The day trips, weekenders and anchorages worth knowing around Cairns & Port Douglas. Plainly written.
The reef's front door.
Trinity Inlet, the Marlin Marina and the Cairns waterfront — the busiest tropical marine precinct in Australia. Superyacht berths, the game fleet, reef boats and everything in between. The staging point for the outer reef, the Ribbons and the Coral Sea.
Mangroves on the city's doorstep.
The tidal estuary that runs south from Cairns, lined with mangroves and backed by rainforest ranges. Barra and jack country, sheltered water year-round and a genuine tropical creek system twenty minutes from the marina.
Rainforest granite, fringing reef.
A continental island 45 minutes east of Cairns — forested slopes, coral beach, a resort ashore and fringing reef right off the anchorage. Public moorings, a well-marked passage and one of the classic day and overnight runs out of Cairns.
The postcard coral cay.
A vegetated coral cay 27km east of Cairns, ringed by reef and turquoise water. Day-boat traffic is heavy but the surrounding reef systems offer some of the most accessible reef snorkelling in Australia. Anchor with care — the reef is protected.
The Port Douglas classic.
A pair of tiny cays 8nm off Port Douglas — Low Island with its heritage lighthouse and Woody Island in a shared lagoon. Public moorings, sheltered anchoring in the lee, and a fringing reef and turtle grounds a short swim away.
Superyachts, rainforest and reef.
Dickson Inlet cuts inland from the Coral Sea to Port Douglas — the Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina, the Sugar Wharf and a walk-around village with the Daintree an hour up the road. The northern staging point for the reef and Cooktown-bound cruising.