Tropical Reef Apartments Port Douglas

Rex Lookout

by leffe3

About 15 minutes south of Port on the Captain Cook Highway heading towards Cairns is the Rex Lookout - a spectacular spot looking south across Trinity Bay and the northern beaches of Cairns and beyond.

Coral Sea Island Sailing with Quicksilver

by Robachu1

9.30am
Complimentary morning tea/coffee on boarding. For your safety, hot drinks are not served once the vessel is underway. Passengers are required to be onboard the vessel 15 minutes before departure.

9.45 am An informative Marine Biologist presentation is shown in the main cabin.

10.00am Wavedancer departs Marina Mirage for Low Isles.
10.30am
A snorkelling demonstration is conducted during the journey to Low Isles.

11.15am
Wavedancer arrives at Low Isles and your activities commence. The coral viewer and shuttle vessels leave for the island, and continue to run throuout the day. Your snorkelling equipment is available form the storage containers on the foredeck of Wavedancer. We recomend that you conduct all snokelling from the island. The guided snorkelling tour operates form the island. Introductory dives operate from the back of Wavedancer.

12 noon
Lunch is served. Enjoy your tropical buffet. Bar operates throughout the day.
1.30pm
A Beach Walk is conducted by a Marine Biologist from the shuttle boarding area on the beach.
2.45pm Last shuttle leaves the island to return passengers to the vessel. Afternoon tea is served.
3.10pm
Depart Low Isles for Port Douglas. Enjoy light entertainment during the return journey.
4.30pm
Arrival at Marina Mirage, Port Douglas.

A helicopter flight over the Great Barrier Reef

by Alain_Smeets

A helicopter flight over the Reef opens another perspective for me. Where I just looked at the Reef with the eyes of a fish, you now see it from the bird's perspective.

I can tell you that you see the colours of the Reef beautiful from the sky. I never thought that it was so diverse. When you see the different colours of the Reef from the air a whole new world opens up for you.

Where one says Ireland has hundred shades of Green, well the reef has dozen colours of Bleu mixed with a lot of others. It's amazing.

Almost the end of the road

by DSwede

Most people only come to Port Douglas on day trips from Cairns. But for those wishing to come up to a little quieter town, and cut the commute down by an hour for all trips into the Reef and northern rain forests, Port Douglas offers you that opportunity. Not to mention the Four Mile beach that is just a few minutes walking from the town center.

Day trips are usually for diving or exploring the rain forests, Daintree and Cape Tribulation.

Feel free to view my Australia page for more general thoughts.

(for more pictures, feel free to visit my Australia Gallery. If you enjoy the pictures, please leave a comment.)

Our Wedding in Port Douglas

by lovinoz

"Before the Wedding"

We spent several days before our wedding exploring Cairns, Atherton Tablelands, the Daintree and Cape Tribulation with a couple of our friends (Barty & Ally).

We had the bucks and hens show two nights before the wedding in Port Douglas and our friends had such a hard time keeping us apart that night since it is such a small town (only has 2 places to party)!!

The girls all were staying at the Cayman Villas in a 3 bedroom self-catering unit. The place was gorgeous and well worth the money!! They have a beautiful pool area with a BBQ that we used the night before the wedding - a sort of pre-reception.

The guys were staying at the Bay Villa Apartments in another 3 bedroom unit which was nice, but not as fancy as Cayman.

Photo coming soon.

"The Ceremony & Reception"

We were married on 1st August 2004 at St Mary's By the Sea in Port Douglas.

We had our candlelit reception at Rydges Reef Resort in one of their outdoor pool patio areas. The whole day turned out beautifully.

Photo coming soon.

"The Honeymoon"

I am not sharing ALL of the details obviously ... but the honeymoon was a secret from me. Rob planned pretty much everything without my knowledge (but with my consent) except for the dive trip.

The first night we stayed in the honeymoon suite at the Rydges Reef Resort, which was very nice with a huge spa bath on the back porch (privately closed off).

The following 2 nights we stayed at the Silky Oaks Wilderness Lodge in the Daintree, which was SOOO amazing! The cabin had no TV and the peace and relaxation was just what we needed after the commotion of the wedding. Loved the big hammock on the private balcony!

The 4th and 5th nights we stayed at the Coconut Beach Resort in Cape Tribulation, which was quite nice. Rob then came down with the flu for a solid 24 hours, after which he gave it to me.

The 6th night we boarded a live-aboard (Mike Ball) dive boat for a 5-night dive trip to Cod Hole. The living quarters were a bit squeezy (esp on your honeymoon), but we had a great time! It included a low-level flight from Lizard Island back to Cairns at the end, which was spectacular!

When we got back to Cairns, we stayed at The Reef casino hotel for one night, which was very comfortable and fancy.

Early the next morning we boarded a bus that drove us 2 hours south of Cairns, where we boarded a ferry to Dunk Island. We had an oceanview room at the Dunk Island Resort for three nights. We got simultaneous 1 hour massages at the spa on site which was amazing. Rob organised for a private charter boat to drop us off on a deserted island about 30 minutes away for most of the day with a huge picnic lunch including champaigne. That was terribly romantic!! :)

It was so hard to go home after so much fun and luxury!!