Derby Western Australia, is located on the edge of King Sound, 2354 km north of Perth and 236 km north east of Broome. Known as the "Gateway to the Kimberley Gorges and Buccaneer Archipelago" Derby is a great base camp for exploring the stunning Kimberley Gorge country, The Buccaneer Archipelago, the fascinating King Leopold Ranges, Bell Gorge and the longest river in the Kimberley area The Fitzroy River

Derby is half surrounded by tidal marshes and the Boab Tree is predominate throughout the area. The population of Derby is approximately 5,000 with a strong influence of aboriginal people from 3 of the main tribes of the area. Derby also has a number of outlets selling traditional and contemporary indigenous art.

Derby provides a huge variety of interests for visitors. It is a popular and beautiful resort location noted for its excellent fishing, extreme tides (1.3m at low tide and 11.8m at high tide) and diversity of its landscape.

Anglers are often found at the Fitzroy River and on Derby Wharf. The town is steeped in local history and visits to the museum at Wharfinger House, Kimberley School of the Air, the Botanic Gardens, and the Joonjoo Botanical Trail are a must.

The Boab Prison Tree, 7km south, is a massive hollowed boab, believed to have been used as a temporary cell for prisoners en route to Derby. Myall’s Bore, nearby, is an astonishing 120m-long cattle trough. The self-drive Pigeon Heritage Trail highlights sites of interest between Derby and Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek NP..

Derby provides excellent accommodation including Bed & Breakfast, self contained, resort, hotel motel & caravan park accommodation.

Derby is generally very hot in the summer months and very wet due to the monsoon rains further north. The best time to visit is in our winter months and this is reflected in the visitors that arrive from May to November and the small amounts of rain.

So whether you like it hot or a little cooler the weather is ideal for holidays in our beautiful region most of the year round, so planning a holiday is made so much easier. 

Next to explore the region was Phillip Parker King who spent 4 years here from 1818 to 1822, exploring the coasts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory

In 1879 Alexander Forrest undertook land based exploration and favourably reported the area ideal for pastoralists to enter the region and eventually led to the settling at Yeeda Sheep Station amongst others. One of Yeeda’s first wool shipments, while waiting to be shipped, was swept away by a tidal wave resulting from the Krakatoa volcanic explosion in Indonesia

In 1883, Derby was officially named a townsite was occupied by a Government Resident and a police detachment and Derby's wooden 102 foot jetty was built in 1885 costing 3000 pounds.