Looking for a new short holiday destination from Singapore and tired of the usual spots like Bali and Bangkok? Consider Broome for your next holiday, a tiny and tranquil coastal town in Northwest Australia – you can now fly Singapore to Broome direct with Jetstar Asia in just under 4 hours.
I visited Broome on its inaugural flight end June 2024 on a media trip with Jetstar Asia and I had an AMAZING time. Read on to see how to get from Singapore to Broome, why I highly recommend visiting Broome and a glimpse of things to do in Broome – I’m working on a more detailed blog so stay tuned for that.
I visited Broome with Jetstar Asia on a media trip and writing assignment for the Straits Times. Read the article on ST [paywall].
Where is Broome?
First lets talk about where on earth Broome is.
Broome is located on the northwestern shoulder of the Australia continent. You’ll notice from the map that it’s actually fairly close to the Indonesian islands of East Nusa Tenggara and Timor-Leste – that’s important for how the town eventually developed.
Broome is part of Western Australia, but more specifically the capital and gateway to the northwestern Kimberley region, also known to be one of the least densely populated places in the world. The town of Broome is the largest in the Kimberley with just 15,000 people – for Singaporeans, imagine if the Indoor Stadium was at full capacity (the National Stadium meanwhile holds 55,000 people!).
Broome used to be a bit of a challenge to reach, even for Australians. Most of the major connections go through Perth via domestic QantasLink, but even then the connecting flight from Perth to Broome is still 2.5 hours. In fact, flying from Melbourne/Sydney across Australia actually takes LONGER (5 hours) than it does from Singapore (just under 4 hours)!
Why visit Broome?
As an avid traveller and travel writer, there aren’t many places in the world that are completely new to me. But when I got the assignment to check out Broome, Australia, I was definitely quite intrigued. It’s been awhile since I’d visited the continent, and all I really knew about Western Australia was Perth and Margaret River, so I was curious to see what Broome had to offer.
Broome started out as a pearling port in the late 1800s because of the abundance of the large Pinctada Maxima oyster shells, which were largely exported for… buttons. Yes, pearl shell was very precious to the local indigenous people for rituals and currency, but the global demand was to use the iridescent nacre of the pearl shell to make shirt buttons. Later on, they evolved into producing South Sea cultured pearls which they are still famous for today.
The proximity of Broome to the Indonesian islands and its colourful history as a pearling port has resulted in a surprisingly diverse population. Beyond the European settlers and the indigenous folk, there is also strong presence of Chinese, Malays and Japanese among its people.
But my absolute favourite thing about Broome are the unique natural landscapes found along the coast of this Kimberley region. We took a number of boat tours and got to admire their very distinct red Pindan rock coastlines from the sea, but also got a chance to fly over the Dampier Peninsula on a small plane and wow, I have way too many photos to sort through post-trip!
Lots of the popular activities around Broome are based on its coastal features, from riding camels at sunset on Cable Beach, to hunting for dinosaur footprints when the tide is low along the shoreline. We even managed to do a spot of humpback whale watching!
Jetstar Asia direct flight: Singapore to Broome
Jetstar currently flies to Broome twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. There are 2 flights in a day, here are the schedules:
Singapore (SIN) to Broome (BME)
- Jetstar Asia 3K161: 1000 – 1630
- Jetstar Asia 3K162: 1535 – 2015
Broome (BME) to Singapore (SIN)
- Jetstar Asia 3K167: 1215 – 1645
- Jetstar Asia 3K168: 1735 – 2205
The Jetstar flight connecting Singapore to Broome is a seasonal one that operates during Broome’s peak tourist season – aka the dry season from April to October.
Short holiday destination
So if you are planning a short trip from Singapore to Broome, you have an option of a 5 day trip (Tues to Sat, 4 days leave) or a 4 day trip (Sat to Tues, 2 days leave), which I think is sufficient time to explore Broome quite thoroughly. You can drive or fly to other parts of the Kimberley region if you want to explore more, or connect to Perth if you want a longer trip.
Inaugural international flight to Broome
Did you know that this Singapore-Broome route is Broome’s first ever international flight? Most of their connections previously were domestic flights, so it was pretty exciting being on that very first official international flight into Broome on 25 Jun with Jetstar Asia where we were welcomed with the traditional water jets.
Broome has a very small cute airport, and the good news is because we’re the only international flight at this point, getting through the airport immigration is quite quick. The Broome airport is also right next to the downtown area, I kid you not. You will hear planes flying throughout the day, and a 5-10 minute drive will get you straight to your downtown hotel – the street lights here are also particularly low because of this proximity.
I am working on blogposts to share more about what I did in Broome to help you plan your own trip there in future. It’s definitely a place I want to go back to in the near future if possible, it’s just so pretty!
Have you been to Broome? Tell me what are the things you have to do in Broome, or what you want to see when you visit. In the meantime, here are some other posts about Australia.
