Arrive early in Melbourne and connect with your flight to Broome. Transfer to the Cable Beach Club Resort for dinner and overnight.  

After a welcome brunch, join a sightseeing tour of Broome, Western Australia’s legendary pearling town and gateway to the wild Kimberley region. Broome’s famous “pearl strip” along Dampier Terrace is home to the hautest jewelry brands, and you’ll pass by numerous boutiques on the way to the recently-refurbished Coral Discoverer. Settle into your freshly updated stateroom before cocktails on the sun deck, followed by dinner.    

Suit up for your first snorkel or dive in Rowley Shoals Marine Park, a trio of remote coral atolls recognized for some of Australia’s best diving. Spend the morning along Clerke Reef, the most popular of the three; its outside walls offer outstanding scuba opportunities or snorkel alongside angelfish, trevally, and turtles in the shallow lagoon. Later, set out for Sand Cay where fields of gorgonians and soft coral gardens crowd the outer slope.

The largest of Rowley Shoals’ reefs, teardrop-shaped Imperieuse is also the least visited because its lagoon passage is too narrow for most ships to navigate. Encounter coral trout, Queensland groper, and Maori wrasse—just a few of the nearly 700 species recorded here.

Hit the water in the Dampier Archipelago, a chain of 42 islands and outcroppings scattered off the Dampier coast. First stop: Dolphin Island, where pods of bottlenose dolphin are often spotted. Underwater, you may discover dugongs and some 600 fish species; while on shore, search for birds or view ancient Aboriginal petroglyphs and rock pools where 19th-century pearlers collected fresh water. More adventures await off tiny Eaglehawk Island or stay dry in the ship’s glass-bottom boat.  

Scuba enthusiasts have dubbed the 70,000-acre Murion Islands Marine Management Area the “Magical Murions.” Part of the Ningaloo Archipelago located to the north of Exmouth, South Murion is famous for Cod Spot, where thousands of golden cardinalfish, large potato cod, coral cod, and manta rays congregate. Other popular sites include The Spit, inhabited by tiny baitfish and giant manta rays; Dinner Plates, lined with plate coral; and The Gap, a fabulous drift dive between the two islands. 

Remnants of a former whaling station on Norwegian Bay stand as testament to this remote region’s heritage. For most of the 20th century, steam-powered whaling ships loaded with harpoon guns scoured the waters along the Ningaloo Coast, which are now protected as the UNESCO-designated Ningaloo Marine Park. In addition to several species of whales, the area is also home to whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, turtles, and more than 500 fish species. Explore a number of historic wrecks, or snorkel from the shore along Australia’s largest fringing coral reef.     

Around 75 miles west of Dampier you’ll find Montebello Islands, one of Australia’s most important marine parks. Comprising more than 250 islands and a diverse range of habitats, the park nurtures some 150 types of hard coral and 450 fish species, while 640 species of molluscs have been identified, along with 170 echinoderms. Search for underwater denizens at Claret Bay, Willy Nilly Lagoon, and Alpha Island, or go ashore to search for white, Caspian, bridled, and roseate terns; sooty and pied oystercatchers; and white-bellied sea eagles.  

As its name implies, Little Turtle Island is part of an important turtle nesting area. Rookeries of green, hawksbill, loggerhead, and leatherback turtles, along with the threatened flatback turtle, are found along its sheltered beaches. Migratory wading birds can also be found here, while dugong feed in the seaweed and grasses just offshore.   

Spend a relaxing day at sea as the ship returns to Broome.    

Disembark this morning and board your flight to Melbourne. Transfer to the Park Royal Melbourne Airport Hotel for dinner and overnight.