Port Douglas winter holiday: dry season trip ideas

A Port Douglas winter holiday means the coolest weather of the year and far less rain than the wet season. Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) averages for June to August show daily highs of about 25°C. They also show rain of 1 mm or more on only four to six days a month.

Wikipedia puts Port Douglas about 70 km north of Cairns. Both the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, each a World Heritage area, lie right next to the town.

Sources for this section: BoM, Port Douglas (Warner Street) climate averages; Wikipedia, Port Douglas.

Why winter suits Port Douglas

BoM keeps long-term averages for its Port Douglas (Warner Street) station. In June, July and August the mean daily maximum is 25.1°C, 24.6°C and 25.3°C. The mean minimum is 17.7°C, 16.8°C and 17.1°C, which makes July the coolest month.

Rain averages 47.6 mm in June, 25.8 mm in July and 24.1 mm in August, against more than 400 mm a month from January to March. The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) puts the wet season from December to April. It calls the cooler, drier months from May to September the best time to visit Daintree National Park, with reduced humidity.

Wikipedia names May to September as the peak tourism season in Port Douglas, so book flights and rooms early.

Sources for this section: BoM, Port Douglas (Warner Street) climate averages; QPWS, Mossman Gorge, Daintree National Park; Wikipedia, Port Douglas.

Four Mile Beach and the Sunday market

Wikipedia says kitesurfing is popular at the southern end of Four Mile Beach, particularly in the winter months when trade winds blow from the south. A December 2009 post on the Tropical Far North Queensland blog says you can walk to the beach from the main district in under five minutes.

The same blog post says a market runs every Sunday near the end of Macrossan Street, from 8 am to 1.30 pm. It describes stalls selling things such as arts and crafts, jewellery, clothing and fresh produce. It adds that in 1998 the council decided the market would sell only goods made by the stallholder or their immediate family. Check the times before you go.

QPWS says dangerous stinging jellyfish (stingers) may be present in tidal and coastal waters at Daintree National Park at any time of year, and more often in the warmer months. Take the same care at Four Mile Beach and check local signs and advice before you swim.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Port Douglas; QPWS, Cape Tribulation, Daintree National Park; Tropical Far North Queensland blog, post 34 (18 December 2009).

The reef and Low Isles

Wikipedia says numerous companies run daily trips from the marina to the outer reef and to Low Isles, for scuba diving and snorkelling.

Low Isles are a group of two islands, Low Island and Woody Island, off the coast to the north-east of town. Wikipedia describes Low Island as a coral cay, a small, sandy, vegetated island surrounded by reef. It has an active lighthouse, first lit in 1878 and the earliest in Far North Queensland. The site is open to the public, but the tower is closed.

You reach Low Island only by boat, and day tours to Low Isles leave from Port Douglas and Cairns. There is no overnight accommodation for visitors on the island.

Wikipedia calls Low Isles a Marine National Park Zone and says no fishing is allowed in the lagoon or within a buffer zone around the islands. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority calls a Marine National Park (Green) Zone a "no-take" area. It says people can still enter it for activities such as boating, swimming, snorkelling and sailing.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Port Douglas; Wikipedia, Low Island (Queensland); Wikipedia, Low Isles Light; Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Interpreting zones.

Daintree rainforest day trips

UNESCO listed the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area in 1988, and Daintree National Park lies within it. QPWS says the land in Daintree National Park began to form under the sea about 400 million years ago.

Mossman Gorge is a section of the park. In 2009 QPWS described a narrow 5 km bitumen road from Mossman to the car park and said caravans and large campervans were not recommended on it. It also described two easy walks: a 400 m river circuit, and a 2.7 km rainforest circuit reached from it by a suspension bridge. The same page warns that it is dangerous to enter the river, because of swift currents, flash flooding, cold water and slippery rocks, and that drownings have occurred.

To go further north, you cross the Daintree River by cable ferry. Wikipedia puts it some 50 km north of Port Douglas and says it gives the only sealed road access to Cape Tribulation. In 2009 QPWS said it ran from 6 am until midnight daily, apart from Christmas Day and Good Friday. It also paused now and then for repairs or severe flooding. A toll is charged.

Beyond the ferry, QPWS says two-wheel-drive vehicles can reach Cape Tribulation, though high clearance is useful. QPWS does not recommend caravans, and the road is narrow and winding. Drivers should keep left and watch for wildlife, particularly cassowaries, crossing the road.

QPWS says estuarine crocodiles are found in the coastal waterways and in the sea off Daintree National Park. Queensland's environment department says to obey crocodile warning signs and never swim in any water that could hold crocodiles, even when no warning sign is posted.

Sources for this section: UNESCO, Wet Tropics of Queensland; QPWS, Cape Tribulation, Nature, culture and history; QPWS, Mossman Gorge; QPWS, Cape Tribulation; Wikipedia, Daintree River Ferry; Department of Environment and Resource Management, Crocodiles: be croc wise.

Packing and a simple plan

Pack light layers. Shorts and a T-shirt work by day, and a light jumper helps in the evenings. QPWS advises sturdy shoes, sunscreen, a hat and clothes that protect you from the sun, and enough drinking water for longer walks. For Cape Tribulation, it also says to be prepared for biting mosquitoes, sandflies and midges. For boat days, add a long-sleeved rash shirt and your own towel if the boat does not supply one.

• Day 1: Settle in, walk Four Mile Beach and eat in the cafes and bars on the main street.
• Day 2: Reef day trip from the marina.
• Day 3: Mossman Gorge and its walking circuits.
• Day 4: Low Isles, or a second reef trip.
• Day 5: The Daintree River ferry and Cape Tribulation.
• Any Sunday: The market, then a slow afternoon.

Book reef trips ahead, and check prices and times with the operator.

Sources for this section: QPWS, Mossman Gorge; QPWS, Cape Tribulation; Lonely Planet, Port Douglas.