Port Douglas or Whitsundays in Dec???
Nov 2nd, 2004 | 12:35 PM
#2
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,501
Likes: 0
Both places are heavenly, and you wouldn't go wrong with either of them.
To some extent it depends on the style of vacation you like to have, what your reason for undertaking this particular trip is, and so on.
In general, I would recommend Far North Queensland (FNQ) before the Whitsundays.
FNQ provides a lot of variety. There's the GBR, the tropical rainforest, and the Atherton Tableland with its completely different ecosystem. If for some reason you start missing a real town, you can go into Cairns (population 150,000) and see a movie or something.
Staying on one of the Whitsunday Islands is something I would do if I wanted to really get away from it all, e.g., if I was on my honeymoon or if I had an extremely stressful job from which I needed a period of total recovery.
Unless I had a compelling reason to escape, I think I would get bored with an island in the Whitsundays after a few days (but you haven't stated what length of time you'll be able to stay there).
Something that my husband and I did in the Whistundays, which kept up our interest level because it provided variety, was a cruise amongst the islands.
We snorkeled in the sea, hiked on different islands in the Whitsundays group, etc. We didn't bother to take a separate boat to go snorkelling in the Outer Reef, as we already had done that from Port Douglas on a previous occasion, but one of our fellow cruise passengers did it, and she enjoyed it.
Although the vegetation, parrots, etc., on the Whitsunday Islands are wonderful too, the UNESCO World Heritage Daintree Forest north of Port Douglas is even more special, IMO.
Hope that helps.
To some extent it depends on the style of vacation you like to have, what your reason for undertaking this particular trip is, and so on.
In general, I would recommend Far North Queensland (FNQ) before the Whitsundays.
FNQ provides a lot of variety. There's the GBR, the tropical rainforest, and the Atherton Tableland with its completely different ecosystem. If for some reason you start missing a real town, you can go into Cairns (population 150,000) and see a movie or something.
Staying on one of the Whitsunday Islands is something I would do if I wanted to really get away from it all, e.g., if I was on my honeymoon or if I had an extremely stressful job from which I needed a period of total recovery.
Unless I had a compelling reason to escape, I think I would get bored with an island in the Whitsundays after a few days (but you haven't stated what length of time you'll be able to stay there).
Something that my husband and I did in the Whistundays, which kept up our interest level because it provided variety, was a cruise amongst the islands.
We snorkeled in the sea, hiked on different islands in the Whitsundays group, etc. We didn't bother to take a separate boat to go snorkelling in the Outer Reef, as we already had done that from Port Douglas on a previous occasion, but one of our fellow cruise passengers did it, and she enjoyed it.
Although the vegetation, parrots, etc., on the Whitsunday Islands are wonderful too, the UNESCO World Heritage Daintree Forest north of Port Douglas is even more special, IMO.
Hope that helps.
Nov 2nd, 2004 | 12:49 PM
#4
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
One issue to be careful of is the timing of the arrival of the wet season. We were in Cairns 5 or 6 years ago in early December and had rain for 5 of the 7 days were there.
Putting this to one side, the 2 options are quite different. Cairns gives you the reef (which is awesome) and a traditional beach holiday whereas the Whitsundays is awesome for a sailing holiday.
Good luck!
Putting this to one side, the 2 options are quite different. Cairns gives you the reef (which is awesome) and a traditional beach holiday whereas the Whitsundays is awesome for a sailing holiday.
Good luck!
Nov 2nd, 2004 | 01:13 PM
#5
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,501
Likes: 0
Yes, Jm34, there are jellyfish on the PD beaches in December. I was in PD in July and the Whitsundays in September. Jellyfish were not an issue at either of those times, so I haven't bothered researching them.
I gather from Fodors posts, though, that jellyfish do not get out as far as the GBR.
Although some Queensland islands apparently are far enough from the shore to be free of jellyfish, the Whitsundays do have jellyfish.
A young Calgary friend of ours got stung by a jellyfish off Brampton Island, at the southern end of the Whitsundays group, one January. She got sick, but recovered.
If you do a word search for JELLYFISH here at Fodors, you'll find many previous discussion threads, such as this one:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34514664
You say you'll be in Queensland for 3 days. I hope that means 3 days over and above travel time to get there and back. If you're going for anything less than 3 full days, I would recommend against going at all, and I really mean that.
If you choose to go to FNQ, I suggest the following activities:
Day 1 - GBR
Day 2 - Daintree Forest tour
Day 3 - Skyrail to Kuranda
The reason for scheduling the GBR first is that, if bad weather precludes your going out on your chosen day, you have a better chance of rescheduling for another day.
You can rent a car if you like, but don't need one. All tours (GBR, Daintree, Kuranda, etc.) pick passengers up from accommodations in Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas.
If you go without a car, I suggest staying in accommodation that is centrally located in Port Douglas. Although it's a small town, it's quite spread out, and the accommodations that are situated on the edges of it are too far to walk to the centre of town.
If you choose not to rent a car, you also have to book a shuttle from the airport to your accommodation and back to the airport again. Some PD lodgings book airport shuttle trips for their guests, and some don't.
Here is a map of Port Douglas:
http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/...rt_Douglas.htm
If you don't have a car, you want to be on or near Macrossan Street.
I gather from Fodors posts, though, that jellyfish do not get out as far as the GBR.
Although some Queensland islands apparently are far enough from the shore to be free of jellyfish, the Whitsundays do have jellyfish.
A young Calgary friend of ours got stung by a jellyfish off Brampton Island, at the southern end of the Whitsundays group, one January. She got sick, but recovered.
If you do a word search for JELLYFISH here at Fodors, you'll find many previous discussion threads, such as this one:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34514664
You say you'll be in Queensland for 3 days. I hope that means 3 days over and above travel time to get there and back. If you're going for anything less than 3 full days, I would recommend against going at all, and I really mean that.
If you choose to go to FNQ, I suggest the following activities:
Day 1 - GBR
Day 2 - Daintree Forest tour
Day 3 - Skyrail to Kuranda
The reason for scheduling the GBR first is that, if bad weather precludes your going out on your chosen day, you have a better chance of rescheduling for another day.
You can rent a car if you like, but don't need one. All tours (GBR, Daintree, Kuranda, etc.) pick passengers up from accommodations in Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas.
If you go without a car, I suggest staying in accommodation that is centrally located in Port Douglas. Although it's a small town, it's quite spread out, and the accommodations that are situated on the edges of it are too far to walk to the centre of town.
If you choose not to rent a car, you also have to book a shuttle from the airport to your accommodation and back to the airport again. Some PD lodgings book airport shuttle trips for their guests, and some don't.
Here is a map of Port Douglas:
http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/...rt_Douglas.htm
If you don't have a car, you want to be on or near Macrossan Street.
Nov 2nd, 2004 | 02:22 PM
#7
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,680
Likes: 0
Whoops, sorry - start again. There is quite a chance of heavy rain in PD and if its extensive Whitsundays can be affected, but mostly it falls in short heavy bursts with with brilliant sunshine in between, sometimes it only rains at night. Usually calm seas with ideal snorkelling conditions. Yes, as Judy says, both areas are affected with jelly fish - in fact one of the two fatalities from irukandji sting was on Hamilton Island in Whitsundays. Be guided by the crew on your reef trip, they supply stinger suits and will advise you if its necessary to use them. The beaches are netted for the much larger and far more dangerous boxjelly fish, irukandjis are small enough to pass through the net. Beaches will be closed by lifeguards if stingers or crocodiles are present, so don't take any chances.
Off the subject a bit, but people often complain that Cairns has no beach. Just as well, two days ago a 2.5metre croc. swam right up to the shore in the middle of town to check out the tourists, of course, his presence attracted hundreds of them. He hung around all day, rangers dotted the area with croc warning signs and less than 24 hours later someone decided to take a swim, just outside the safe stinger and croc proof lagoon. He ignominiously sunk into the mud, got stuck up his chest and had to be rescued. Lucky the croc had moved on. A croc of the same size (perhaps the same one) yesterday caused a traffic jam on the road to Cairns airport.
Off the subject a bit, but people often complain that Cairns has no beach. Just as well, two days ago a 2.5metre croc. swam right up to the shore in the middle of town to check out the tourists, of course, his presence attracted hundreds of them. He hung around all day, rangers dotted the area with croc warning signs and less than 24 hours later someone decided to take a swim, just outside the safe stinger and croc proof lagoon. He ignominiously sunk into the mud, got stuck up his chest and had to be rescued. Lucky the croc had moved on. A croc of the same size (perhaps the same one) yesterday caused a traffic jam on the road to Cairns airport.
