I will be in Australia the first three weeks of December. I was planning about 5 days in the Port Douglas area. Can someone describe for me what the weather will be and if it will be too hot and humid? Would I be better off staying in the Whitsunday Islands to experience the GBR?

Thank you

If you go to this site you'll find that the differences between the Whitsundays and the Port Douglas area are minimal.

The choice should centre around what other things you wish to do and the ease of access. The advantage of Port Douglas is that it has the Atherton Tablelands, cooler, only an hour away. This is also the place to go to see wildlife.

I was in Port Douglas 2 years ago in December we had nice sunshine very warm/humid mixed with torential rain (12" one night alone). What the weather will be like for, you who knows but expect some rain for sure.

Being 700kms south of PD The Whitsundays are a wee bit more comfortable. Even though I live in The Whitsundays, the humidity still hits me when I venture to Cairns and further north. Being this far appart there are quite different paterns to our weather, especially the winds. While Cyclone Larry ripped through further north a couple of years ago we were bathed in sunshine.

In recent years The Whitsundays have had a very dry November/Dec/early Jan with our biggest rainfalls happening late Jan and early Feb.
The weather here for the last 5 months has been picture perfect generally with light winds and very little rain.

As for the best way to experience the GBR., there are many options and our northern brothers have some very good ones.
My personal favorite is cruising the islands and the GBR over a matter of a few days. You visit some great spots including the iconic Whitehaven Beach and experience some great sights above and below the water. Then you head out usually to Bait Reef on the outer GBR and can either snorkel or dive and with some boats even kayak around the myriad of colours.

If you are a dedicaterd diver I would suggest an outer GBR cruise that departs from Cairns/PD simply these cruises include all of your dives in the tariff and you can get up to a dozen dives including a couple of night dives.

If you are not a dedictaed diver or just want a couple of dives and to snorkel I would lean towards The Whitsundays. The islands are beautiful and the dives are very good.

If you do The Whitsundays the last thing is a must do. Do a scenic flight over the islands and out to Heart Reef, you can choose one that snorkels out there or just cruises over the top. Whitehaven, the islands and the GBR are sensational from the air and should not be missed. That way you woule have seen the best place in aus from every angle and understand why people rave about it. cheers airlian

To experience the reef best in the north. The Whitsunday does not offer a premium reef trip. The Port Douglas and Cairns day trips are also not premium but far better than the Whits. Beware of all operators and do research as many go way saying the reef is not good when it is splendid. Must understand the reef is under water and is a long way from shore. People who see island fringing reefs are not seeing the platform reefs aka as barrier reefs. Knucle Reef avoid like the plague.

The Whitsunday Islands are seriously nice and people love the area for a lot of good reason, but not for Great Barrier Reef experiences. Anyone suggesting different is being deceptful.

The link I posted before is http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/
I have no idea how it was lost.

Airlian must be a delicate soul to notice the differences.
In comparison to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, Fitzroy Island off the coast of Cairns for December is:-
0.7 degrees hotter for mean max Temperature
0.2 degrees COLDER for mean min temp.
0.1 degrees hotter for mean 9 am temp.
1% higher 9am relative humidity
0.6 degrees hotter for mean 9 am temp.
1% LOWER 3pm humidity

The wind speed around Cairns is 2.8 km/hr less at 9am and 5km/hr less at 3pm

I suppose it is the extra almost one degree of daily temperature change that throws out Airlian's sense of humidity.

People from southern Australia talk such nonsense about weather in the north. In the past I have challenged them to come up with the statistics to back up their claims and never had anyone accept the challenge. That is why I have done the work for you, gate1973 and Airlian.

They do talk a lot of nonsense about the weather. I noticed that! It is hot in summer in the tropics, go figure. It is hot now.! December is tropical weather in the tropics and can vary within the tropical regions. Same as in the temperate zone, it can be hotter in Melbourne than Sydney very often for eg.

Weather will be hot, no doubt. Hottest time of year is just before the rainy season gets going full blast that cools us down. November/December very hot and real nice. Some thunderstorm may wake you up lol but they occur all the way down to the NSW northern coast that time of year. No avoiding them.

Absolutely, Kiorl and Saltuarius, I too get a bit sick of hearing about how awful Cairns and area is in summer, last Christmas Day in Palm Cove was glorious, like summer days we used to have in Sydney. Not a cloud in the sky, no more humid than Sydney in summer, I don't get it either.

We like the wet season here, which usually happens after December anyway, and rain is something to be treasured. Right now, not so great, we need a few heavy downpours, can't have rainforests without rain.

And who was talking islands.
The question was about PD, as far as I know that is still on the mainland and completely different to the weather at Fitzroy, as Hamilton Islands weather is completely different to Airlie's weather.
The islands will be milder, that is obvious.

Our waters are much more sheltered than anything you have up there.
As for southerners, I am born and bred here and simply stated I notice the difference when I travel further north during this period. I also notice the difference when I go trekking far a couple of months up there in the dry.

I am in total agreeance with the weather doomsayers from below Rocky, but the truth be known, yes I definitely notice the difference.
I know where I'll be chrissy day and I'll be loving it, rai hail or shine.
Lets see those figures based on mainland temps, I think you'll find tham a bit different. cheers airlian

airlian,
the Op spoke of "Islands"

Now you do the home work and prove your point about the mainland!!! I am not doing all your research for you!!!

I will be in Australia the first three weeks of December. I was planning about 5 days in the Port Douglas area.
Yep says a lot about islands there.
I don't need to re3search I have spent my life here. I am simply stsating the fact that the further north you go the more humid it is.
The Whitsundays will be milder and is much more beautiful than anything you will find on the water up there. cheers airlian

airlian on Sep 30, 09 at 07:38 PM stated, 'I don't need to re3search I have spent my life here. I am simply stsating the fact that the further north you go the more humid it is.'

What BS! Your experience is just that subjective and selective. I have no access to Airlie Beach figures nor humidity for PD but Port Douglas, 30.3* in January is cooler than both Bowen 31.5 on the coast and Proserpine 32.4, inland. At 9am Cairns in December is less humid than either Proserpine or Bowen.

So again, Airlian, I ask you to find some figures to back up your claim or back down.

Bit selective there with your cyclone information, airlian. Cyclone Larry in March 2006, did not affect Port Douglas which was also "bathed in sunshine" , and yet the more recent cyclone threat earlier this year also in March, from Tropical Cyclone Hamish caused evacuation of several Whitsunday Islands.http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...08/2510275.htm

You would know both these cyclones

happened in March, usually a far cry from December weather.