Taxi or Rent a Car from Palm Cove to Port Douglas?
 

hi everyone,<BR><BR>we've decided we want to venture out to Silky Oaks Lodge/Restaurant for a special occasion dinner. my husband and i will be based out of Palm Cove and so here's my question: Would it be more advisable to rent a car and try to drive from Palm Cove to Silky Oaks ourselves, or would it be easier to just take a taxi there and back? I've heard the drive is a little tricky....<BR>and am wondering what the driving distance/time is...Thanks for any info you can provide! :)

Well, I was just in Port Douglas and if I recall correctly, Palm Cove is a good 30 minute drive to Port Douglas, and I believe that Silky Oaks Lodge is another 15 minutes north of Port Douglas. A 45 minute taxi ride sounds expensive, especially if you're talking a round trip. Before you rent a car, however, see what other people have to say. There are several people on this forum who live in that area that could better tell you.

Jane,<BR>Palm Cove is about 20-30 min drive from Port Douglas. I'm not sure where Silky Oaks is from there. There is only one main road so you shouldn't get lost but from memory, the road is not lit very well at night so if you hire a car, take it slowly and keep a look out for wildlife on the road or the side of the road - including crocodiles! There shouldn't be much traffic and you can pull off the road in quite a few places if you need to let other cars past.<BR>A taxi would mean you can both have a few drinks if you are celebrating, Australia has pretty tough drink driving laws.<BR>Kay

Sherita and Kay,<BR><BR>Thanks for your responses! I just went to an online black & white taxi service based out of Cairns and it seems that to take a round trip taxi transfer from Palm Cove to Silky Oaks (I believe it's in Mossman and yes, about 15/20 minutes from PD), It would be 75$ (US) roundtrip. Pricey Indeed! I think a one day car rental is about half that (Although if the drive is treacherous and winding and confusing and full of crocs, perhaps it's worth the cash?!?! -I do brave the 405/5/55/101/PCH often in Southern California...is it worse than that?!?!) - anybody with an opinion would be greatly valued on this topic (and have any of you eaten at Silky Oaks - is the atmosphere and food as good it looks!?!? In other words, WORTH IT?!?!) - Thanks to all of you for your assistance!

I don't have anything about the Silky Oaks facility, only that I have heard many good comments on it. However I do know the drive & it's easy. The road is very curvy in many locations & not as wide as you may be used to but it is a good road. Just take it easy & it's a snap. I drove it several times when I was there without a hitch. The only problem, I believe, in a first time drive in Australia will be the vehicle with the steering wheel on the right hand side of the vehicle. It takes a while to get used to it.

Hello!<BR><BR>I just wrote a response to this same topic on the "port douglas restaurants" thread and was wondering if anyone could clear up the debate on the feasibility and time of a drive from port douglas to silky oaks. more to the point is, is this entire drive feasible/recommended from palm cove as to experience dinner at silky oaks...(i ask only b/c on the aforementioned thread, someone mentioned it took AN HOUR to drive from PD to silky, which would mean an 1 hour and 1/2 drive one way from palm cove....<BR><BR>thanks for all of your help in advance!

Jane, pull up www.silkyoakslodge.com.au & it will give you info on the place. On that site it indicates that Silky Oaks is a 90 minute drive from Cairns so if you are coming from Palm Cove you could probably deduct about 15 or 20 minutes from that time. I want to emphasize the road isn't that bad. It's curvy & narrow but if you have driven in the U.S. on good paved back country roads you can drive this road. I wouldn't do it any other way. With a rental vehicle you have many more options on places to visit & things to do. Just be careful with the vehicle that has the right side steering. It takes a while to get used to & to determine your clearance on the left side of the vehicle. I was in Australia for a 7 week visit & by time I got to Port Douglas I was doing pretty good - much better than when I first started driving on the right from the right. Hope this helps. Have a good trip

Jane, I believe it goes something like this...<BR><BR>My drive from Cairns to Port Douglas took about 20 minutes. 30, tops.<BR><BR>Palm Cove to Port Douglas is 30-40 minutes.<BR><BR>For my Daintree tour, we did a pickup at Silky Oaks. From my hotel right in Port Douglas to Silky Oaks was 20-30 minutes. It IS possible that on a rainy day, it could take longer. The times I mentioned above were driven in great weather.<BR><BR>Hope that helps.

Jane,<BR>just a quick sugggestion if you do decide to hire a car. My husband and I have driven hire cars in the US and to get used to being on the "other side", as soon as we pick up the car we make for a quiet area to practice, such as a large supermarket car park with not much to hit! Much better than getting out on the road first thing and panicking. One of us is the driver while the other has the responsibility to continually say, keep right (or in your case left), keep right. Mostly it's the case of following other traffic so it's not a problem. <BR>Kay

Just so Jane isn't confused I assume Mina meant to write 'Cairns to Palm Cove (ie, not Port Douglas) took about 20 minutes.

Thank you helpful Harry, that's exactly what I meant.<BR><BR>It was Friday afternoon...my mind was already on happy hour!<BR><BR>Danke for the correction! (now if you're hunky as well as helpful, we should talk...;-) )