Australia: Cairns, the Daintree and the Great Barrier Reef

Cairns to Port Douglas

Cairns Airport up the Captain Cook Highway to Port Douglas

• Repas du soir
• Nuit : Port Douglas
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

After check-in, walk Four Mile Beach with your guide in the late afternoon, then climb the short track up Flagstaff Hill to the lookout over the beach and the hills behind it.

Soir

In the evening the group sits down to a welcome dinner in town, and your guide runs through the reef day: what to bring, how the stinger suits work and what the crew will ask about your swimming.

Compris

• Pick-up at Cairns Airport (CNS)
• Rex Lookout on the Captain Cook Highway
• Four Mile Beach and the Flagstaff Hill lookout with your guide
• Welcome dinner in Port Douglas

A day on the outer reef

Port Douglas by boat to the outer Great Barrier Reef and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Port Douglas
• En bateau

Matin

After breakfast we walk to the marina and board a full-day boat with a licensed Great Barrier Reef operator, chosen for small numbers on the reef and a marine biologist or reef educator on board. The run out to the outer reef takes about an hour and a half, and the crew pick two or three sites on the day to suit the wind and tide. You snorkel over hard and soft corals, giant clams and schools of reef fish, and green turtles are a common sight. Stinger suits, masks, fins and flotation vests are provided, and the crew lead a guided snorkel for anyone less sure in the water.

Après-midi

Lunch is served on board between sites. The reef has been on the World Heritage list since 1981 and stretches more than 2,300 km along the Queensland coast; the talk on board explains how to look after it while you are in the water.

Soir

We are back in Port Douglas by late afternoon, and the evening is free.

Compris

• Full-day outer reef trip from Port Douglas with a licensed reef operator
• Snorkel gear, stinger suit and flotation vest
• Reef talk by a marine biologist or reef educator
• The reef's Environmental Management Charge
• Lunch on board

Activités en option

• Introductory or certified scuba dives, booked and paid on board

Mossman Gorge, the Daintree and Cape Tribulation

Port Douglas to Mossman Gorge, the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation, then back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Port Douglas
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal at Cape Tribulation, then we walk the beach and the Kulki boardwalk, where the rainforest meets the sea, before driving back to Port Douglas by about 5:30 pm.

Compris

• Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk at Mossman Gorge with a Kuku Yalanji guide, including the shuttle bus
• One-hour Daintree River wildlife cruise
• Daintree River cable ferry
• Alexandra Range lookout and the Marrdja boardwalk
• Sit-down lunch at Cape Tribulation
• Cape Tribulation beach and the Kulki boardwalk

Kuranda by train and Skyrail

Port Douglas to Freshwater station, the Kuranda Scenic Railway to Kuranda, the Skyrail down to Smithfield, then Port Douglas

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Port Douglas
• Environ 2 h de route

Après-midi

A morning in the rainforest above Cairns, then the afternoon is yours. We leave Port Douglas at about 8:30 am (the time is set by the train timetable) and drive about an hour south to Freshwater station to board the mid-morning Kuranda Scenic Railway. The line opened in 1891 and climbs from the coastal plain through 15 tunnels and over dozens of bridges to the mountain village of Kuranda. On the way it passes the Barron Gorge and its falls (a trickle late in the dry season, a torrent after heavy rain) and curves across the bridge at Stoney Creek Falls. In Kuranda there is time for the village markets, a short walk along Jumrum Creek and lunch at your own pace. Early in the afternoon we ride the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway down, 7.5 km over the canopy, stepping off at Red Peak for a boardwalk among the treetops.

Soir

The van meets us at the bottom, and we are back in Port Douglas by about 3:30 pm, free until the farewell dinner.

Compris

• Kuranda Scenic Railway from Freshwater to Kuranda, past the Barron Gorge
• Time in Kuranda village and the markets
• Skyrail Rainforest Cableway from Kuranda to Smithfield, with the Red Peak boardwalk
• Farewell dinner in Port Douglas

Palm Cove and home

Port Douglas to Palm Cove, then Cairns Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

A free morning in Port Douglas. Swim between the flags at Four Mile Beach while the lifeguards are on duty, hire a bicycle and ride the flat streets to the marina, or, if it is a Sunday, browse the market under the trees in Rex Smeal Park by the water. Check-out is mid-morning, and we drive back down the Captain Cook Highway with the Coral Sea on one side and the ranges on the other. We stop at Palm Cove, a small beach village where old paperbark trees shade the esplanade, for a last coffee by the sea.

Soir

We reach Cairns Airport (CNS) by about 1 pm, so book domestic flights that leave after about 2:30 pm; for an international flight, book an evening departure or add a night in Cairns. If you are joining our Red Centre trip or flying on to Sydney, your guide checks your connection before saying goodbye, and we can book an extra night in Cairns or Palm Cove if your flight is the next day.

Compris

• Stop at Palm Cove
• Drop-off at Cairns Airport (CNS)