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Where To Start Planning Your Port Douglas Trip?
Port Douglas is a stunning destination in Far North Queensland, Australia. It’s one of Australia’s very best vacation spots, with great hotels, abundant restaurants and access to the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest.
Visitors to Port Douglas come here to enjoy a tropical climate, the beach, to scuba dive and snorkel, spot local wildlife and enjoy the natural environment. With two national parks colliding here, you can be sure that our natural surroundings should stay unspoiled.
Planning a Trip To Port Douglas
Step one, decide when you can visit Port Douglas. You can visit at any time of year and you can take a trip to the Great Barrier Reef year-round unless the weather is particularly bad, but it would be sensible to not visit in January or February. That’s when we tend to see the worst weather.
That said, if the wet season is your best time to visit, come, it will be nice and quiet! I’ll tell you a bit more about visiting during The Wet further down the page. Alternatively, visit this post, dedicated to Port Douglas and Cairns in The Wet.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. – Lao Tzu
Tropical weather is hot and humid and we can see cyclones in Port Douglas, it’s rare, but it can happen. A tropical storm can bring days of torrential rain, plus flooding and landslides, which in late 2023 closed roads in the region. At the time of writing (February 2024) parts of the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation are still inaccessible to tourists because of damage to the roads.
How will you be getting to Port Douglas? Most visitors arrive by plane at Cairns International Airport. Port Douglas does not have its own airport, Cairns Airport is closest and it’s about an hour away. Cairns is a very small airport and doesn’t have many international flights, but you can normally fly to Cairns from Singapore, Japan and Bali, plus all of the Australian airports, of course.
You can drive to Port Douglas or there is a train (or bus) to Cairns, from there you’ll need the section below.
Under rare conditions, there are boats from Cairns to Port Douglas, for instance during the road closures in December 2023 / January 2024. This isn’t normal. The road is now open.
How To Get To Cairns?
You can fly to Cairns from just about any domestic airport in Australia. You can also normally fly direct to Cairns from Bali, Singapore, Japan and New Zealand. There are direct flights from London to Singapore. If you take this route be certain to allow time to see the spectacular “Jewel” at Changi Airport.
Planning How To Get To Port Doulas From Cairns?
There’s not much by way of public transport in Far North Queensland, but there are shuttle buses and various services that will get you to Port Douglas from Cairns.
- Option one, rent or hire a car, use this comparison tool to find the best deal.
- Option two, book the shared shuttle bus from Cairns to Port Douglas. Book this pickup on GetYourGuide.
- Option three, book a hotel in Port Douglas with an airport shuttle. For this try the Pullman Sea Temple Resort and Spa (5 Star), Oaks Lagoon Resort (4 Star), The Sheraton Grand Mirage (5 Star), or Silkari Lagoons (more affordable).
Where Should You Stay in Port Douglas
There’s no such thing as cheap accommodation in Port Douglas unfortunately. Australia is an expensive country. There are 3 “backpackers'” or hostels, we mention those further down the page. There is also camping in and near Port Douglas.
If you have a car or are happy to use local shuttle buses, you can stay away from the town centre (for instance at Sea Temple). If you plan on not hiring a car, book a hotel within easy walking distance of The Superyacht Marina, the north end of the Beach, and Macrossan St.
It’s probably a good idea to stay somewhere with self-catering facilities if you’d like to save a little on food bills. There are a lot of apartment-style hotels in Port Douglas, for instance, Beaches, right opposite Four Mile Beach. Check out Beaches Appartments here.
You can also rent a villa, or stay in a resort hotel with breakfast included.
For budget travellers and backpackers, check out Global Backpackers or Port Douglas Backpackers. Both hostels are well-located and cost roughly the same. The other budget accommodation option is Dougie’s Backpacker Resort, which also has camping.
One of the cheaper places to stay in Port is the Lazy Lizard Motor Inn. It gets great reviews and wins accommodation awards.
How Many Days To Stay?
You will need at least 4 days in Port Douglas, one each for arrival and departure and some time to explore, then two full days for the reef and rainforest. I can give you a 1 week or 2 week itinerary below to keep you busy for the full number of days.
If you plan to visit a particular restaurant, be sure to book. If you’re short of time or visiting at a busy time, like Christmas, lock in your tours in advance.
Day 1. Arrival, explore, dining, shopping.
Day 2. Relax at the beach, ready for a big day tomorrow. Walk to the lookout and complete the short Flagstaff Hill Walking Trail. Drive out to the Mowbray River and see if there are any crocodiles hanging about. There is parking and a viewing platform just a few minutes south of Port Douglas, along the highway.
Day 3. A full day cruise on The Great Barrier Reef (Outer Reef). Our favourite snorkel cruise is Wavelength, see availability here. It’s one of the cheapest, includes photos, and is locally family-owned.
Day 4. Enjoy Breakfast With The Birds at The Wildlife Habitat. Take a late afternoon sunset sail around 5pm. Alternatively, if you have a car, enjoy Breakfast with The Koalas at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventure. Spend the day seeing the crocodile and reptile shows and exploring all of our native fauna and be back in Port for that sunset sail. Choose either The Shaolin Junk or a Luxury Catamaran for your sail. Both are great choices!
Day 5. (Sunday) Spend the morning at Port Douglas Sunday Markets. Enjoy live music at The Courthouse, or relax on the beach.
Day 6. Visit the Daintree Rainforest and Take a Crocodile Spotting Cruise on The Daintree River. This full-day tour includes your Daintree Cruise and The Daintree Rainforest.
Day 7. Spend a day in Cairns, visit Cairns Aquarium, use the beautiful lagoon pool there, maybe get a seafood lunch at Prawn Star on the marina. See our post on Port Douglas vs Cairns. If you have time, stop to take a look at Palm Cove, too.
Day 8. Head to Kuranda. See Barron River Fally, take the Skyrail gondola up and the scenic train down. Visit Kuranda Markets, the butterfly and wildlife parks and explore the shops in “The Village in The Rainforest”.
Day 9/10. Explore the Tablelands, visit Coffee Works to sample local chocolate and coffee. See the lakes and Curtain Fig, maybe visit Granite Gorge. There is a lot to see on The Tablelands and it may be better to book a hotel for 1 night up there. You could take a food and wine tour which will allow you to experience all of these local treats.
Day 11. Swim in a local swimming hole at Shannonvail and visit The Australian Chocolate Farm, just up the road. Take a hike, we suggest you take on The Bump Track. After heavy rains these swimming holes may be dangerous or closed and The Bump Track is best enjoyed in the cooler months.
Day 12. Have an adventure! Go River Drift Snorkelling or Kite Surfing, maybe book a segway tour or even go bungee jumping or parachuting from Cairns. Maybe book a helicopter trip to see the reef from the air.
Day 13. See the fringing reefs of Low Isles, as a full-day or half-day trip.
Day 14. Departure.
So you see, it’s easy to fill a whole two weeks with the various things to do in and near Port Douglas.
Should You Hire a Car?
For a family, yes, I would hire a car, otherwise, it’s optional. We wrote a whole page on whether or not you should hire a car for Port Douglas. I’ll also add it to the related posts at the bottom of the page.
Planning Your Itinerary
Your itinerary should, at minimum, allow you a full day on the Great Barrier Reef, either snorkelling or scuba diving, a trip to the Daintree Rainforest, and time to take a walk along the beach and explore our town.
Try not to book your reef day on a Sunday, or you’ll miss the Port Douglas Sunday Markets.
If you have more time, add a half day at The Wildlife Habitat and/or Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures. Hartley’s is a bigger attraction and a bigger day out. The crocodile shows and reptile shows are good and you can tour the crocodile farm. You can feed the kangaroos at both parks, see koalas, native birds, and more. There are other wildlife attractions in Kuaranda, at Wonga Beach, and in Cairns, but these two are the best for tourist staying in Port Douglas.
You can book “Breakfast With The Birds” and get in the water with the crocodiles at The Wildlife Habitat. At Hartley’s, you can enjoy “Breakfast With The Koalas” and early access to the park.
A sunset sail is another lovely thing to do in Port Douglas, we recommend this gorgeous sailboat, with drinks and snacks.
How you choose to see the Daintree Rainforest is up to you. You can take a half-day tour, a full-day tour, or self-drive if you have your own vehicle. Make sure you visit Mossman Gorge. This is normally part of your Daintree tour.
