Things To Do In Port Douglas

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Things to do in Port Douglas Australia, a list of possible activities for you, in or near Port Douglas. You can find detailed posts about all of these “things to do” and how to organise them by following links on this site.

List of Things To Do in Port Douglas

1. Visiting the Great Barrier Reef is the #1 thing to do in Port Douglas. Visit the outer reef for snorkelling or scuba diving, boat-based (Silversonic) or permanent moored pontoon-based (Quicksilver, check it out here). As locals, we think the best reef tour you can take from Port Douglas for snorkelling is this one, Wavelength, they are a family-run snorkel-only boat rather than being a big international company and have a strong conservation stance. For scuba diving choose Silversonic, here.

2. Book a sunset photography tour of Port Douglas and capture images to treasure. Book here

3. Check out the historic buildings in Port Douglas, including St Mary’s by the Sea, The Sugar Wharf, The Old Court House, and several of the older pubs. The graveyard is also very interesting to explore.

4. Snorkel at Low Isles. Take a half day tour with sunset return sail on a beautiful catamaran. Low Isles are just off the coast and have an abundance of soft corals and turtles, plus a sandy beach and “desert island” to explore. Glass Bottom Boat available and snorkel guides. At the end of 2023 the fringing reefs off Low Isles took a battering from Ex tropical storm Jasper. There is some damage, but we think you’ll still have a great day swimming off the sandy beach and exploring this “desert island”. This is a good option with smaller kids and you can make use of glass bottomed boats to see the underwater world. You can visit Low Isles in addition to your day on the outer reef, or you can just visit Low Isles and skip the reef. Unless you have very youg children or babies, don’t skip the Outer Reef!

5. Visit the Australian Chocolate Farm, near Port Douglas at Shannonvale. Take a tour of the chocolate farm, see chocolate being made, or just have a coffee or pot of tea with a chocolate cake. Shannonvale swimming hole, a beautiful rainforest spot, is just up the road.

6. Visit Granite Gorge, Coffee Works or Mt Uncle Distillery on the Tablelands. These can be reached by road, you will need a hire car, or book a Tablelands tour.

7. There are dairies to check out (with chocolate, cheeses and cakes) at Mungalli Creek (Millaa Milla) and Galo Dairyland, also on the Atherton Tablelands. Self drive or book this foodie tour.

8. Enjoy Port Douglas Four Mile Beach. Swim, relax, hire a deck chair or floating toy. Kayaks are sometimes available. You can swim near the lifeguard station at the top end of the beach, almost opposite Port Douglas Beaches resort on the Esplanade. It’s one of the best places to stay!

9. Book the shuttle to Mossman Gorge (return) to explore the rainforest boardwalks and clear rainforest pools and river in this part of the Daintree Rainforest. You could self drive, or include Mossman Gorge on your full-day Daintree Rainforest Tour. This tour includes Mossman Gorge and you can be picked up from, Cairns, Palm Cove, or Port Douglas.

10. See the crocodiles at Hartley’s! Take a cruise on their lagoon, see talks and croc shows with feeding at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures near Palm Cove (with pick up from Port Douglas). You can also book “Breakfast with the Koalas” at Hartley’s, it gets you into the park earlier and you can get your photo with a koala.

11. See what’s left of the historic Bally Hooley trains and railway.

12. Visit Low Isles the fast way with a sub-3 hours speed boat snorkel trip on Reef Sprinter.

13. Fishing trips and charters, including game fishing and marlin fishing are available from The Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina. Alternatively, hire a small boat and fishing tackle and head off up The Inlet. There is a small boat hire office at the marina. You can even try your hand at Barramundi fishing near Port.

14. Enjoy a seafood lunch cruise on the Shaolin Chinese junk from Port Douglas Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina.

15. Take a sunset sail on a Chinese junk or a beautiful sailing boat, multiple sunset cruises depart the marina daily, weather allowing.

16. Take a wildlife and crocodile spotting river cruise from Port Douglas Marina on The Lady Douglas, or from Daintree Village on the Daintree River aboard Solar Whisper. We have a full post on which to choose, The Lady Douglas vs Daintree River Cruise. Ideally, do both! Some Daintree tours include a wildlife cruise in their itinerary.

17. Swim with a crocodile! The rest of the family can pet the kangaroos or enjoy Breakfast With The Birds while you take a dip with a saltie at the Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat.

18. Bungy Jumping and Giant Swing near Port Douglas at SkyPark Cairns. This is one local activity we will not be testing ourselves! If you do it, tell us about it.

19. The nearest cinema to Port Douglas is at Smithfield, but Port does have a small theatre, and sometimes, in season, we have an outdoor cinema.

20. There are various festivals and special events, plus sporting events, are held throughout the year. Port Douglas Carnivale is held in May, the Mossman Show is usually in July and the whales are in town from July onwards.

21. Play golf! There’s the Sheraton Golf Course and the Sea Temple Golf Course, or Mossman also has a golf course.

22. Learn to scuba dive in the purpose-built dive tank at Quicksilver Dive Port Douglas (just behind Macrossan St.) and take your first PADI open water dive on the Great Barrier Reef.

23. Barramundi fishing is available locally. Hook-a-Barra (near Wonga) allows you to fish for farmed barramundi in their pools and also offers gourmet barra tasting on-site. Reserve this experience now! If you’d prefer to fish for wild barra with a charter boat and guide, that’s available from the Daintree River, both in the river and offshore. We have a Hook-a-Barra review here, it’s fun!

24. Visit the Wildlife Habitat for “Breakfast With The Birds”, swimming with crocodiles, or just to hand-feed kangaroos and pet a koala.

25. There is another small wildlife attraction to visit north of Port Douglas at Wonga Beach, or there are several in or near Cairns.

26. Visit the Cairns Aquarium if you don’t want to get wet on the reef. It’s not a huge aquarium but it’s new and very good.

27. Book a family or couple photoshoot with Port Douglas as your beautiful backdrop. Special deals are available here currently!

28. SUP, kayaking and kitesurfing on Four Mile Beach with Windswell.

29. River Drift Snorkelling is available in season.

30. Hot Air Ballooning Nearby on The Tablelands

31.Skydiving is available nearby (In Cairns!)

32. Dining at restaurants and hotels, including buffets, or book a half-day food trail.

33. Take a day trip to the Daintree Rainforest (Special deals available on this tour here)

34. Visit Mossman Gorge and try Dream Time Tours with the Kuku Yalanji

35. Swim in numerous freshwater swimming holes, Shannonvale swimming hole is close to Port Douglas.

36. Swim under a waterfall at Milaa Milaa or Hartley’s Creek Falls. Our waterfalls guide is here.

37. Visit Port Douglas Sunday Markets and shop for gifts and souvenirs. Alternatively, catch the Wednesday Market at the marina in high season.

38. Walk The Bump Track, Devils Thumb, or Flagstaff Hill Walking Trail. See our post on local hikes.

39. Take a day trip to Cairns, The Northern Beaches, Daintree Village or Kuranda (includes cable car ride and scenic train plus pickup from Port Douglas)

40. You could even take a trip to Cooktown! It would be best to stay at least one night in Cooktown, but you can drive up and back in a day. Our post explains how to get there.

We moved to Port Douglas almost 20 years ago and today we live very nearby and we’re in Port almost daily, our fingers are on the pulse. Also, as locals, we need to know all of the “things to do” to keep our own family and guests happy. You found a good guide, and we try our hardest to keep our site as current as possible.