Koolan Island, Western Australia

Koolan Island is an island off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia in the Buccaneer Archipelago. It is about 1,900 km north of Perth, and about 130 km north of Derby. It is one of approximately 800 island that make up the Buccaneer Archipelago.

Koolan island was home to one of Western Australia's richest iron ore mines. At one stage the raw ore was said to be so pure that it was possible to weld rocks together. Despite the riches to be had, life at such a remote mine site was always going to be difficult. Now, almost all signs of the island's long mining history have been erased.

Cruise Season – Jan - Dec
Currency – Australian Dollar (AUD)
Language – English
Time – GMT plus eight hours
Electricity - 2 angled pins and 1 flat pin centered below Australian style
International Country Telephone Code – 61

Port Location – Cruises along the King George River leave from Darwin, Broome and Wyndham.

Travel Links – Broome and Kununurra have daily scheduled flights, and Derby has a few direct flights a week. Broome is the most easily accessed town, with flights from Perth, Sydney, Darwin, Melbourne, Brisbane and Alice Springs on the weekend. Kununurra and Derby are a bit more challenging to get to, with flights from Darwin, Broome or Perth only.

There are scheduled buses by Greyhound from Perth to Darwin, stopping at Broome, Derby and Kununurra. Keep in mind that it is an extremely long bus trip (Perth to Broome will keep you seated for more than 30 hours, and add another 30 hours to get to Darwin).