Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Snorkeling specialist boat
Wavelength
(
&
07/4099 5031;
www.wavelength-
reef.com.au) does a full-day trip to the Outer Reef for A$134 (US$87) for
adults, A$90 (US$59) for children 2 to 12, or A$410 (US$267) for a family.
The trip visits three different snorkel sites each day and incorporates a guided
snorkel tour and a reef presentation from a marine biologist. It caters to up to
30 passengers and includes snorkel gear, sunsuits, lunch, and transfers from your
hotel. Both beginners and experienced snorkelers will like this trip. It departs
daily from the Wavelength jetty in Wharf Street at 8:15am.
Another way to spend a pleasant day on the Great Barrier Reef, closer to
shore, is to visit the
Low Isles,
15km (9
1
⁄
2
miles) northeast of Port Douglas. The
isles are 1.5-hectare (3
3
⁄
4
-acre) coral-cay specks of lush vegetation surrounded by
white sand and 22 hectares (54 acres) of coral—which is what makes them so
appealing. The coral is not quite as good as the outer Reef 's, but the fish life is
rich, and the proximity makes for a relaxing day.
The trip aboard the 30m (98-ft.) luxury sailing catamaran
Wavedancer
(
&
07/4087 2100
), operated by Quicksilver, is A$115 (US$75) adults, A$60
(US$39) kids 4 to 14, and A$290 (US$189) families. You have the option of
making an introductory scuba dive for an extra A$98 (US$64) per person. The
Wavepiercer departs Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns at 8am and Palm Cove Jetty
on the northern beaches at 8:35am to connect with Wavedancer departures
from Port Douglas at 10am. The company picks you up free of charge from your
hotel.
EXPLORING DAINTREE NATIONAL PARK & CAPE TRIBULATION
The World Heritage-listed Daintree Rain Forest has remained largely
unchanged over the past 110 million years. It is now home to rare plants that
provide key links in the evolution story. In the 56,000-hectare (138,320-acre)
Daintree National Park
you will find cycads, dinosaur trees, fan palms, giant
strangler figs, and epiphytes like the basket fern, staghorn, and elkhorn. Night-
time croc-spotting tours on the Daintree River vie for popularity with early
morning cruises to see the rich bird life. Pythons, lizards, frogs, and electric blue
Ulysses butterflies attract photographers, and sport fishermen come here to do
battle with the big barramundi.
Just about everyone who visits Port Douglas takes a guided four-wheel-drive
day trip into the beautiful Daintree and Cape Tribulation rainforests. Although
they are two separate national parks, the forests merge into one.
You can rent a four-wheel-drive and explore on your own, but you won't
understand much about what you are seeing unless you have a guide to explain
it to you. Most companies basically cover the same territory and sights, includ-
ing a 1-hour Daintree River cruise to spot crocs, a visit to the lovely Marrdja
Botanical Walk, a stroll along an isolated beach, lunch at a pretty spot some-
where in the forest, and a visit to Mossman Gorge. Some tours also go to the
picturesque Bloomfield Falls in Cape Tribulation National Park. Expect to pay
about A$130 (US$85) per adult and about A$90 (US$59) per child. Trips that
include Bloomfield Falls are more. A company that provides an excellent, gen-
tly adventurous alternative is Pete Baxendell's
Heritage & Interpretive Tours
(
&
07/4098 7897;
www.nqhit.com.au). On a day-long bushwalk into a tract of
privately owned rainforest with Pete, a naturalist and professional tour guide,
you taste green ants (be brave, it's quite an experience) and other native “bush
tucker,” discover how to rustle up a toothbrush from a shrub if you forgot to
pack yours, learn about bush medicine and the wildlife around you, and clam-
ber up a stream to a waterfall. He takes a maximum six people at a time. Lunch
