Roebuck Bay
91 Walcott St, Broome WA 6725, Australia +61 8 9192 1366 Website Broome Campervan Hire
acidicvocal (contributor)
This largely unappealing, though at times photogenic, bay is writ large in Broome’s history.
The English buccaneer William Dampier was the first European to actually visit Broome’s shores in 1688, after sailing north from Shark Bay in the H.M.S. Roebuck, and landing in the region of the Buccaneer Archipelago.
There’s a legend that says he also landed at what is today called Buccaneer Rock in Roebuck Bay and buried a pirate treasure chest.
You can see his ghost there at night, looking for his lost treasure with a lantern…then again, maybe you won’t; Dampier actually never landed at Roebuck Bay.
Still, the Dampier Archipelago, Dampier Peninsula, Roebuck Bay and of course the famous Roebuck Hotel on Dampier Terrace are all named after this first visit.
The bay itself is a mangrove lined mud flat sugject to huge tidal influence with the occasional croc or two. Not the sort of place to take the children……..then again, there have been times!