Buccanner Archipelago

The Buccaneer Archipelago is a group of around 1,000 islands located along the Kimberley coast, north of Derby. These remote and largely uninhabited islands are known for their rugged terrain and pristine, white sandy beaches that few have ever set foot upon. Captain Phillip Parker King named the Buccaneer Archipelago in commemoration of William Dampier’s 1688 visit. Dampier was little better than a pirate, but he was the first to circumnavigate the world three times and was the first Englishman to visit Australia. The tides and whirlpools can be treacherous for sailors, as is evidenced by graves on some of the islands. These tides are the largest in the tropics, creating one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, the Horizontal Falls.