Exploring Land (and Sea) Down Under in Queensland, Australia
Cairns, Port Douglas, Daintree, and Cape Tribulation in four days
View of Cape Tribulation
Most people know about the Great Barrier Reef. If visiting the iconic and sacred natural wonder, you will likely visit the Australian town of Cairns. Located in the northeast corner of Queensland, Australia, Cairns is a modest coastal town with huge tourism appeal. After spending a few nights in Sydney, we took a three-hour flight to Cairns.
In terms of seasons, Australia is in the southern hemisphere, so everything is flipped from the northern hemisphere. It was a mind shift the first time we heard “It’s in the north, so it is super hot” or “Christmas is in the summer.” I love that these phrases are both true and challenge my reality. We visited in November, which was mild in terms of weather. Cairns was just coming off the dry, hot season so we were greeted with some warm and sunny weather.
Crystalbrook Riley hotel in Cairns, QLD
Where we stayed: Crystalbrook Riley.
This boutique hotel features a modern glass tower with equally modern rooms. It has a couple of restaurants including a bar at the top of the tower that has 360 view of Cairns and an Asian fusion restaurant on the main floor. You get a view of the Coral Sea from almost every spot in this hotel, and every day feels like vacation with the spacious pool in the courtyard.
Top things to do:
View from the catamaran.
Scuba Diving
With Cairns primarily being a vacation town, it is no wonder that a large draw to the town are people looking to experience the marine life through scuba diving and snorkeling. The best way to see the Great Barrier Reef is by booking one of the many tours. We booked two different tours to get a variety of experiences. Both companies prided themselves on being locally owned and operated.
Checking in: Almost all the larger scuba companies require you to check in at the Reef Fleet Terminal. This building, much like the rental car section of the airport, has various companies where you may wait in line to get your physical ticket. Be sure to get there at least twenty minutes before your departure time to allow for this check-in process.
Enjoying the ride out to the reef
The following were the two companies that we used:
Ocean Freedom:
In what looked like a large fishing boat, this was our first scuba booking. We boarded with our tickets from the terminal booth. Then we went up to find our spot for the boat ride as well as put our scuba bags away. We grabbed a spot on the second level. The boat then needed to travel for about two hours out to the reef spot. There were refreshments throughout the experience with lunch served to everyone and alcohol available for purchase.
Price $AUD 300 + $95 Scuba Dive Tour
Passions of Paradise:
This tour was on a large catamaran. We grabbed a spot at a table for the trip along with our bags, it was nice to have a homebase for the dive. This dive included white tip reef sharks, eels, turtles, and large clams. The second dive was well worth it because we swam through a canyon, which felt like being in a movie. This was a really great experience and it seemed like the snorkelers also had a great time.
Price: $AUD 220 + $90 Scuba Dive Tour
Crikey! Crocodiles in their natural habitat in the Daintree River
Daintree Rainforest Tour:
We booked a full-day Daintree Rainforest tour. Conveniently, this tour picked us up in front of the hotel and was a van of about ten tourists. Our guide was also the driver and easily navigated and occasionally shared helpful tidbits about our day ahead.
Our first stop was the neighboring coastal town of Port Douglas. On Sundays, they have this wonderful and quaint open market. We got to experience it firsthand on the brief bio-break. I took full advantage of the time and got to listen to some live music and even get a couple of souvenirs from local artists. We continued on throughout the tour with highlights including Mossman Gorge, looking for crocodiles, and Cape Tribulation. We even stopped and had lunch where the host told us a lot about the fruits that grow in the area. We saw a variety of wildlife: crocs, bats, frogs, snakes, spiders. This is truly a full-day tour but was a great experience to see parts of Australian nature that we might not easily be able to get to on our own without a car.
Of course, visiting a new place requires trying some of the cuisine. We had a great time walking through the town and trying a variety of restaurants.
Places we ate:
Muddy’s Café: This place was just a short walk from the hotel. It has ocean views and is a perfect place to grab some brekky before a trip out.
Villa Romana: This Italian eatery scratched the pasta itch. While it didn’t feel unique nor life-changing, the food was good.
Hello Harry: Ever feel the craving for some American style food? Maybe not, but we stopped at Hello Harry for a quick burger. Not bad but very similar to home.
Prawn Star: Go here for the vibes alone. Located on two docked fishing boats, Prawn Star is now a restaurant serving, you guessed it, prawns. These slightly larger than shrimp critters are served chilled in their exoskeletons, so their beady black eyes are staring at you as you rip them apart to dip in the mayo-based sauce. But it is seriously a cool experience. They don’t take reservations, but we went at 3pm one Thursday to beat the rush from the day trippers getting back from their scuba trips.
Hemingway’s Brewery: After eating a hearty meal at prawn star, we went to Hemingway’s Brewery on the eastern side of town next to the Cruise dock. I didn’t realize how big of a cruise culture there was but sitting at this brewery was fascinating to watch the large cruise ship disembark. People with their cruise lanyards, hopping off the ship and looking around for places to visit, some stumbling in for some beer. The beer was pretty good for a craft beer, and we had a few good card games. They even hosted evening trivia which we didn’t stay around for.
Coast Roast Coffee: This is a no-nonsense brekky place. This was a great place to stop on our day off when we weren’t rushing to get to the coral tour.
Spicy Bite Indian: Sometimes the best food in a different country is not the “traditional” food but the international food. We had Indian cuisine one evening and it was quite delicious. Now we try Indian cuisine in other countries whenever we get the chance!
Bonus: Port Douglas – Sunday market
Though we only stopped for a brief toilet break, we did have about twenty minutes to walk around the Port Douglas Sunday market, which I highly recommend. There are also several artisans that are selling handmade goods that are made for excellent souvenirs. I was able to pick out a cute handmade headband and a few hands printed tea towels.