blsgirl

We have 6 nights in this area for our October honeymoon. I am not too sure where we should stay and how we should break up the time. We want to do a day at the reef, one day rainforest, and atherton tablelands. We were thinking of spending a few days at Thala Beach Resort and 2 nights at the rainforest. Any suggestions on a six night itinerary and places to stay?

benderbabe

Look up Quicksilver for a good tri-hull catamaran to the reef from either Cairns or Port Douglas. They take you out to a pontoon at the outer reef, from which you can snorkel, dive, take an underwater submarine, and also have a great seafood buffet spread for lunch right out on the pontoon.

Also, google "Sebel Reef House" in Palm Cove. It is a bit north of Cairns/Port Douglas, but is very nice and romantic, and the rooms are fantastic and secluded.

You may also want to head up towards Cape Tribulation. Coconut Beach Resort is very nice.

Have a good time!

stevew

Greetings blsgirl

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding

You might want to consider a tour of the rainforest with David Armbrust

http://www.anhs.com.au/

We took that twice, once ourselves and again when we took my mom and our daughter to Oz. David provides an excellent relaxing tour. He takes no more than 4 people a day.

For diving we would recommend the Calypso out of PD or Tusa out of Cairns. A lot of folks like Quicksilver, but they take a lot of people.

We prefer a smaller group so Quicksilver would not be our choice - but only for that reason.

Cape Tribulation is another great "must see" in our books.

We stay at the Hilton and love it, but there are many nice places in town and some excellent B&B's as well. One B&B owner (Pat) posts here a lot and I'm sure she can provide some great advice for a couple on their honeymoon holiday.

We also really enjoy the Nautiless restaurant in PD. Its all outdoors under the canopy of the rainforest. Reservations are a good idea.

http://www.nautilus-restaurant.com.au/

The pictures on the website are a good representation of the restaurant.

Cheers

Steve and Andrea

Smeagol

(ok this is my 3rd attemp at posting this) We too are going to port douglas for 6 days (over Christmas) and are staying at Thala. Diana at thala has been super helpful and has even sent us a 6 day itinerary which included a helicopter tour over the reef and rainforest,
a snorkeling trip (with a max of 30 people - we wanted a smaller group) i think they are called wavelength and a rainforest tour with tonys tropical tours. She has also suggested nature walks and aboriginal evenings which are held at the hotel. She arranged all of the tours for us and we will settle with the hotel when we leave, which has made it all hassel free. I cannot reccomed her service highly enough and we havent even stayed there yet!!!!

pat_woolford

Exactly Smeagol, Thala has a professional tour desk operating on site, I think you need go no further for local and unbiased advice.

As a local who's also been on just about every day reef trip out of Cairns and PD and had our own boat, do agree with Steve's take on Calypso. Last year, Calypso, in the busier time of year, put on a snorkel only boat as well as a snorkel/dive boat, and as far as I know will be doing that again this year, so you're not limited to Wavelength for a snorkel only trip for small groups, if snorkelling only is what you want. If you don't mind spending more, do have a look at Synergy II, sailing catamaran out of PD which takes up to 12 people - www.synergyreef.com.au

Quicksilver, mentioned above, is the largest reef people carrier out of either Cairns or Port Douglas and can take up to 450 people to its pontoon.

benderbabe, Quicksilver no longer runs a catamaran service between Cairns and Port Douglas. Quicksilver bought up Great Adventures out of Cairns from the Japanese company, Daikyo, as it now owns a significant slice of the reef market out of Cairns it no longer has the need to encourage those staying in Cairns area to travel to Port Douglas for its catamaran trip out from there. Also, Sebel Reef house in Palm Cove (a suburb of Cairns) is north of Cairns, not Cairns/Port Douglas. Port Douglas is north of both, and Thala is about 15 mins south of Port Douglas, on a headland with wonderful Coral Sea views.

blsgirl, for rainforest and tableland accommodation see www.bnbnq.com.au - there's no resort accommodation on Tableland but lots of hosted rural retreats with wildlife such as platypus, often on site.

JaneB

Pat, which boat would you recommend for non-snorkeling, non-diving 70 year olds? Thanks for any suggestions.

JaneB

...leaving out of Cairns!

pat_woolford

Hi JaneB, I'd say Ocean Spirit to Michaelmas Cay would be the shot. There's a semi-submersible for non-swimmers and the sand cay is just like a beach. So even if they don't snorkel or dive, they could have a dip in calm, clear waters protected by Michaelmas Reef.

But its surprising how many will say they don't snorkel and end up doing so, once they're out there and see how easy it is. The crew members are well practiced with beginners and will give them all the help they might need. www.oceanspirit.com.au

JaneB

Thanks, Pat for your prompt reply. This looks like the perfect cruise for us!