate in the markets. Various people bring different things down, and you can buy and sell them as you please. Books, DVD’s, jewellery, wooden art etc are all common items sold, along with clothing, toys etc.