Port Douglas Overview

Port Douglas is located in Far North Queensland, Australia, approximately 80 km. north of Cairns. The town is named in honor of the former Premier of Queensland, John Douglas. Port Douglas developed rapidly, thanks to the mining industry. Other parts of the area were established with timber cutting in the area surrounding the Daintree River and with settlement around the Mossman River by 1880. The town is situated close to the two World Heritage areas, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

In 1876, explorer James Mulligan discovered goldfields on the Hodgkinson River in central Far North Queensland. Adventurers soon explored a small protected port which seemed ideal for shipping goods and materials. After a series of names like Island Point, Terrigal, Port Owen and Salisbury, the port was finally named Port Douglas.

Port Douglas experiences hot and humid summers and enjoyable cool winters of a typical tropical climate. Those who do not have any idea of it, might be a bit taken aback as season changes are not at all that apparent. With very little difference between summer and winter, Port Douglas makes it really difficult to tell whether it's spring or autumn.

With such a fascinating history as its backdrop and a cool climate to go with, Port Douglas makes for a perfect get-a-way destination. Port Douglas has emerged as an off-beat tourist destination which still has got that unspoilt virgin beauty about it. Lazy days on sun-kissed Four Mile Beach, never-before trips to the Reef and Rainforest, stylish shopping, exotic cuisine - it can't get any better than this.

Imagine yourself taking the romantic one hour's drive from Cairns via a spectacular coastal road that is surrounded by forest and the Coral Sea. It is the place where emerald green merges into sapphire blue - where else would you find such captivating combination of the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest of Daintree and Cape Tribulation?

Irresistible indeed. If you are also feeling the same urge to get wanderlust amidst the bewitching beauty of Port Douglas, then read more and start planning for your next vacation, for the destination is settled. It's Port Douglas.