If you're looking for the perfect place to get away from it all with a superb tropical climate all year-round, an amazing array of nature and wildlife, and easy access to the Great Barrier Reef, Port Douglas in North Queensland more than fits the bill!

Picturesque Port Douglas is just 70 kilometres north of Cairns' international airport, along a spectacular coastal road surrounded by forest and the Coral Sea. Its natural beauty and an excellent year round climate have made it popular a favourite international destination for tourists. It's the only place where two World heritage listed sites exist side-by-side: the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest of Daintree and Cape Tribulation, and enjoys a relaxed coastal ambience blended with tropical style and sophistication. 

Daintree Rainforest walks and safaris are a great way to discover Australia's breathtaking Northern Tropics, and Port Douglas is an ideal base from which to explore the World Heritage rainforests. The Daintree/ Cape Tribulation region to the north of Port Douglas is a lush green coastal strip which boasts some of the oldest forests in the world and  many rare plant and animal species.

Port Douglas is also the closest gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, making it the ideal base for diving and snorkelling the reef and sailing the waterways. Numerous companies run daily trips from the marina to the outer reef and the Low Isles for scuba diving and snorkelling. There’s a reef tour to suit every style, so that everyone can experience the incredible biodiversity of coral and abundant tropical marine life. 

A holiday in Port Douglas can be entirely indulgent, lazing in the tropical sunshine on Four Mile Beach, enjoying the stylish shopping and world class restaurants, or spent exploring the natural wonders of the Reef and Rainforest. Truly something for everyone!

Massive development in recent years has seen the once pretty fishing village of PORT DOUGLAS , an hour north of Cairns, turned into an upmarket tourist attraction, with a main street full of boutiques, shopping malls and holidaying hordes. However, the town does have a huge beach , along with plenty of distractions to keep you busy for a day or two, and it's getting to be as good a place as Cairns to pick up a regional tour or dive trip to the reef - though prices are steeper.

All services are on five-hundred-metre-long Macrossan Street, which runs between Four Mile Beach and Anzac Park. As in Cairns, a prolific number of businesses offer tourist information - the Port Douglas Tourist Information Centre at no. 23 can sort out everything from Aboriginal-guided tours of Mossman Gorge to sailing trips and buses to the Daintree.

Places to eat abound along Macrossan Street: the Central Hotel has live bands on Wednesday and at weekends, while the Court House Hotel has boozers and dogs sprawled across the ample verandah, and lunch specials and a barbecue menu in the garden. Between the two, Iron Bar has rough-cut timber furniture and a mid-range "surf & turf" menu, while Mango Jam Café across the road is open from noon to 2am for wood-fired pizza, and the nearby Star of Siam has first-rate, moderately-priced Thai fare. At Catalina , around the corner on Wharf Street, it's worth paying the high prices for delicacies such as coral trout grilled in banana leaves; the restaurant is in a beautiful setting with a verandah shaded by two ancient mango trees.

Between the end of Macrossan Street and the sea, Anzac Park is the scene of a Sunday-morning produce market , good for fruit, vegetables and souvenirs. Near the park's jetty you'll find the whitewashed timber church of St Mary's by the Sea , built after the 1911 cyclone carried off the previous structure. Behind, at Ben Cropp's Shipwreck Museum, bronze cannon, teapots and the results of twenty years salvaging are piled around a continuously playing video of Ben's exploits.

Out to sea, local dive sites include the Low Isles , Chinaman , Tongue and Opal reefs , all decent enough, though in much the same condition as popular reefs off Cairns. Quicksilver, based at Marina Mirage, also runs a sailing boat to the Low Isles, while its high-speed catamaran will whisk you to the Agincourt Reef for the day. For around the same price, Poseidon Cruises, 34 Macrossan St (www.poseidon-cruises.com.au ), and Silverblue (twww.silverblue.com.au ), take smaller boats for day-trips to less touristed sections; and serious divers should contact Undersea Explorer (www.undersea.com.au ), who make exploratory trips up the ribbons and into the Coral Sea - contact them for current prices and destinations.

Destination Guides > Australasia & South Pacific > Australia > Queensland > Tropical Queensland and the Reef > Tropics: Rockhampton to Cape York > Cairns to Cape Tribulation > Port Douglas

Places to visit from Port Douglas:

Mossman
A short scenic drive north of Port Douglas is Mossman, a picturesque little township at the foot of the mountains among sugar cane fields. Mossman is the region's sugar capital and a picturesque town with a wide tree-lined main street and historic pubs.

Five minutes west of Mossman is Mossman Gorge, a very accessible and scenic section of the World Heritage listed Daintree National Park. The Mossman River forms cool clear freshwater swimming holes between the huge granite boulders that line the gorge. The Gorge is home to the Aboriginal Kuku Yalanji people, who offer guided bushwalks and traditional dance performances.

Daintree
Only 60 minutes north of Cairns and 20 minutes north of Port Douglas, the Daintree region is a tropical landscape with white palm-fringed beaches, cane-fields and lush farmlands ,bordered by the world’s oldest living tropical rainforest and the majestic Daintree river. The surrounding mangroves are home to abundant bird and wildlife, butterflies and crocodiles. Daintree offers a huge array of activities including river cruises, bird watching, rainforest tours, fishing, health spas, horse riding, tropical exotic nurseries, wildlife sanctuaries, and Aboriginal arts and culture. Daintree Village itself was founded by gold rush pioneers, cedar timber getters and farmers. Today, it's a laid back village with a peaceful atmosphere.

Daintree/Cape Tribulation
The area between Daintree River and Cape Tribulation is a National Park, and is World Heritage listed to protect the lush rainforest and rich diversity of plant and animal life life. Many varieties of insects, birds, over seventy identified mammals, reptiles and amphibians inhabit the rainforest, as well as over 3,000 plant species including the world's largest and smallest tree ferns and cycads. Unknown plants and animal species are still being discovered here. It is here at Daintree/ Cape Tribulation that the rainforest meets the reef. North of the Daintree River you can find spectacular lookout points of the forest and glorious tropical beaches. Activities in the region include bush walking, kayaking, horse riding treks, reef and river cruises and 4WD Safaris.