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Port Douglas is a great place to stay. The town is definitely built for the tourists but it didn't feel too busy. The town is ideally situated for visiting the rainforests and the Great Barrier reef. This also means that there are plenty of restaurants to try out around Macrossan Street. You will also find plenty of souvenir and clothes shops within the middle of the town. The local beach (Four Mile beach) was good, the swimming area was quite small due to the need for jellyfish nets. You should take the opportunity to visit the Daintree Rainforest and Mossman Gorge. These places are less than an hour's drive but it feels like you are a world away from Port Douglas. We also visited Hartley's Crocodile Adventures where we witnessed huge saltwater crocodiles from a river boat and land. They also have freshwater crocs and plenty of native Australian animals, including kangaroos and cassowaries. You can feed the freshwater crocs for an extra charge, cassowary feeding is free, if you catch the talk from the keeper in the morning. We only visited Agincourt Reef when we ventured out to the Great Barrier Reef. If you are in the area, you should definitely visit one of the reefs and go for a snorkelling trip. We were lucky enough to see five turtles, a giant clam, and even a shark during our visit. There are many bugs and lizards in the tropics, so insect repellant is necessary. Also, for some reason, sun screen was really expensive here, so make sure you bring enough with you.

Highlights for us were Snorkeling for the first time on 3 awesome reefs. A day out deep sea fishing. Mossman gorge, the daintree forest. Watching sharks criusing the shallows on cape tribulation beach, seeing crocodiles in the wild, and all the other amazing wildlife to be seen in the area. Our top 3 best places to eat were 1) Cocktails and A La Carte dinner at the Hi Tide Restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel 2) The roast dinner at Paddys 3) A steak at the Surf Club Avoid visiting during Jan/Feb/Mar if you enjoy the beach as it is very dirty from storm debris, and stingers/box jellyfish abound, and you can only batch in netted off areas. It is also incredibly hot & humid, when it is 34C, it fells like its 41C!, the ocean is 30C too in early January. Everything is far more expensive, so be prepared to spend plenty of $. Make sure you take plenty of water with you on tours as some venues charge an obscene amount ($3.50) for a small bottle of water. Palm Cove is raved about? Im not sure why? it's vastly overrated and very expensive in my opinion.

Port has some great restaurants and coffee shops but need to be inline with the visitors wants . Restaurants not open on Saturday night on a long weekend and coffee shops not opening until 10am.Customer service also needs to improve , some are very rude and abrupt . We went into a clothes shop and my 13 year old daughter was verbally abused by the assistant/owner? for not putting the shoes on display back in order. It is becoming the norm in Cairns and Port Douglas for staff to behave that way and should not be tolerated by the business owners as will cost them sales as social media word spreads quickly. Tourism is always crying that they need help , try improving your product to encourage more guests. Beach and markets are great attraction.

The Daitree and Mossan Gorge experience ,which included two great swimming holes and beautiful scenery, is a 'must see' . Reef snorkelling was quite enjoyable but it made me sad to see what we have done to the coral. Beautiful tropical beaches to walk on but the 30 degree water wasn't terribly refreshing- need to come back in winter. As with most country towns-PD is full of friendly people and great eateries.

The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas is one of the most scenic drive I have been on and I would definitely recommend to anyone travelling to Australia. Port Douglas felt like a second home and I could surely see myself going back and staying there for much longer... The restaurants, shops, massage places, bars, pubs are all walking distance and near the beach and it is just fabulous. The beauty is the fact that you can chill on the beach or explore the rainforest nearby and all is accessible with a car. Definitely eat at the following restaurants: 1) The Mexican - Port Douglas (mexican restaurant) 2) Harrisons Restaurant - Port Douglas (french restaurant) I hope this is helpful to some of you and enjoy Port Douglas if you decide to go there. Do avoid the hottest/most humid period which is Jan/Feb Have fun :-)

Great selection of restaurants within walking distance of a good selection of varied accommodation. Fantastic relaxing holiday for couples or families with plenty of activities, if you want them. The weather in December-January is pretty hot and humid and ocean swimming is limited because of stingers but there is still a great beach to walk along and netted swimming area. My seventh trip and we went to relax so we didn't do reef tours, rainforest activities or fishing trips but there is certainly a lot on offer and I can recommend it from previous trips.