Port Douglas: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Port Douglas is the closest town to the outer Great Barrier Reef, and that is why it exists as a resort. The day starts with the view from the hill, then the boat from the marina to either the ribbon reefs on the edge of the continental shelf or the calm cay of Low Isles. Back in the afternoon, the town gives you the beach and the old wharf at sunset. In stinger season, roughly November to May, the boats hand out lycra suits; wear one.
A short history of Port Douglas
Port Douglas was founded in 1877, after gold was discovered on the Hodgkinson fields inland and the miners needed a nearby port. It was named after John Douglas, Premier of Queensland at the time. The town flourished briefly, but when the railway was built to Cairns instead, it declined. In 1911 a cyclone destroyed most of its houses. For decades it remained a small fishing village, until large resorts were built there in the 1980s and it became a base for trips to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rainforest.
The ten best sights in Port Douglas
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1Four Mile Beach
From about November to May swim only inside the stinger net by the lifeguards — box jellyfish season
2Flagstaff Hill LookoutTen minutes' walk up from town for the view along the whole beach; best in the morning
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3Reef Marina
The reef boats leave from here early in the morning; check in half an hour before
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4Agincourt Reef
The outer reef, about 90 minutes by fast boat; take seasickness tablets before, not after
5Low IslesA calm coral cay an hour out — the gentler choice for children and weak swimmers
6St Mary's by the SeaA small white wooden chapel on the inlet; often closed for weddings on Saturdays
7Court House MuseumOne room of gold-rush history, run by volunteers with short opening hours
8Sugar WharfThe old wharf on the inlet; sunset over the mangroves from here
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9Macrossan Street
The main street of cafés and shops; it comes alive after 6 pm
10Wildlife HabitatBook Breakfast with the Birds; the animals are most active in the morning
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Port Douglas →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Port Douglas:
Free walking tours in Port Douglas
The reef day
Port Douglas is the closest town to the outer Great Barrier Reef, and that is why it exists as a resort. The day starts with the view from the hill, then the boat from the marina to either the ribbon reefs on the edge of the continental shelf or the calm cay of Low Isles. Back in the afternoon, the town gives you the beach and the old wharf at sunset. In stinger season, roughly November to May, the boats hand out lycra suits; wear one.
- Flagstaff Hill Lookout · Port Douglas was founded in 1877 as the port for the Hodgkinson River goldfield inland, and was named after John Douglas, then premier of Queensland. When the railway from Cairns took the trade, the town shrank to a fishing village for most of the 20th century.
- Reef Marina · The resort boom began in the late 1980s, when the Sheraton Mirage and the marina were built by the developer Christopher Skase. Within a few years the fishing village had become one of the best-known holiday towns in Australia.
- Agincourt Reef · The Agincourt reefs are ribbon reefs, long narrow walls of coral on the very edge of the continental shelf, where the sea floor drops to the deep ocean. The clear oceanic water is the reason the visibility is so much better here than near the coast.
- Low Isles · In 1928–29 a British team led by Maurice Yonge spent a year living on Low Isles, the first major scientific study of a coral reef. Much of what we know about how corals feed and grow began with their work here; the lighthouse dates from 1878.
- Four Mile Beach · The box jellyfish that drifts close to shore in the wet season is one of the most venomous animals in the world. Lifeguarded beaches keep vinegar on posts, because it stops the stinging cells that have not yet fired.
- Sugar Wharf · Sugar cane from the Mossman mill was once loaded here onto ships, and cane still grows in the fields you drive through on the way in. The wharf now hosts weddings, markets and the evening sunset crowd on Dickson Inlet.
Rainforest country to the north
North of Port Douglas the cane fields give way to rainforest, and you are in the country of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people. This route goes from a wildlife park on the edge of town to Mossman Gorge, an Aboriginal gallery in Mossman, and on to the Daintree River for a croc cruise. It is a half day, or a full one if you walk in the gorge. Bring swimmers, insect repellent and patience on the single-lane bridges.
- Wildlife Habitat · The park recreates the region's habitats — wetland, rainforest, savanna — and lets you walk among many of the animals. It is one of the easiest places to see a southern cassowary up close, a bird that can stand over 1.5 metres tall.
- Mossman Gorge · The gorge is at the southern end of Daintree National Park and on the Country of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people. Their guides lead Ngadiku Dreamtime walks, which begin with a traditional smoking ceremony to welcome visitors.
- Mossman · The town grew around its sugar mill, which began crushing cane in the 1890s and for over a century was the heart of the district. The little cane railway lines that fed it still cross the roads around town.
- Janbal Gallery · The gallery is run by Kuku Yalanji artist Binna Swindley, and its workshops teach visitors to paint the local stories themselves. The art here is in the rainforest style of the Kuku Yalanji, different from the dot paintings of central Australia.
- Daintree River Ferry · There is no bridge over the Daintree: a cable ferry is the only road link to Cape Tribulation and the forest north of the river. The river and the forest are named after Richard Daintree, a geologist, by the explorer George Dalrymple in 1873.
- Daintree Village · The Daintree River is home to estuarine crocodiles, the largest living reptiles, and males can grow beyond five metres. The cruises run at the speed of the tide, because the crocs haul out onto the mudbanks to warm up when the water drops.
Down the coast to Kuranda
The Captain Cook Highway between Port Douglas and Cairns is one of the great coast roads of Australia, squeezed between rainforest hills and the sea. This route drives it south, stops for crocodiles, and then rises into the hills to the rainforest village of Kuranda — up by cableway and down by the old railway, or the other way round. It suits the day you arrive from Cairns or the day you leave. Book the Skyrail and train together, and leave the car at the bottom.
- Rex Lookout · Below the lookout the road was cut into the cliffs above the sea in the early 1930s, and before it opened the only way north was by boat or rough track. Today hang-gliders take off from the platform and land on the beach far below.
- Hartley's Crocodile Adventures · Hartley's began in the 1930s as a roadside zoo on Hartley's Creek, one of the oldest wildlife parks in the area. Today it also runs a crocodile farm, and the croc attack show is the real lesson in why you never camp by a northern river.
- Skyrail Rainforest Cableway · The cableway opened in 1995, and its towers were lowered into place by helicopter so that no roads would be cut through the World Heritage forest. It runs 7.5 km above the canopy, from the coast to Kuranda.
- Barron Falls · In the wet season the falls are a roaring brown wall; in the dry they can almost vanish, because the water is diverted upstream to a hydro-electric station in the gorge. Power has been made from this river since the 1930s, one of the first hydro schemes in Queensland.
- Kuranda Scenic Railway Station · The railway was hacked up the range in the 1880s and 1890s to link the tin mines of the tablelands with the port of Cairns. Its builders dug 15 tunnels by hand, and many of them died on the job.
- Australian Butterfly Sanctuary · Among the butterflies here is the Cairns birdwing, the largest butterfly in Australia, with females spanning more than 15 cm. The flight aviary is one of the largest in the country, and butterflies often land on visitors who wear bright colours.
Getting to Port Douglas and getting around
- Cairns Airport · About an hour up the coast road; shuttle buses run to the Port Douglas hotels if someone flies in
- Kuranda Scenic Railway Station · Go up one way by train and down by the Skyrail cableway; book the combination ahead
Cheap eats in Port Douglas
Far North Queensland eats tropical: mangoes, bananas and strange fruits like black sapote and mangosteen from the farms around Mossman, and barramundi, prawns and coral trout from the sea. In Port Douglas that means a pie or a fruit smoothie at the market, fish and chips by the inlet and pizza on Macrossan Street. It is a resort town and prices show it, so the Sunday market and the bakery are where lunch stays cheap.
- 4 Mile Seafood & Takeaway · Fish and chips by Four Mile Beach, about A$12-22
- Origin Espresso · The town's coffee roaster; coffee and a pastry about A$6-14
- Sunday Market food stalls · Fruit, coconuts and cane juice, about A$5-15
- Rattle n Hum · Wood-fired pizza and pub food on Macrossan Street, about A$22-35
- The Court House Hotel · Pub lunch in the old corner pub, mains about A$22-35
- The Little Larder · Breakfast and lunch café, about A$15-25
- Coles · The supermarket for a picnic and water for the gorge, sandwiches about A$5-10
Museums in Port Douglas
- Court House Museum · Gold-rush history in the old court house
- Janbal Gallery · Kuku Yalanji art and paint-your-own workshops
- Mossman Gorge Centre · Indigenous-run gallery and Dreamtime walks
- St Mary's by the Sea · The white wooden chapel by the inlet
- Kuranda Scenic Railway · The heritage station and the line built by hand
Nature and day trips near Port Douglas
- Agincourt Reef · Outer-reef snorkelling and diving from a pontoon
- Low Isles · Turtles and calm water an hour from port
- Mossman Gorge · Boulders, clear river and a rainforest circuit
- Four Mile Beach · Palm-lined beach for a dawn walk
- Flagstaff Hill · Short walk to the view over the beach
- Barron Falls · Best in the wet season, from the Skyrail or train stops
Things to do in Port Douglas with kids
- Wildlife Habitat · Kangaroos, koalas and birds; go in the morning
- Hartley's Crocodile Adventures · Croc cruise and feeding shows
- Australian Butterfly Sanctuary · Wear bright colours and butterflies land on you
- Kuranda Koala Gardens · Koalas and wallabies next to the markets
- Skyrail · A gondola over the treetops
- Low Isles · Easy snorkelling from the sand, glass-bottom boat for little ones
Where to eat in Port Douglas
- Nautilus · Dinner outdoors in a rainforest garden; book ahead
- Harrisons · Modern Australian cooking in town; book ahead
- Salsa Bar & Grill · A long-running favourite with tropical flavours
- Zinc · Big open dining room on Macrossan Street
- Seabean · Spanish tapas to share
- Hemingway's Brewery · Local beer at the marina; sunset on the deck
Frequently asked questions about Port Douglas
What is there to see in Port Douglas?
The top sights in Port Douglas are Four Mile Beach, Flagstaff Hill Lookout and Reef Marina. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Port Douglas?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Port Douglas without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Port Douglas?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Port Douglas, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The reef day.
How do you get to Port Douglas and get around?
The main ways are Cairns Airport and Kuranda Scenic Railway Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Port Douglas, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Port Douglas that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Port Douglas for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.