Broome sunset cruise: which to book

Cruise or coach tour: what each one is

Two products cover the Broome sunset. The catamaran cruise is a boat trip: you are collected from your accommodation, walk onto Cable Beach, wade out to a tender and sail on a 42-foot catamaran for about three hours. The afternoon town tour is a six-hour coach trip around Broome that ends with refreshments on the beach at sunset, with no boat at all. They share a sunset and little else, so decide first whether you want to be on the water or on land with a guide. The rest of this page helps you pick.

What the catamaran cruise includes

The ticket is built around a short list. Transport comes first: a courtesy bus collects you from your accommodation and gives a brief tour of town on the way to Cable Beach. From the sand a tender carries you out to the catamaran, Ballena, a 42-foot boat that is both powered and sail-capable, and brings you back at the end. On board, the crew serve canapés from a grazing board, and the fare includes a beer or wine from the licensed bar. The cruise itself runs about three hours; with the transfers, the outing takes closer to three and a half.

• Pick-up and drop-off at your Broome accommodation
• A tender between the beach and the boat
• Canapés and a grazing board
• A beer or wine from the licensed bar
• Boom net swimming when conditions permit

What costs extra on the boat

The first beer or wine is part of the fare. Anything beyond it is the main extra: the licensed bar sells more beer and wine, cocktails and mango daiquiris, so take a card or some cash. Chilled, filtered drinking water is free on board, the operator's FAQ says. The canapés are a light spread for grazing, not a seated meal, so eat something earlier if you want dinner. Apart from further drinks, the operator's own list of inclusions covers the whole outing: the return transfers, the cruise, the canapés, a beer or wine and the boom net, when conditions permit. The bar is the one place you will want money in your pocket.

What the town tour with a beach sunset covers

The town tour is a different day out. A local guide leads about six hours on an air-conditioned coach, with commentary, through Chinatown and the pearling history behind it, with stops at Sun Pictures, the Japanese Cemetery and Town Beach, and a beer tasting at a local brewery on the way. The sunset is watched from Gantheaume Beach with light refreshments and nibbles. The coach then makes a brief stop at Cable Beach, and you are dropped at your accommodation at about 6:30 pm, or you can stay on the sand.

• Runs on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, April to October
• Pick-up time is confirmed after booking
• Minimum numbers apply, so a departure can be cancelled
• No boat and no swimming

Read next: Broome town tour with beach sunset

Where the sun sets, and when

Cable Beach runs about 22 kilometres along the Indian Ocean, so the sun drops into open water. Sunset in Broome is earliest in early June, around 5:22 pm, and latest in January, around 6:33 pm; in October it falls close to 5:50 pm. That is why the cruise sets off in the afternoon and why the town tour drops you off after sunset. Gantheaume Beach, where the town tour watches the sun go down, lies by Gantheaume Point at at the southern end of the same beach, so both sunsets face the same ocean.

The boom net season

The boom net is a swimming net that trails from the boat, so you can cool off in open water with the catamaran beside you. It runs from April to early October, and only when conditions permit, so a rough or windy evening can mean no swim. The season follows the dry months. The operator says stingers are more common in the wet season and that swimming is offered only in the months authorities recommend, so a summer booking is a boat ride and a drink, not a swim.

Tides, the tender and the landing

Broome has a very large tidal range: in Roebuck Bay the sea rises and falls by an average of 5.7 metres, and by up to 10.5 metres at the biggest spring tides. Cable Beach tides can top nine metres. That is why you board by wading to a tender, through salt water the operator puts a little above the ankle. Some guests describe the return landing at low tide as soft and muddy, and the operator says the landing can be tricky at certain tides. Wear slip-on shoes, which can stay on the courtesy bus.

Wind decides the route

Sailing happens only when the weather permits, the operator says. Guests describe an evening when a strong wind kept the boat inside Roebuck Bay instead of out from Cable Beach, and another with so little breeze that the catamaran barely sailed. In both cases the cruise ran, the canapés and drinks were served and the sun still went down. Treat a proper sail as a bonus, not as part of the ticket: what you are buying is a sunset from the water, with the boom net in season.

Read next: Broome sunset cruise: what to bring

A quick way to choose

If you only remember one thing, remember what each evening is built around. The catamaran is built around being on the water, with a swim in season. The town tour is built around Broome's story and a sunset on a headland. Neither one changes the sky: both face the Indian Ocean and both finish after the sun is down. Answer the questions below and the choice usually makes itself.

• Want a swim at sunset between April and October? Take the cruise
• Prefer history, a tasting and a coach seat? Take the town tour
• Travelling on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday? The town tour does not run, so look at the cruise

Who this isn't for

Skip the catamaran if you can't board and leave the boat under your own steam: passengers must manage the wade, the tender and the step aboard themselves, and wheelchair users can't be accommodated. It also isn't a dinner: the food is canapés, with a beer or wine to go with them. If wildlife is the priority, other local operators run sunset cruises into Roebuck Bay with dolphin spotting. And if all you want is to see the sun go down, you can watch it free from the sand at Cable Beach, where camel rides also run around sunset.

Booking and cancelling

The booking page shows availability for a date, and you can reserve now and pay later. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before the start, for a full refund. Pick-up details appear once you choose a date, and the operator confirms your pick-up time after booking, updating it a few hours before departure. Both products are booked on the same site, so you can compare the two dates before you commit. Be at the pick-up point, or at the tender, on time: the operator treats a missed tender as a no-show.