Point Samson

With views across the Indian Ocean, purple-hued Honeymoon Bay and access to tourist sites, Point Samson is a great holiday spot or base in the Northwest of Western Australia.

It’s a popular holiday spot for locals and workers at the various mining centres in the Pilbara and, while fishing is the main enterprise of the area, many vantage points show the huge ships lining up to dock at Dampier and collect iron ore.

If you wanted some sustenance or to wet your whistle, then you can’t do better than the Point Samson Tavern, with its views over the ocean, the jetty and the lighthouse. I counted 14 tankers while we were sitting here and the docks can accommodate 8 at a time, I think.

Not only is this a good spot at which to break up a long stretch or wile away the hours, you can base yourself here and visit Millstream/Chichester National Park, Karratha or Dampier, and the sunrises and sunsets are spectacular.

The original 600m jetty was built in 1903 and replaced a tidal port at nearby Cossack. The new jetty serviced Roebourne and exported wool and cattle from surrounding pastoral stations, as well as copper from Whim Creek. Until 1971 many houses in Point Samson relied on ships bringing fresh water that was carried by rail carts and later pumped ashore. I’m astonished that people lived in this remote spot with little access to mains water until the 70s.

In 1925 a tropical cyclone damaged huge portions of the jetty, but a new one wasn’t constructed until 1936 due to the Great Depression. As air travel increased, passenger services were the first to go and in 1976 it was closed to shipping. Yet another cyclone, Orson this time, partially destroyed the jetty for the second time in 1989 and due to safety concerns it was demolished in 1991.

The current 70m structure, with its 40 sqm viewing platform and shelter was constructed in 2018 as a joint project of Point Samson Community Association, Rio Tinto and the City of Karratha. The design reflects its history and it provides a suitable vantage point for whale watching in the season. Just two weeks before we got there, visitors reported seeing several whales playing in the bay as they headed south.

We stayed at The Cove Holiday Village, right on the coast, and the sites were large, the amenities clean and very comfortable and there is a pool, family/recreation rooms and camp kitchens and BBQs spaced well. The owners were very helpful with advice and assistance. Honeymoon Cove, within 100m, is small and lovely, with unusual metasedimentary rocks.

Delight your senses at Point Samson.