Hi…

Planning a trip this coming April / May for my wife and I (56 and 65) that will be 6 weeks and include New Zealand, on to Australia, and finally a week in Fiji. I would value perspective and advice on plans for 5 days in Cairns / Port Douglas May 15-20. I want to experience snorkeling in / around the Great Barrier Reef… but my wife doesn’t tend to want to snorkel. (Despite being beach people…the “Jaws” movies in childhood forever left their impact!). So our plan is to arrive in Cairns (from Melbourne flight) around noon… rent car…and spend a couple hours visiting Cairns (a portion of the Marina & Esplanade walk)… before driving down to Port Douglas (because most convenient opportunity to at least get a small sense of the more major city)… then having five nights / four days in Port Douglas. We will be staying at “By The Sea Port Douglas Resort” a simply apartment like rental at the edge of Four Mile Beach and town.

Plan in Port Douglas is to do a half day Low Isles trip as that appears to offer an experience similar Green Island / Fitzroy if staying in Cairns…in terms of wife being able to enjoy half day island / glass bottom boat experience while I snorkel…and then depending on weather / other plans…I alone would do outer reef…either full day or one trip I found that is outer reef half day by way of speed boat. The Reef Sprinter” use rigid inflatable boats to get to some outer reefs specific for snorkeling very quickly…allowing 1.5 hours of snorkeling. (We will be headed to Fiji soon after so I will have several days of more good snorkeling ahead.)

We will have car so we will be free to explore short or full day trip. After looking at all the popular rainforest tours or ventures…the Kuranda Scenic Railway seems like it may be a bit underwhelming. and other Daintree rainforest ventures may be nice but not clear which would be ideal for a day trip. My current thoughts are the potential for a full day drive from Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation…taking a ferry across the Daintree River, and exploring the Daintree Rainforest and possibly including Mossman Gorge.

My 15: Fly Melbourne to Cairns / Arrive, rent car, short visit to Cairns waterfront; drive to Port Douglass (1.5hr) Stay: Port Douglass (5 nights)

May 16: Half Day Snorkeling trip

May 17: Visit Sunday Market (open 8:00 am to 1:30) & hang out locally

May 18: Half day or full day trip to outer reef or drive to rainforest / Cape Tribulation

May 19: Open to either reax or do what was not done previous day

May 20: Return drive up to Cairns for an 11:40 flight to Brisbane

Thank you for any perspective or advice you can offer.

Brad

Out of the day trip ideas you mention, I'd pick Cape Trib. We had a great day, long time ago, when we hired a car. It's a beautiful part of the world. Be aware there are crocodiles about, pay attention to warning signs. On our last visit we did the Kuranda railway one way, then the cable car back down. Much preferred the cable car. Its an OK day out but not a must. Kuranda is full of tourist shops if that's your thing.

We stayed at By the Sea a few years ago and loved it. The staff were very helpful and stacks of things were available to borrow - books, DVDs, beach gear, eskies, a lot more. It was amazing. Good location too, very close to the beach and a nice walk up the main street towards the market at the other end of town. The market gets really busy, no junky stuff, it's all good quality. And food stalls as well.

Looks good to me, what advice or insight do you particularly need?

i agree with KayF re train and cable car .

Cape Trib -yes -the site where 2 UNESCO world heritage sites meet. We took a river trip and it was fabulous -great guide and spotted so much wildlife.

May 17th, just to visit the local market? for few hours is not worth that time.

The market is in town and an easy walk from their accommodation. Why would they not go? They have the rest of the day free to do something else.

Thank each of you for help...

As I noted before, my wife is not so big on snorkeling.
There are so many potential ventures and I want to leave some time to enjoy the local beach / town. With that in mind, my updated plan is to create one full day road trip. (We have rental car.) I mapped the potential to do Mossman Gorge, Daintree Cruise, and on toward Cape Tribulation…but only go to Thorton Beach. It would appear doable, but there are no early Dreamtime Walk Tours at Mossman that early…so we would miss that and still have long day. My hope is that we might be able to do Mossman on another afternoon.

For the Low Isles trip that my wife could enjoy doing as well…I am leaning towards the later start but longer 10am to 4:30pm trip (Wavedancer https://wavedancerlowisles.com/) rather than the early half day or afternoon (Calypso).

May 15: Arrive noon; Rent car, visit Cairns waterfront; drive to Port Douglass (1.5hr) Stay: Port Douglass (5 nights)
May 16: Half Day Snorkeling trip / Beach (Possible Sat. 5:30 worship service)
May 17: Visit Sunday Market (open 8:00 am to 1:30) / Half Day outing (Mossman Gorge) or beach
May 18: Full day trip to Mossman Gorge, Daintree Rainforest Cruise and start of Cape
May 19: Half Day GBR (Brad) / Beach
May 20: Return drive up to Cairns for an 11:40am flight to Brisbane

Does the day trip with Mossman is needed (unable to do previously) and cruise and on just to Thorton make sense?
Is missing the Dreamtalk tour at Mossman Gorge significant?
Does Low Isles 10-4 rather than just half day am or afternoon seem wise to Low Isles?
Any added thoughts would be welcome..
Thanks.
Brad

A couple of thoughts. Check where your reef trip leaves from. If the boat actually departs from Cairns (perhaps picks people up in Port Douglas, Palm Cove and Cairns) you will spend hours on a bus in transit. Try and find one that departs from Port Douglas. We did a reef trip years ago with Quicksilver and enjoyed it. They had a few things your wife might like to do, while you snorkel, like a semi-submersible to see the reef, fish feeding, helicopter ride etc. They had a pontoon moored on the reef where we all had lunch (large catamaran, lots of passengers). It's quite a long way out to the reef so a more powerful boat will make the journey shorter, with more time then to enjoy being in the water. If you have any trouble clarifying which company is best, I'd ask the By the Sea staff. They live there and will have local knowledge.

You should be able to visit Mossman Gorge on one of your days where you don't have as much on. Cape Tribulation is not that far from Thornton Beach if you want to drive a little further. Be aware of crocs, sharks, stingers etc in the water. I guess you know you can't always swim in the sea up there? Four Mile Beach is wonderful for a long walk, don't stand underneath the coconut palms. We heard a coconut crashing down at the beach, it would knock you out if it hit you on the head. (The reef should be fine for swimming I think, as it's a lot further away.) For any trip out on the water, I'd lean towards going in the morning, weather is often better.

Brad, if your wife isn't keen on snorkelling, why doesn't she do something else one day & you go diving, or snorkelling or whatever you want to do? There's plenty to occupy people besides going out on the GBR if it's not their thing. Even a good book, decent lunch somewhere & a flop around the pool or relaxing in an air conditioned suite.

Port Douglas has some lovely clothing shops 😄 and a great bookshop/cafe.

Thanks... the plan has been that we will do moderate day trip to Low Isles (10-4) as she can enjoy glass bottom boat and together the island...then on another day I will do short outer reef trip on my own...and indeed she will enjoy reading and... shopping. (I may fear her shopping more than she will fear my snorkeling ! JK)