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Shopping in Port Douglas
The Port Douglas Sunday Markets must be the #1 shopping experience for most visitors to Port Douglas. But what if you’re not in town on a Sunday?
This post covers shopping options in Port Douglas, for gifts and souvenirs, plus basics, like Port Douglas’s food markets and supermarkets.
Port Douglas Supermarkets and Food Shopping
There is a small Coles supermarket at Port Village Shopping Centre on Macrossan St, Port Douglas’s high street and dining hub. There is parking beneath the shopping centre accessed from Warner St.
The big two supermarket chains in Australia are Coles and Woolworths. IGA Supermarkets (Independent Grocers of Australia) is a chain of around 1,300 independent, privately owned supermarkets across Australia. There is also an IGA in Port Douglas.
You can’t call one supermarket better than the other, they’re all just a bit different.
Right outside Coles supermarket is Malone’s Butchery, the best butcher’s shop I’ve ever used! Their grass-fed meats are fantastic and service is great. This is the best place to order your Christmas meats.
Australian supermarkets do not sell adult beverages as they do in other countries, but you’ll usually find a “bottle shop” (an off-license or liquor store) next to a supermarket or at most larger pubs or hotels. There are at least 3 bottle shops very close to Coles Supermarket, there’s one right outside. It pays to shop around, prices vary.
For local fruit and veg you’ll find some at Port Douglas Sunday Market, more at the Mossman Saturday morning market under the raintrees. This market features locally grown tropical fruits from market gardeners, not big suppliers.
There are a couple of fishmongers in Port Douglas and you can usually buy locally caught prawns at these shops, you won’t find them in Coles.
You can buy freshly caught prawns and frish (frozen usually) direct off the trawler in Port Douglas occasionally.
An IGA supermarket is at the entrance to Port Douglas from the highway, next to the Wildlife Habitat. It’s about a 5-6 km walk from Macrossan Street, on the edge of town.
A bigger Woolworths supermarket is in Mossman, and they do offer local home deliveries. The drive from Port Douglas to Mossman Woolworths is around 10- 15 minutes.
Buy less, choose well. – Vivienne Westwood
Port Douglas Shopping for Cruise Ship Visitors
When a big cruise ship visits Port Douglas the number of visitors is so huge that a special market will often be set up on the Port Douglas Marina. This is a scaled-down version of the Sunday Market and you can usually buy hand-made bags, jewellery, clothing, gifts and souvenirs.
If our cruise ship guests continue walking to Macrossan St, Port Douglas’s main shopping street, there are plenty more shops to browse, plus a small Cole’s Supermarket.
Shopping in Port Douglas, What Can You Buy?
Port Douglas is a very small town and shopping is more geared towards tourists than locals. As locals, we have to do a lot of our shopping online or drive to Cairns, but even Cairns isn’t that great for shops.
So what shops are in Port Douglas? You will find the following types of shops in Port Douglas, all of them are pretty small.
- Clothes shops, both luxury resort wear and cheap clothes for kids and adults.
- Shoe shops
- Book shops
- Stationers
- Sports equipment and clothing
- Swimwear
- Pharmacies and toiletries
- Jewellery
- Gifts, Arts and Crafts
- Photographer’s Galleries and Art Galleries
- Tourist Information shops
- Dive and snorkel gear
- Fishing and boating supplies
- Golf shops
- Specialist food shops, including coffee, chocolate, French deli items and baked goods.
Did I miss any? Get in touch if you’d like to advertise on this page!
Shopping at Port Douglas Marina,
Sadly, there aren’t many shops at the Port Douglas Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina. There are restaurants and bars, but only really gift and swim/snorkel gear available to buy here. You can normally buy a T-shirt, towel, hat, or sunglasses at the marina if you need one before your day on the reef.
There is a smaller version of the Port Douglas markets on the marina when cruise ships are in town and sometimes on Wednesdays, 11 am to 5 pm, but only in high season, April to October. The Marina Markets in Port Douglas are held on The Boardwalk, facing the water. Expect to find clothing, jewellery, bags, some crafts and gifts.
What Should You Buy in Port Douglas?
We think locally made jewellery is always a good souvenir from Port Douglas, especially the reef, beach, and marine-life-themed pieces at the Sunday Market and in some shops on the Highstreet.
For the kids, there are cuddly toys and T-shirts featuring our local wildlife, cassowaries, kangaroos, snakes and spiders.
You’ll also find some good “Aussie” leather hats, belts, and other hand-made items. Also look out for bags, handmade locally, in colourful fabrics with a waterproof layer, perfect for boating and beaches.
If you’re looking for edible gifts to take home how about Daintree Tea, or local coffee beans? There is a chocolate and coffee shop on Macrossan St. While the chocolate is great, it’s quite likely to melt in your bags, so buy some to eat now, it’s really good!
