Paddling through the shallows, spooking tiny shovel-nosed rays as I go, I am pulled far from the shore by the Dampier Archipelago’s island-studded seascape. Across Mermaid Sound, I glide through Searipple Passage and beach my boat on Dolphin Island to rockhop inland through the spinifex.
Beyond the sand where I’ll pitch my tent for the night, rugged piles of fractured ironstone rubble take the place of trees. These precious shards — etched with mesmerising, 47,000-year-old petroglyphs — are part of the largest concentration of ancient Indigenous rock art the world has ever seen.
This unlikely outdoor gallery is a stunning find, and on Dolphin Island, I have it entirely to myself.
Found right across the Dampier Archipelago’s scatter of 42 coral-fringed isles, and dominating mainland hills too, these petroglyphs preserve the long and sacred history of the Pilbara’s traditional custodians, known collectively as the Ngarda-Ngarli.
Safeguarding the lion’s share of rock art, Murujuga National Park was belatedly declared in 2014, sending this outstanding heritage site on a rapid trajectory towards an eminent World Heritage listing. But the rock art is only the beginning.
Scratch the surface of this hugely underrated west coast destination and you’ll discover pristine coral reefs and translucent seas, a “staircase to the moon” to rival anything Broome has to offer, and away from the sea spring-fed oases
