Honeymoon Bay (Kalumburu / McGowan Island / Napier Broome Bay)

Honeymoon Bay and its neighbour McGowan Island sit on Napier Broome Bay just north of Kalumburu, which the Honeymoon Bay camp bills as the most northern Aboriginal community reachable by vehicle. Getting here is the whole commitment — Kalumburu is around 550km from Kununurra and 650km from Derby, the last 267km on the unsealed, corrugated Kalumburu Road. What you get for it is a family-run beach camp that anglers treat as a base, a bay you can launch a tinnie into off the sand, and a species list that runs from barramundi and threadfin in the creeks to Spanish mackerel, queenfish and coral trout out on the bay. Where Wyndham is the gulf fishery with a jetty and a hospital, this is the one with neither — and a great deal more road between you and the next angler. Kalumburu is Kwini country, and the rules of visiting come from the community, not the fishing guide.

The standard play is to bring a trailer tinnie and launch it off the sandy beach at the head of Honeymoon Bay — there is no concrete ramp to speak of, so check the tide before you commit the trailer. From the boat, troll 120–150mm diving minnows along the headlands and bay islands for Spanish mackerel and queenfish, then work rocky ground with jigs or bait for coral trout, bluebone and fingermark. Barramundi, mangrove jack and threadfin come from the mangrove creeks off the bay — the Drysdale River mouth is a no-fishing sanctuary zone and the tidal Drysdale inside the marine park carries a one-fish daily limit — cast hard at the snags with 90–120mm hardbodies on the run-out. Shore anglers fish the beach at the head of the bay and the rock outcrops beside McGowan's beach for trevally and queenfish. No boat of your own means booking a half-day charter out of Honeymoon Bay — five seats, gear supplied.

Barramundi are the most-targeted fish, backed by queenfish, trevally and Spanish mackerel on the bay and a reef mix of coral trout, bluebone (black-spot tuskfish) and fingermark (golden snapper) over rocky ground. Mangrove jack and threadfin salmon work the creeks and estuaries, and sharks turn up to anything that struggles long enough. Mud crabs live in the mangroves (green 150mm, brown 120mm carapace width, bag 5), but the drains they live in are croc territory, so work them from the boat, not on foot.

The community asks visitors to eat their catch while they are at Kalumburu rather than filling an esky for home, and encourages catch-and-release — take the ask seriously. Fish frames go well away from camp, never at the water's edge where they train crocs to patrol the beach. Honeymoon Bay takes bookings for its shacks only — camping is first come, first served — so arrive early in the day in the peak dry-season months. Sandflies at Honeymoon Bay depend on the weather; pack repellent and long sleeves regardless. Mobile coverage is a single Optus small cell in Kalumburu township (any phone can call 000 on it), with none along the Kalumburu Road or at the camps — Honeymoon Bay has a payphone and wi-fi, so carry satellite messaging for anything beyond that.

Turn north off the Gibb River Road onto the Kalumburu Road, around 280km by road from Kununurra, and drive 267km of unsealed, heavily corrugated road to Kalumburu — a high-clearance 4WD with fuel, water, food, spares and medical supplies is the community's own stated requirement. Drysdale River Station is the only supply point along the Kalumburu Road, and fuel and groceries in Kalumburu come from the Uraro Store on limited hours. Visitors need a free transit permit from the Aboriginal Lands Trust (applied for through the WA Government) plus a separate paid Kalumburu visitor pass, bought from the Community Resource and Visitor Centre or the Uraro Store, before staying or camping. Honeymoon Bay is roughly 25km north of town and McGowan's Sunset Beach about 7km south-west of it; both are signposted camps with their own camping fees, and Honeymoon Bay has hot showers, flushing toilets and a kiosk but no powered sites. Kalumburu is a dry community — alcohol is banned outright and police can prosecute. The alternative to the drive is a flight from Kununurra or Wyndham into Kalumburu, with airport pick-ups offered by the Honeymoon Bay camp.

This is a strict dry-season fishery — Honeymoon Bay operates April to November, and the Kalumburu Road often becomes impassable in the wet. The road has several water crossings, so early-season trips depend on how late the last rain fell — check road reports before leaving the Gibb River Road. There are no formal ramps, so the tide decides when a tinnie goes on and off the beach. The back end of the season heats up into the build-up before the wet shuts the road for another year.

Saltwater crocodiles are everywhere here — the community warns they are prevalent in the rivers, estuaries and bays, campers report crocs patrolling off Honeymoon Bay beach, and long-time visitors say both camps have them whatever anyone says. No swimming, no wading to free a snag, no cleaning fish at the water's edge, and keep well back from the bank when landing fish or launching off the beach; sharks and stingrays are also prevalent. The remoteness compounds everything: no mobile coverage outside Kalumburu township, a corrugated 267km road back to the Gibb River Road, a nurse-run clinic back in town and hospital care a long flight away — carry a PLB or satellite communicator, a proper first-aid kit and recovery gear. Honeymoon Bay and McGowan Island sit inside the North Kimberley Marine Park's Drysdale River and Napier Broome Bay Special Purpose Zone, where recreational fishing is allowed — but the Drysdale River mouth north-east of the camp is a sanctuary zone with no fishing at all, and the park's management plan sets a one-fish daily bag limit on the tidal Drysdale River waters inside the zone, so carry the DBCA zoning map or confirm boundaries with Parks and Wildlife in Kununurra before fishing the Drysdale side. Shooting is banned at Kalumburu and surrounds, campfires are allowed only at designated campsites using fallen timber, and bushfires run through the country in the dry.

Yes, two. Visitors need a free transit permit from the Aboriginal Lands Trust to travel through Aboriginal land to Kalumburu, plus a paid Kalumburu visitor pass to stay or camp, available from the Community Resource and Visitor Centre or the Uraro Store. The camping fees at Honeymoon Bay and McGowan's are separate again. Check current prices with the Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation before you go, as they change.

Yes — many campers bring trailer tinnies and launch them straight off the sandy beach at the head of the bay. There is no formal boat ramp, so time launches and retrievals around the tide and keep well back from the water's edge, because crocodiles are regularly seen off the beach. If you don't have a boat, the Honeymoon Bay camp runs half-day fishing charters for up to five people with gear supplied.

Barramundi are the most-targeted species, with mangrove jack and threadfin salmon in the creeks and estuaries. Out on Napier Broome Bay there are Spanish mackerel, queenfish and trevally, plus coral trout, bluebone (black-spot tuskfish) and fingermark over rocky ground and reef. The community asks visitors to eat what they catch while at Kalumburu and encourages catch-and-release.

No. Kalumburu is a dry community — alcohol is banned outright and breaches can be prosecuted by police. That applies to the camps at Honeymoon Bay and McGowan Island as well, so empty the car fridge before you turn onto the Kalumburu Road.

Plan for the dry season only. The 267km unsealed Kalumburu Road often becomes impassable in the wet, and the Honeymoon Bay camp operates from April to November. The road has several water crossings, so check current road reports before leaving the Gibb River Road, especially early in the season.