Great Barrier Reef from Port Douglas – Our Bucket List Adventure

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Last updated: 24th February 2024

Port Douglas was the last stop on our whirlwind tour of Australia and it turned out to be our favourite place. We based ourselves here for a few days of relaxation and a bucket list adventure of a lifetime to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef. In this guide we’ll show you the top things to do in Port Douglas and our review of the Quicksilver Reef cruise to the Great Barrier Reef from Port Douglas.

 

About Port Douglas

The coastal town of Port Douglas is situated in Australia’s tropical northern state Queensland. Port Douglas or ‘Port’ as the locals call it is famous for being the only place in the world where two UNESCO World Heritage sites sit side by side – The Great Barrier Reef and The Daintree Rainforest. We love tropical destinations and found Port Douglas to be chic, upmarket with a laid-back village vibe and perfectly small enough to explore by foot. It’s pretty and the perfect place to relax and unwind in the warm climate.

 

 

Getting To Port Douglas From Cairns

Cairns is the nearest airport to Port Douglas, when we came into land we were struck by the beauty of the rainforest covered mountains. This region of Australia is green and lush, a world away from the harshness of the outback we experienced at Uluru and the busyness of big cities like Sydney. We visited in early January the ‘greentime’ season which means temperatures are really hot and humid and the evenings are very wet. However the result is that the surrounding rainforest, tropical flowers and fruit trees all look their best.

It takes about an hour to drive from Cairns Airport to reach Port Douglas, the road is twisty and it’s supposed to be one of the most scenic road trips, however our taxi transfer was in torrential rain and it was turning dark! We couldn’t get over the number of toads on the road, there were literally dozens and dozens, so inevitably some casualties 😞 our driver had little sympathy and said: “don’t worry about the cane-toads they are pests, the birds will enjoy the roadkill in the morning” that was us told.

 

 

Port Douglas Attractions

Macrossan Street

Macrossan Street is the main street of Port Douglas, where you’ll find chic bars, fine dining restaurants and boutique shopping. It’s a cosmopolitan strip where we enjoyed lazily wandering the shops and cafes. In the evenings we loved tucking into the freshest seafood at one of the sophisticated yet unpretentious restaurants. Our favourite was Zinc – serving up modern Australian seafood dishes. Finish off the night relaxing with some beers at one of the many Aussie pubs, we liked Rattle n Hum Bar & Grill.

If shopping is your thing then check out the Sunday Market every week at the end of Macrossan Street in Anzac Park. The stalls sell food, fashion and crafts from 8am till lunchtime.

 

Rex Smeal Park

Other areas in the town to explore include the Rex Smeal Park where there’s plenty of Instagram opportunities next to the dreamy palm trees. It’s the best spot in Port Douglas to watch the sunset, other couples took blankets and picnics which was a great idea to have dinner as the sun goes down.

 

 

Four Mile Beach

A 5-10 minute walk from the centre is the golden sandy Four Mile Beach. It’s gorgeous here and a great place for taking a lazy and romantic walk along this palm fringed beach. The breeze here is a welcome relief from the heat and humidity, if you fancy swimming pay attention to the signs about crocodiles and jellyfish, yikes!. Only swim in designated netted areas for your protection and only in a wetsuit, especially important during the stinger season of November to March. Despite the collection of seaweed on the sand when we visited, this beach is usually even more stunning. On a clear day the Coral Sea will look completely turquoise.

 

Flagstaff Hill Walking Trail

We followed the short Flagstaff Hill Walking Trail from the beach up the hill to the Four Mile Beach and Trinity Bay lookout points, the views here are fabulous. You’ll be rewarded with panoramic vistas of the beautiful beach set against the tropical rainforest in the background, paradise! However, the weather for us was a bit grey and windy as a tropical cyclone had developed over the Coral Sea nearby. On the trail, there’s also lots of wildlife along the way with trees and shrubs bursting with flowers.

 

Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina

The Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and the place to go for checking out the various tour operators to take you there. The marina’s berths are full of luxury yachts and is a great place for a spot of people watching, it reminded us a little of Puerto Banús in Spain. We reckon it’s the most scenic marina we’ve ever been to with some nice bars and restaurants. We loved going here for breakfast at Lure Restaurant and had great steaks at Hog’s Breath Cafe and refreshing beers at Hemingway’s Brewery.

 

 

Great Barrier Reef from Port Douglas

Time for the main event of our stay in Port Douglas – our once in a lifetime experience to find Nemo on the longest and most famous coral reef in the world. Snorkelling the reef was on Garth’s bucket list for years, so having saved up we were beyond excited to finally be realising our dreams 🙂

We paid for the Quicksilver Outer Reef Cruise – a full day experience aboard a giant-sized catamaran that takes you to their massive moored platform at the Agincourt Reef on the Outer Reef. It’s considered one of the best places on the Great Barrier Reef for snorkelling. Getting there was unbelievably exciting, as our anticipation kept building waiting to catch our first glimpse of the turquoise waters.

After 90 minutes we arrived and made a quick change into thin lycra wetsuits to avoid being stung by jellyfish. Armed with a handful of floating noodles, we swam out and found a spot to float above the reef. It was a serene moment as we stuck our heads in the water for the first time, another world, we were rewarded with crystal clear waters teeming with marine life.

OMG, the Great Barrier Reef delivers! under the water is a real wonderland where the coral and tropical fish are just so colourful. We’ve been snorkelling in the Maldives but here is on another which was a lovely surprise. Garth couldn’t get enough and stayed in the water just happily floating the whole time, whilst Phil got a bit freaked out by large numbers of fish so opted to view them from the submarine, well a semi-submersible boat with a glass bottom and sides. Phil says the boat and the platform’s underwater observatory has fabulous views for those who don’t want to get into the water.

Whilst you can see the reef really well under water and pools of turquoise water from the platform, you don’t really get a sense of the scale of the reef. What what would be really good is to see the reef from the air – those classic aerial Great Barrier Reef shots. There were plenty of helicopter flights on offer but sadly our budget didn’t stretch that far, maybe we should have taken our pocket drone!

Before we knew it our day on the reef was up. The Great Barrier Reef was a truly unforgettable experience – magical and emotional at times as it’s something we’ve dreamt of doing for a long time, a big bucket list tick! Oh and if you were wondering Garth didn’t find Nemo, but Phil did!

 

 

Catamaran Cruise Trip To The Low Isles

The next day we took advantage of another sailing trip to the beautiful and unspoilt Low Isles.  There’s two islands – Low Island and Woody Island both are uninhabited and offer fabulous snorkelling in their shallow waters and opportunities to swim with turtles in their natural habitat. We paid for an all day catamaran cruise with Sailaway Port Douglas. It starts at 8am and finishes back at the marina at around 4pm. The distance from Port Douglas to the Low Isles is 9 miles and it takes 90 minutes to reach them.

 

Woody Island

Our first stop was Woody Island, we moored up in the picturesque lagoon and went swimming and snorkelling with loads of tropical fish and green turtles, loads of them! which were actually quite playful, just amazing. We didn’t get to close as it’s important not to distress the turtles or ever touch them as our crew explained this is a conservation area.

 

Low Island

Looking like a picture postcard deserted island in the middle of the ocean is the idyllic Low Island.  There’s nothing on the island apart from a lighthouse and a weather station. We enjoyed exploring the island’s dense vegetation passing birds nesting on the ground and seeing herons on the beach.  Our boat crew also told us this was the island where some people tried to resuscitate tv personality Steve Irwin who died here in a freak accident with a stingray.

We had a good few hours here to snorkel on the reef, relax and just chill out on the beach Garth swam with green turtles again (not too close). The boat cruise was so relaxing, so scenic and somewhat romantic, especially coming back into Port Douglas as the sun was setting – it was a perfect day.

 

 

Ancient Daintree Rainforest

We had to make some difficult decisions on what to see and do in Port Douglas as we were short on time. Because we had two aims to ‘relax and reef’ we sadly chose to skip the closest rainforest – The Daintree. It’s the oldest rainforest in the world, 135 million years old! and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It covers an area of 750 miles and is a real wilderness. Getting to Daintree takes about 90 minutes, it’s 42 miles from Port Douglas, if you’ve not got a car there’s lots of day trips on offer (just ask at your hotel). Once you’re there you can go wild swimming in the minty green waters of Mossman Gorge or view the forest on aerial walkways. It all sounds incredible, green fingered Garth was disappointed to miss out seeing the giant ferns and palms, so we’ll just have to come back!

 

 

Other Port Douglas Attractions and Things To Do

• Great Barrier Reef Helicopter Ride – Fly over the world’s most famous coral reef if you can afford it.
• Cape Tribulation – Gorgeous white sandy beaches located between the Daintree Rainforest and the Barrier Reef.
• Court House Museum – One of the oldest buildings left after Port Douglas was destroyed by a cyclone in 1911.
• Cane Toad Races – We didn’t see this, but you can bet on toad races across tables at the Iron Bar pub nightly at 8pm.
• Flames Of The Forest – Choose from a Rainforest Dining Experience or the Aboriginal Cultural Experience.
• Kuranda Skyrail – Near Cairns this cable car ride takes you above the canopy of the rainforest.

 

Our Port Douglas Accommodation

We stayed at the Meridian Port Douglas (not to be confused with the big hotel) a lovely place with small and romantic apartments and a nice pool. We wanted to be able to walk everywhere and this retreat is the perfect location. Manager John made us feel very welcome. We also considered staying at the NOMAD apartments on Macrossan Street which look very cool.

 

 

Port Douglas Practical & Useful Information

Phil and Garth’s Top 5 Port Douglas Tips

• Tip #1: Take a brolly for evenings during wet ‘Greentime’ season (November to February)
• Tip #2: Protect yourself against jellyfish – always wear a lycra protective body suit when swimming.
• Tip #3: Take an underwater camera with a flash for the best colour photos of coral reefs.
• Tip #4: Pack a pair of flip flops or ‘thongs’ as Aussies call them and coral-safe sunscreen.
• Tip #5: Go to the Sunday market for authentic local arts and hand made crafts.

 

Port Douglas Fast Facts

• Airport Code: CNS – Cairns International Airport, it’s 41 miles to Port Douglas.
• Time: GMT +10 hours. Australian Eastern Standard Time.
• Currency: Australian Dollar (symbol: $ or $AU)
• Language: English
• Population: 3,504
• In An Emergency – Call 000 for Police, Fire & Ambulance.
• Electricity: Plug Type I – 3 flat pins in a triangular pattern. Voltage is 230V / 50Hz.
• Best Time To Visit Port Douglas: April to October is the dry season, but has peak season prices.
• Worst Time To Visit Port Douglas: November to March is the wet season with risks of monsoon rain & cyclones.
• Famous For: Great Barrier Reef, World’s Oldest Rainforest & Tropical Beaches.
• History: Port Douglas started out as a fishing village. gold was discovered in 1877 and sugar growing was booming until 1911 when the town was devastated by a cyclone.
• 5 Must See: Great Barrier Reef, Low Isles, Four Mile Beach, Daintree Forest & Macrossan Street.
• Local Food: Ocean fresh seafood.
• Getting Around: The best way to get around Port Douglas is to walk.
• Trivia: Port Douglas was named after John Douglas, Premier of Queensland (1877-79).
• TV & Film: Film location for Fool’s Gold (2008) starring  Kate Hudson and Mathew McConaughey.
• Best Photo Spot: Sunset at Rex Smeal Park.
• Hidden Gem: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest.
• Souvenir: Something arty from the Sunday market.

 

How we did it:

• We visited at the beginning of January, it was hot, humid with occasional rain showers and the odd downpour at night.
• We flew from Ayers Rock to Cairns with Qantas
• Our Great Barrier Reef Cruise was with Quicksilver Cruises
• Low Isles trip cost with Sailaway Reef & Island Tours and cost $225 each.
• Taxi transfers between Cairns and Port Douglas we organised through ATS Pacific Australia

 

Pin our Great Barrier Reef & Port Douglas Guide for reference