Mangrove Mudskippers use their pectoral fins to propel themselves along the surface in a series of hops and skips. The same fins also allow them to climb mangrove trees.

Paul Elliott
Eco Beach Nature and Activities Guide

A messenger from Hogwarts School of Wizardry mingling with Muggles? No, just a high profile VIP. Not since supermodel Miranda Kerr’s visit earlier this year has Eco Beach had such a distinguished guest.

Recently, a Barn Owl has taken to roosting in fishing guide Kurt Williamson’s tackle shed. At dusk, the owl sallies forth from Kurt’s shed in search of a meal. With night vision roughly one hundred times more effective than humans, barn owls are highly successful nocturnal hunters. Even in pitch black conditions or in thick grass, by using their ultra-sensitive ears to detect noise and their heart-shaped faces as sound direction finders, barn owls are still capable of rustling up a meal.

Other nocturnal birds that have been seen around Eco Beach include Barking Owls, Boobook Owls, Tawny Frogmouths and Spotted Night Jars. More than 220 species of birds have been recorded around Eco Beach. Eco Beach offers private bird watching tours.

Paul Elliott
Eco Beach Nature and Activities Guide

Romeo...

Ladies, if your boyfriend or husband has forgotten your birthday, or he has remembered(thanks to that phone reminder from Mum) and has bought you a power tool, then don’t feel too bad – it could be worse …

After a successful courtship, male flame fiddler crabs immediately seal themselves and their true love inside of his burrow. Once he has enjoyed his marital bliss, he resurfaces and then reseals the burrow (This allows his squeeze to incubate the eggs). He then sets out in search of new romantic and territorial conquests.

The mangroves and intertidal zones of Jacks’s Creek, near Eco Beach support several species of fiddler crabs. Male crabs are conspicuous by having a single highly enlarged claw that is often longer than their body. This imposing instrument is used for preserving or annexing territory and also as for signaling.

...and Juliet

In the fiddler crab world, size matters! Females prefer lads with large claws. At Jack’s Creek, guests and I often chuckle as we enjoy hundreds of male fiddler crabs waving their claws to attract a girl friend. When so many crabs are gesturing simultaneously, it resembles the lads in Bay 13 at the MCG performing a drunkenly uncoordinated Mexican wave.

Fiddler Crabs and other amazing creatures may be enjoyed on Eco Beach’s Jack’s Creek Experience, a two hour introduction to the amazing wildlife of this region, or on the Jack’s Creek Eco-Experience, a detailed three-hour long examination of the beauty and wonders of this area.

Paul Elliott
Eco Beach Nature and Activities Guide

Birds of prey are plentiful around Eco Beach. On one occasion, I spotted 11 out of Australia’s 24 species of raptors during the 12 kilometer drive to Jack’s Creek. Yesterday, two guests and I had the thrilling experience of observing a Grey Falcon as we made our way to Jack’s Creek.

The Grey Falcon is one of Australia’s most elusive and enigmatic birds. Owing to its unpredictable nomadic ways, many birdwatchers may never have the pleasure of seeing this graceful raptor. The Grey Falcon was flying low over a place where coastal dunes give way to open plains. From a distance of 20 meters, we savoured this treat for a full minute before the bird flew inland. I have sighted Grey Falcons on two previous occasions at Eco Beach; however, I was offered no more than fleeting glimpses of this species. To have observed a Grey Falcon so close and for so long was an almost supernatural experience! I regret not having brought a hip flask of cognac to celebrate the occasion …

As I drove along the beach to Jack’s Creek that afternoon, I noticed that the vanguard of the migratory shorebirds (also known as waders) had arrived to Roebuck Bay after an epic flight from far flung regions of the northern hemisphere. More on this topic in the weeks to come!

Paul Elliott
Eco Beach Nature and Activities Guide

Kimberley whale watchers are doing there own form of breaching – on land! – as these gentle giants sing  their way back up the WA coast after a long summer in  Antarctica.  A pod was sighted 20 nautical miles off the coast of Broome on Sunday, 3^rd of June!  And more sightings are being recorded daily.  Eco Beach’s naturalist guides and whale researchers, Dave and Fiona Harvey, are prepping the retreat’s whale watching boat, ‘Willie’, to give guests a “whale of a time” again in 2012. Read more about whale watching at Eco Beach.

To top if off, the WA Government has declared that Camden Sound – 300km northeast of Broome – will become a ‘marine park’ this year.  This place of incredible biological significance is the biggest Humpback whale calving area in the southern hemisphere!  Now, mothers and calves can cruise on past Eco Beach, knowing  they will be protected in their northern nursery grounds.    The park area is also home to coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove forests, tidal flats, and habitats for dugong, sawfish, dolphins, crocodiles and heaps of other precious marine life.

Camden Sound Marine Park, covering nearly 7,000 sqm, is the first of 4 new marine parks for the Kimberley under the $63million Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy.  The Kimberley will also see marine parks at Roebuck Bay Broome, Eighty Mile Beach and the North Kimberley.  I think we’re doing our part in the North West for the World’s oceans.

The Kimberley’s Humpback whale population is numbered at around 22,000.  That’s nearly double the east coast population!  So that’s double the action too!  Breathtaking displays of breaching, tail slapping, pec slapping, blowing, spy hopping and even singing.   So book an Eco Beach experience complete with a whale watching trip soon.

Get up close to  Mother Nature

Personally, I’m still trying to master the ‘frog’ and I most aspire to mastering ‘ Eka Pada Galavasana’or put simply, ‘Flying Crow’. I know it’s a long shot – check out a photo of this pose on the web. But we all need to aim high, even in the most relaxed of sports!
So how about you? What are your aspirations for looking after ‘self’ this year? Do you aspire togetting completely blissed-out? Emptying your head of busy, unproductive thoughts? You’d be mad to say otherwise. Last year I attended one of Eco Beach’s yoga retreats and I now aspire to one every year! When I returned home, everyone kept asking, “Where have you been? You look so well, so relaxed, so at peace with everything.” And that’s exactly how I felt. As the wise Buddha says, “You can’t stop the waves in life, but you can learn how to ride them.” Yoga helps us achieve this.

At Eco Beach we embrace yoga everyday. Even our staff are encouraged to attend yoga to get the balance of life right – “work, rest and play” (minus the Mars Bar!). The thing about Eco Beach is that the environment is so conducive to yoga….peaceful, inspiring and jaw-droppingly beautiful.We have a dedicated yoga studio – our ‘Dragonfly Sanctuary’ – which overlooks the Indian Ocean,captures the sea breezes and is nestled in amongst the coastal vegetation, attracting many birds andtheir alluring birdsong.

Eco Beach guests can enjoy complimentary yoga every morning at 6am. It’s pure bliss watching and listening to Mother Nature wake up as you wake up your own body and mind. There’s even “Yoga for Fun” for kids in the school holidays and private classes upon request. A yoga retreat is the best way to immerse yourself in yogic bliss. A year has passed and I realise my blissed-out feeling needs topping up, so I have my sights set on Eco Beach’s next yoga retreat – 5 nights and 6 days (May 23-28)with Fiona Lansley, “combining twice daily yoga and meditation with beach walks, gourmetmeals, cleansing juices and a stunning natural setting for complete relaxation and renewal”. More retreats are scheduled during the year. Find out more about our yoga retreats online.

Meanwhile, happy dog posing and aspirations for a lithe body and calm mind.

Come and get blissed-out at Eco Beach.

Kids can revel in a safe, natural adventure playground from sun up to sun down. From stand-up paddle boarding to kayaking, snorkelling, swimming, beach fishing, beach fossicking around the rocks of Cape Villaret, a trip to Jack’s Creek to explore a mystical world of mud and mangroves, turtle watching, whale watching………the outdoor activities are limitless.

Whilst we don’t offer the likes of ski school or ‘kids club’, we’ve found some creative ways of luring the kids away from you during the school holidays. Go and enjoy a fishing charter, a massage, a yoga session, time chilling out by the pool or a simple beach walk together whilst the kids do ‘yoga for fun’, help the chef collect eggs and fresh produce from the vegie patch, go bush walking, go bird watching or cover themselves in mangrove mud in our famous ‘mud ‘n fun’ activity. The kids will be so chilled out with a zillion stories to tell and heavy eye-lids by 7pm. Bliss for any parent.

After a sunset game of beach cricket, the kids can catch a movie, including dinner and supervision. And it’s not just chicken nuggets and chips on our kids’ menu either! The upside – parents can enjoy a relaxing dinner at our signature restaurant, ‘Jack’s', knowing that the kids are safe and having fun. What’s more, this bit of luxury is on us – it won’t cost you any extra.

So, close your eyes and imagine – you’re sipping chilled WA champagne in tall-back chairs on the edge of the cliff watching the sun go down whilst the kids play beach cricket or cast a few lines from the shore. Maybe your nature-loving teenagers (like my 12 and 14 year old girls) will be content to don binoculars and take themselves off to the ‘bird hide’ to spot some birds and revel in the freedom of being able to set off on a safe adventure all on their very own. They’ll want sleepover after sleepover at Eco Beach……

Luxury + Kids = Eco Beach

Oh and the choice!  Choose from Shiba Lane Apartments – swish two and three storey Broome apartments overlooking historic Chinatown (sleep 4); Catalina by the Bay – an apartment that has the waves literally lapping at your doorstep (sleeps 6) or Koolinda by the Bay - a contemporary luxury Broome holiday home overlooking the unbelievably turquoise waters of Roebuck Bay – the perfect pad for families and friends to hang out in style (sleeps 8).

Between Eco Beach and Broome Stay, we’ve got the recipe just right for a taste of the Kimberley – first course in the old pearling town of Broome where you can relax on Cable Beach, ride a camel at sunset, and drool over pearls, followed by second course at a remote coastal escape where outback wilderness meets Indian ocean, you’ll have stretches of white sand beach all to yourself, gourmet food to feed the soul and activities designed to reconnect you with nature and restore your energy bank.   We’ll have your tummy rumbling for more….

The Broome Stay team has been living, working and holidaying in Broome (and Eco Beach!) for over 20 years.  We know the town and its surrounds inside out and upside down.  Broome Stay is not just about a bed – it’s an experience.   And if you want the ‘lowdown’ on what to see and do, where to eat and where to get the best coffee (in Broome and the Kimberley) – you won’t be able to stop us talking!  We’re passionate about sharing our knowledge.

Lua very kindly passed by Eco Beach  and crossed the coast as a category 4 cyclone about 300km south of Eco Beach.  Can you imagine a category 4 cyclone heading for Australia’s east coast!  It would be a national disaster!  I doubt whether our east coast cousins even knew about Lua.  Needless to say, with torrential rain and 90km wind gusts, we certainly felt her presence and she had us worried.  Silent prayers were whispered amongst Eco Beach lovers – “please Mother Nature, please don’t let history repeat itself 12 years on…..please spare our beloved Eco Beach.” (The original Eco Beach was  destroyed by Cyclone Rosita on April 19, 2000.)

Well, Mother Nature heard our prayers.  Lua simply whirled the edges of her skirt over Eco Beach, flicking up some sand and stripping a few pawpaw trees of their leaves as she waltzed on by.  We got off lightly.  But friends and family of Eco Beach will be brushing of the sand from the Eco Tents and Villas this weekend.

With another album of wet season memories behind us – tropical  thunderstorms, lightning shows from ‘Jack’s’ Bar, turtles nesting and hatchlings emerging, migratory shorebirds retreating on our shores,  tropical rains sheeting down, cleansing the land and our souls, we’re ready to share Eco Beach again.  Check out our opening specials.