Port Douglas Things to Do.

 

 

If you’ve hit this page then chances are your planning a holiday to Port Douglas. Very good choice as it’s an amazing place to visit and offers so much to do. Below are a few suggestions to assist you with planning your Port Douglas itinerary.

• Cape Tribulation, Mossman Gorge, and Daintree Rainforest.
• Crocodile spotting cruises in the Daintree.
• Snorkel or dive in the Outer Great Barrier Reef.
• Helicopter tours over the Great Barrier Reef.
• Sunset sailing cruise.
• Low Isles snorkeling and sailing cruise.
• Mountain bike riding through tropical rain-forest.
• Chase waterfalls Atherton Tablelands.
• Swim with minke whales.
• Strolls along 4 mile beach.
• Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway.
• Dine at world class restaurants.
• Stay at fantastic resorts.

Below I’ll list more details on the above dot points.

Accommodation.

Port Douglas is filled with so many fantastic resorts it’s hard to decide what one to stay at. My recommendation is stay somewhere close to Macrossan Street which contains numerous high quality restaurants and great pubs. I stayed at the Cayman Villas which was awesome. It was priced on the high side but being close to the restaurants and marina was a big plus.

 

Cape Tribulation, Mossman Gorge, and Daintree Rainforest.

 

Taking a road trip from Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation is a must do activity. You can either go with an organised tour or wing it and hire a car for a self guided tour. We hired a car and went with Thrifty car rentals which was hassle free.

I recommend getting up early’ish and driving start to Cape Tribulation. This will avoid waiting in line to get on the ferry to cross the Draintree river and you’ll have less traffic on the way up.

Check out the beaches when you arrive at Cape Trib and enjoy the beautiful views of the world heritage rain-forest meeting the beach. Remember crocodiles are in this area so do not swim in the ocean or any of the in estuaries or rivers.  There are the following short short walks to do which will give you a good taste of the area:

• Dubuji Boardwalk
• Kulki – Cape Tribulation Beach Lookout
• Madja Botanical Walk

There are a number of other walks, however if your just up there for the day they’ll be difficult to fit in.

On the way back:

• Stop at a few beaches.
• Try some ice made from the local rain-forest fruit. Black Sapote is amazing and tastes like chocolate.
• Daintree Discovery Centre.
• Alexandra lookout is definitely worth a look.

You made need a second day road trip to fit in:

• Crocodile spotting cruises in the Daintree.
• Mossman Gorge if you can fit it in.

For more information visit the Mossman Gorge and Cape Tribulation Pages.

Snorkel or dive in the Outer Great Barrier Reef.

While you’re in Port Douglas you can’t leave without snorkeling or diving at the outer great barrier reef. There are a number of companies that offer excellent day trips for you to experience this world heritage wounder.

 

Helicopter Tours over the Great Barrier Reef.

If you’ve saved up enough treat yourself to a Helicopter tour over the Great Barrier Reef. The flight only takes 20 minutes to get out to the reef and it will be an experience you’ll never forgot. It was the first time for me in a helicopter and what a fantastic way to do it. I was buzzing for hours after it.

 

Sunset sailing cruise.

Cruising around Port Douglas on a catamaran during sunset is a great way to spend the evening. This was reasonable priced and they let up bring our own alcohol.

 

Low Isles snorkeling and sailing cruise.

Low isles is only 15km off Port Douglas offers excellent adventure of the inner reef.

Mountain bike riding through tropical rain forest.

 

This was such a fun day. Mountain biking through tropical rain-forest then finishing the day riding along 4 mile beach, sensational. I went through Bike N Hire tours and they where fantastic.  The bike supplied was a top notch electric mountain bike, lunch was supplied, they drive you too the starting point and a guide comes with you. They were great to deal with. For more information visit bump track.

 

Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway.

Heading up to Kuranda is an amazing adventure which will keep you busy all day. You can take a tour which will provide transport and organise your scenic railway and skyrail passes for you. Or you could go for the self drive option, hire a car and buy the tickets yourself at the Skyrail website. My preference is the self drive method but it doesn’t matter too what option you go for.

Below is what the day will entail:

• From fresh water station catch the Scenic Railway up to Kuranda, the village that’s nestled into the rain-forest. On the way you’ll be passing through spectacular rain-forest, seeing  amazing waterfalls and a stop Barren Gorge which which is an incredible sight.
• Once at Kuranda you can easy spend hours there enjoying the unique shops, great food and natural beauty of the area. This rain-forest village sitting at the top of a maintain in the rain-forest has plenty for you to explore.
• Then catch the Skyrail down the mountain which will take you over the rain-forest canopy to give you a totally different perspective of this ancient landscape.

 

Chase waterfalls Atherton Tablelands.

It takes around 1 and a half hours to drive from Port Douglas to the Atherton Tablelands. Once there you’ll have an abundance of waterfalls to choose from. There are no bad choices here so pick a few and enjoy the day. Below are some recommendations:

• Millaa Millaa Falls – This is one of the most popular waterfalls in the in the area and is a common Instagram shot.
• Zillie Falls.
• Ellinjaa Falls.
• Dinner Falls.
• Millstream Falls.
• Nandroya Falls.
• Wallicher Falls

Just to name a few.

 

Dine at world class restaurants.

The main drag in Port Douglas has some amazing restaurants, cafes and pubs. The strip is really well laid out and looks fantastic. The variety of food on offer will impress and it will be a hard choice each evening deciding where to dine-out as they all look so yummy. It’s a good idea to book a table as it’s not usual for restaurants to be full.

The marina also contains highly quality restaurants and pubs which you’ll no doubt visit on one of your reef excursions.

It was a hard choice but my favorite restaurant was Nautilus. It’s nestled up on the hill in a beautiful tropical garden. The food and wine was nothing short of sensational. Just beware this restaurant is not cheap. It was the most expensive meal I’ve had by miles. However I really did enjoy it so it was money well spent.

Below is a list of restaurants we dined at and had a great experience at everyone of them:

• Nautilus.
• Bel Cibo
• Watergate
• Salsa Bar & Grill
• The Little Larder
• Seabean Tapas
• 2 Fish

 

Enjoy your holiday in Port Douglas and I hope this blog was helpful with putting together your itinerary.