Cleaverville (Cleaverville Creek / Cleaverville Beach)

Cleaverville is the City of Karratha's nature-based camp ground on the coast east of town, strung along the shore beside Cleaverville Creek, and for a good slice of the grey-nomad population it is where May to September gets spent. The appeal is simple — a creek mouth, a rock platform over a deep channel, a natural boat launch and reef within a couple of kilometres, all a few steps from the caravan. Five-metre tides do the housekeeping twice a day, and the camp's social calendar is essentially the tide chart.

The rock platform on the western side of the creek, past the launch, drops into the deepest water land-based anglers get here — spin 20–40g metals and poppers for trevally and queenfish, or hop soft plastics and vibes along the channel floor for threadfin and the odd black jewfish. Around the mouth itself, slow-cranked small hardbodies find bream as the tide floods the shallows, and pink plastics on the run-out find flathead waiting at the drop-offs. Up the creek, the snags and a rock bar near two feeder creeks hold mangrove jack and cod for anyone with a tinny or a kayak, and the bends with deeper holes on the eastern arms give up threadfin on vibes during neaps. Out front, the beach and rocky headlands take a cast for trevally, queenfish and cod over the rock, and small boats find grass emperor, tuskfish and coral trout 1–2km offshore.

Threadfin and blue salmon, queenfish and trevally carry the creek mouth and shoreline, with bream and flathead on the flats at the mouth and mangrove jack and cod in the upper creek. The odd black jewfish comes out of the deep channel on plastics. Boat anglers working the inshore reefs report grass emperor as the main catch, with tuskfish and the occasional coral trout, and red emperor on deeper ground further out. The north creek throws up the occasional barramundi, but nobody should drive out for one.

Local advice splits between the creek mouth on neap tides, when the channel is fishable, and the hour either side of high tide off the mouth rocks — both beat fishing the middle of a spring run. Brighter, flashier lures suit clear water; noisier poppers and rattlers earn their place when it colours up. Launch small boats on the top of the tide and be back before the bottom falls out, or the trailer spends the afternoon as a garden ornament on the flats. The City requires fish offal to be wrapped and binned, not tipped back into the creek — which also keeps the camp from advertising itself to anything with teeth.

Cleaverville Road turns off the North West Coastal Highway east of Karratha and runs about 13–14km of maintained limestone-gravel to the camp — the City puts the trip at 20 minutes from town, and caravans, buses and 2WDs make it in dry weather, though several tracks around the camp and toward the beach need 4WD. The City runs a natural boat launch, toilets for day users only and sullage disposal points; there is no drinking water, so bring all of it. Peak camping season runs 1 May to 30 September, with a permit booked and paid online before arrival at $16 a night and a caretaker on site who directs you to a site; each campsite must have its own chemical toilet. Off season (1 October to 30 April) is free but capped at three nights per 28 days, and the peak-season cap is 28 days in any three months. Dogs are permitted under the Dog Act, and generators go off between 10pm and 6am. Cooking fires need your own firewood, and no open fires are allowed on high, extreme or catastrophic fire danger days.

The City warns of 5-metre tides, and they rule everything here — beach campers should check the high-water line before pitching. The run-in is the general shoreline and reef-edge window, with neaps the easier time to fish the creek channel. Easterlies dominate the dry season until about late August, when westerly sea breezes take over, and afternoons are the windier half of the day year-round, so small-boat trips to the reefs are morning work. From November to April the camp sits in cyclone country, and the City closes it when a Yellow Alert is issued and reopens it on the All Clear — watch DFES alerts from Blue onwards.

Saltwater crocodiles are a real risk here — rangers closed Cleaverville Beach for a weekend in August 2024 during a run of croc sightings in the region, as confirmed reports push further down the Pilbara coast. Treat the creek, the mangrove edges and the mouth as croc habitat: don't wade the creek, keep back from the water's edge on the platform, and clean fish well away from it. The 5-metre tides strand boats and flood low beach campsites, so plan every launch and beach pitch around the chart. Wear closed shoes on the rock platform and flats, and carry more water than you expect to need — there is none on site.

During the peak season from 1 May to 30 September, the City of Karratha charges $16 a night, booked and paid online before arrival, with a maximum stay of 28 days in any three months. From 1 October to 30 April there is no fee, but stays are capped at three nights per 28 days. Check the City's camping page for current rates.

There is no drinking water on site, so bring your full supply. The City provides toilets for day users only — every campsite must have its own chemical toilet — and sullage disposal points.

Generally yes. The access road off the North West Coastal Highway is about 13–14km of maintained gravel, and plenty of caravans, buses and 2WDs camp there in the dry. Some tracks around the camp and toward the beach need 4WD.

Land-based anglers get trevally, queenfish, blue salmon and threadfin off the rock platform and creek mouth, bream and flathead in the shallows, and mangrove jack and cod up the creek. Small boats find grass emperor, tuskfish and occasional coral trout on reefs 1–2km offshore.

Yes, and more often than they used to be. DBCA confirmed more saltwater crocodile sightings along the Pilbara coast in 2024 than in the previous decade combined, and rangers closed Cleaverville Beach for a weekend in August 2024 during that run of sightings. Treat the creek and mangrove edges as croc habitat, don't wade the creek, and clean fish well away from the water.