Unspoilt beaches, brilliant blue skies, and saltwater lagoons with glimpses of whales and dugongs.

Welcome to the gateway to the Kimberley in remote Western Australia — one of Australia's best kept secrets.

If this is your idea of paradise then you might be a little envious of the Karajarri rangers — because this is what their open-air office looks like.

"It's a nice place for a getaway and to be working out here, it's just beautiful," Petha Farrer Shoveller said.

A natural paradise

Port Smith is about 170 kilometres south of Broome, and could soon be seeing more tourists flock to this exquisite patch of natural beauty.

Port Smith in Western Australia might soon become a tourism gateway to the Kimberley owned and managed by Aboriginal owners. ( ABC News: Bridget Brennan )

The traditional owners of the land, the Karajarri people, have grand plans for this to become an Aboriginal-owned and managed tourism gateway to the Kimberley.

For many Karajarri rangers, working on country allows them to stay living within the community. ( North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance )

"We want to share that with others, to make them understand how we feel towards country and then they too can share that kind of knowledge," local elder Jimmy Edgar said.

The Karajarri Traditional Lands Association is already issuing tourism permits, and next year plans to open a hub for visitors and a new base for rangers.

On the rocky cliffs above beaches at Gourdon Bay, Karajarri rangers are building safe walking paths for visitors.

The group has partnered with Ernst and Young to find investors to build new facilities and infrastructure to boost "jobs for Karajarri people", senior ranger Jess Bangu said.

Jess Bangu is a Karajarri senior ranger. ( Source: Karajarri.org )

'The coming of new generation'

This stunning area has always been special to its owners.

Mr Edgar said the vast saltwater lagoon and dense mangroves on Karajarri country was a vital food resource for his ancestors.

"People have lived here for thousands of years," he said.

Karajarri elder Jimmy Edgar said it was important to ensure sacred sites were protected and visitor numbers managed. ( ABC News: Bridget Brennan )

"We have stories where people have come here from the first sailing ships, we have stories here from the Stolen Generation, so by living here, it's very important, it's got all of this history."

The country must be managed carefully, Mr Edgar said, to balance a projected influx in visitor numbers with the obligation to protect sacred sites, and pass on cultural knowledge.

Karajarri rangers are building safe walking paths for visitors at Gourdon Bay (Mirntanymartaji). ( ABC News: Bridget Brennan )

"It's very special to us because we have to caretake and make sure this beautiful country is part of our heritage."

"It's very important for the coming of new generation."

Ms Bangu is considered a role-model and a pioneer as one of the first Aboriginal rangers in northern WA.

"We say thanks to all the old people and the people who are still here for fighting for country," she said.

The Karajarri won native title claims to be recognised as the owners over most of their country, including Gourdon Bay. ( ABC News )

Buying back their land

The Karajarri have had a vision for their land for decades.

In 2002 and 2004, the Karajarri won native title claims to be recognised as the owners over most of their country.

And a recent acquisition of land was one of the final pieces of the puzzle.

The Indigenous Land Corporation strategises with traditional owners to own and develop their land, and keep cultural practices alive. ( ABC News: Bridget Brennan )

Last October, the Karajarri people bought back a four-hectare park at Port Smith, with help from the government-funded Indigenous Land Corporation [ILC].

The corporation's chairman, Eddie Fry, said the purchase was an opportunity, "in the modern world to own land that, primarily, has been theirs anyway".

Since 1996, the corporation has bought 6 million hectares of land for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.

Eddie Mabo fought for recognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners of their land. ( Image courtesy of Gail Mabo )

More than 25 years since the historic Mabo decision paved the way for groups to be recognised as native title holders, Mr Fry said it was time to pursue an "aggressive" strategy to assist more groups to own and develop their land, and keep cultural practices alive.

This is what he called the "Indigenous Estate".

The park at Port Smith will be leased back to the Karajarri over the next three years, while they try to attract investment for new facilities for rangers and visitors.

For elders, the process had been both "confronting" and rewarding, Mr Edgar said.

Most of the rangers working on Karajarri country live at Bidyadanga, the largest Aboriginal community in Western Australia. ( Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation )

"A lot of our people have to try to understand how the system works — with government policies — to get that sort of understanding," he said.

"Even though we didn't have a proper education, we have to try to educate ourselves."

Off the smartphone and on country

Most of the rangers working on Karajarri country live at Bidyadanga, the largest Aboriginal community in Western Australia.

Ranger Brayden Taylor has a vision for the recently acquired Port Smith bird park, which will ultimately become a new base for him and his colleagues.

In the next five years, he would like it in "good condition" and to, "get more students to come out and work with the rangers, and hopefully more junior rangers from the Bidyadanga community".

Karajarri ranger Brayden Taylor said he hopes more students and junior rangers join him and his colleagues. ( ABC News: Bridget Brennan )

A report from advocacy group Country Needs People, released last month, found that ranger work for Indigenous women provided obvious economic, social and environmental benefits.

Ms Shoveller, who began a full-time role with the Karajarri rangers this year, said she hoped more young women would join her on country.

"I'd like to see more women getting involved, at least I could have a partner to talk to while going out to country with the boys," she said.

Young Karajarri ranger Petha Farrer Shoveller says she would love to see more women joining in. ( ABC News: Bridget Brennan )

Working on country allows her stay living in her community, and forces her outside and into untouched areas.

"It's being closer to my family, because the Karajarri rangers are just one big family," she said.

"Working with the rangers, it's opening more than technology, it's making me go out on country and visit the places I've never visited before and see a lot of different sites that are beautiful."