Discovery: The Daintree Discovery Centre is the perfect starting point for visitors to learn about the beauty and danger of tropical rainforest in the Cairns region. Image provided by Daintree Discovery Centre.

 

New perspective: A guided Daintree River cruise will open your eyes to the complexity of the rainforest habitat as you view crocodiles, birds and snakes. Picture: Roy Cook

 

Beautiful: Perfect for beach fishing, the Daintree region is dotted with perfect beaches edged with lush rainforest. Picture: Roy Cook.

 

 

One of the most popular spots for experiencing the tropical rainforest is the Daintree National Park and its attendant village.

North of Cairns, past Port Douglas and Mossman, on the Mossman Daintree Road is the beginning of the world heritage listed Daintree National Park with its small township and the recently opened, award-winning Daintree Discovery Centre with its 23m-high canopy tower, interpretive walks and display centre.

The Daintree Ferry takes you across the river into the heart of the Wet Tropics rainforest. Not far from the ferry is a spectacular lookout on Alexandra Range where you can see the Daintree River spilling out through the rainforest into the Coral Sea.

Daintree National Park
Daintree National Park is the largest rainforest in Australia and covers more than 1,200 sq km and was added to the World Heritage List on December 9, 1988.

The area is home to more than 3,000 species of plants and 315 mammal species, 13 of which are indigenous only to the Daintree area. Numerous birds and reptiles also live here including the massive crocodiles.

The area began to form about 400 million years ago when Australia was still part of Gondwana, the original continent, and it was under the sea.

Thanks to the structure of the surrounding mountains, the landscape of the Daintree has remained largely unchanged allowing many plants and animals to remain unchanged from the time of the ice ages.

There are 19 primitive plant families that can be found around the world and most of them also survive in the Daintree National Park. There is the extremely rare understorey tree called Noahdendron nicholassi discovered in 1981 and the Idiospermum australiense which was rediscovered in 1972 and is the only one of its kind in the world.

Daintree National Park is also home to a number of rare animals including Bennett’s tree kangaroo which has returned to the trees and is only found in this area.

The spotted-tailed quoll, a cat-sized marsupial, is an endangered species, one of the country’s truly carnivorous species and only found in the Daintree.

There are also a number of interesting bird species found in the Daintree area including the buff-breasted paradise-kingfisher during the summer months as well as the pied imperial-pigeon. The orange-footed scrubfowl is another rare bird that can be found on the rainforest floor with their compost mounds where their eggs are incubated. Cassowaries, the second-largest flightless bird in Australia, are also found in the Daintree.

For more information about the plants and wildlife of the Daintree visit the Environmental Protection Agency

The local traditional owners of the Daintree area are the Kuku Yalanji people. Their traditional land runs from Cooktown, south to Mossman and west to the Palmer River.

The Kuku Yalanji use a number of indigenous plants for food and medicine and an educational tour of the region is available from the Walker Family, traditional owners and bush food specialists.

The Daintree area was named by George Dalrymple in 1873 after his friend, geologist Richard Daintree. Cape Tribulation was named by Captain James Cook after the Endeavour hit the reef off the coast in 1770.

Explorers, gold miners, timber cutters and farmers moved into the area in the late 1800s. Dalrymple’s explorations unearthed huge stands of red cedar which lead to the arrival of the timber cutters and the wholesale destruction of these stands.

Other arrivals looked to farm the fertile river flats but the area proved to be hard to work. However by 1955 the Cape Tribulation road was being extended further north to increase timber logging which resurged after World War II.
But in 1981 about 17,000 hectares became a protected area as part of Cape Tribulation National Park which later became Daintree National Park.

Getting there & around
There is almost no public transport in the Daintree and Cape Tribulation and it is recommended that visitors look into hiring a car if they’re going to be in the area for any length of time.

It takes about 1.5 hours to drive from Cairns to the Daintree River crossing via the town of Mossman. Mossman is the regional hub for Daintree and Cape Tribulation with a hospital, chemists, banks, schools, government offices and shopping facilities. North of Daintree village there are no banks until you reach Cooktown although there are EFTPOS facilities at the Daintree Store. There is also no mains electric power in the Daintree.

From the Daintree River it is left to Daintree village and right to the crossing and further on to Cape Tribulation.

Although it is best to hire a car to get around the Daintree area, Coral Reef Coaches does run a daily service between Cairns, Port Douglas, Mossman and Cape Tribulation – the bus will stop at Daintree village on request only which needs to be booked and confirmed in advance.

Sun Palm Express has a number of services from Cairns to Cape Tribulation with pick up and drop offs at all accommodation spots. This service runs daily and they also have limousines for hire.

Daintree Village
The small township at Daintree River is home to only about 100 people and it is very laid-back with a country feel. Until 1933 the village could only be reached by river as the road from Mossman was not completed until then. The ferry runs from 6am to midnight and costs $18 for a return trip. There are some cafés and restaurants, a few stores and arts & crafts galleries as well as a caravan park however there is no petrol station so fill-up in Mossman.

There are also a number of Daintree tours and activities run out of the village including the Daintree Rivertrain Cruises which take visitors on an up-close and personal journey to meet the local wildlife. There are super quiet electric motor cruises, photography cruises, fishing cruises and early morning cruises.

The Daintree Timber Gallery is an interesting spot to visit while in Daintree village. This is also a timber museum with a good range of displays explaining the history and practice of timber cutting in the area. The shop is full of lovely timber pieces made locally and available for sale. Pioneers Park is in the main street of the village and has free electric barbeques and a drinking water tap. There are a couple of walks that begin in the park; one travels along Stewart’s Creek Rd and follows the river.

There are a couple of great Daintree restaurants, all are fairly casual spots but offer interesting, quality meals with a local touch. The Tea House Restaurant on the Mossman-Daintree Rd is the longest running restaurant in the area and serves top of the line local produce but it’s only open for lunch daily. The Julaymba Restaurant & Gallery at the Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa offers exciting Australian cuisine with gourmet bush foods, is fully licensed and even has Devonshire Teas.

Papaya Café on Stewart St in the village offers Aussie cuisine with an Asian influence including crocodile wontons. Big Barramundi BBQ Gardens specialises in Australian cuisine with barramundi a major part of their menu alongside other seafood, crocodile and kangaroo. You can’t miss them with their ‘big’ barramundi over the gate.

There are a number of great accommodation options in the area including the Daintree Cape Tribulation Heritage Lodge & Spa which is located at the base of majestic Thornton Peak and covering 16 acres of pristine rainforest. the resort adjoins Cooper Creek and their rear border is the Daintree Cape Tribulation National Park. The Heritage offers luxury boutique accommodation.

For more accommodation options in the Daintree and Cape Tribulation area check out our Accommodation section.

Activities and tours
Other things to do in the Daintree area include some great aboriginal cultural tours, birdwatching tours and tours on the unique flora of the area. There are dedicated tours to the Daintree Mangroves Wildlife Sanctuary on Daintree Rd, Wonga Beach which also supplies accommodation for overnight stays. The sanctuary is home to dedicated birdwatching spots where visitors can see rare and endangered species like the Golden-shouldered Parrot and Gouldian Finches.

Fishing is another popular activity in the area with specialist barramundi fishing tours available. There’s even a ‘Big Barramundi’ on show at the Big Barramundi Barbecue Gardens.

Birdwatching is a major attraction for the Daintree and Cape Tribulation. There are dedicated birdwatching tours available but keen birdwatchers can be sure of catching sight of some great flights of rare and interesting species like the Lesser Sooty Owls, Pied Monarchs, honeyeaters, kingfishers, Double-eyed Fig Parrots and more.

If you are after viewing something a little larger, the Daintree is a great place for spotting a crocodile in the wild. There are about 70 living in the Daintree River – which means swimming in the river should be avoided – the largest is around 5 metres long. There are a number of tours that specialise in ‘croc spotting’.

Also see:

>>Daintree map

>>Car rental Cairns

>>Cairns camping sites and caravan parks