No Laven, it is not a bad place at all. I lived there personally for approx 5 years and loved it and my husband was there for 25 years. Yes it is hot and dusty but the ocean is there.... good place for saving money if your work package is good.
My step children were born and bred and educated there and they went on to be successful in their lives.
Would I live there again? for sure! We have just sold our home there but retained a unit, you can never say never lol.
Is it safe? Yes
Friendly town? yes
Isolated? yes but its a terrific part of WA to be/ great airport/ good hospital
Fishing? Yes wonderful (lol)

If I can help further, drop me a pm. cheers Susie x

oh thank you so much for a relevant reply. accommodation and air con are included. Im a bit relieved if we get that job that would be more than 100k, so the offer to us doesnt seem too bad at the moment, another person (electrical supervisor) we know said he was getting a little bit more than what was offered to us, but that was good few year ago so its probably not too up to date. Thanks again.

hmm.. you sound much more positive than what i read before

Not a worry Laven. It's a town where you make your own enjoyment, golfing, fishing, camping.. great beaches at Exmouth, Coral Bay, 40 mile Beach towards Broome 80 miles Beach, Broome itself, The Kimberlies,. sailing, Go Carts, 4 x 4'ing,.... good schools, gym, unfortunately the cinema closed a wee while ago, but there are video shops.
Coles & Woolworths, K Mart, Country Target, and all the necessary shops, Macs, Kentucky, furniture stores, travel agents restaurants etc. For a country town it has a fair size shopping centre.
It is cyclonic, but great emphasis is placed on safety and despite us owning our home, stringent tests were carried out on our home at frequent intervals.

Yes Laven, positivity pays off... I am exceptionally happy that I have experienced that part of the word, my husband was extremely happy there, and I personally would never have any doubts about recommending Karratha to anyone that wanted to experience a provincial town without all the trimmings a big city might have.

I am pleased that your package offers accomodation/ electricity etc... accomodation is the major cost, in excess of 1200 a week plus.
We also received free flights x 4 to Tasmania yearly which was useful maybe you could query some flights to Perth as flights are artifically inflated due to FIFO.
Shopping at Woolworths & Coles are a tad more expensive and there are no small grocery shops unfortunately, no butchers meat from supermarkets) but an excellent fish van appears every Friday from down south and the fish is excellent.

Very best wishes Laven Susie

Thanks again!

Im not sure about airfare to Perth, its not fly in fly out, we stay there for a whole year, its just a year contract, salary is quite lucrative, so we are thinking about it. seems like a fine place for a year:-) cheers:-)