How To Visit Palm Cove, Queensland During The Wet Season

Travelling Queensland’s tropical north during the wet season isn’t a deal-breaker and here’s why.

As soon as you step off the plane onto the tarmac at Cairns airport you will feel yourself relax. There is something about the aquamarine colour of the ocean, the lush green of the mountains and the tropical heat that allows you to instantly unwind.

A 25-minute drive north of Cairns lies Palm Cove, a tranquil coastal town set amid rows of palm trees with idyllic ocean views and a main street lined with cafes, restaurants and bars.

As the gateway to two of Australia’s most coveted destinations – the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest – there are plenty of reasons to base yourself in Palm Cove even in the wet season.

Visiting Palm Cove in the wet season

Queensland is known as the Sunshine State, but if you find yourself travelling to the state’s tropical north during the summer months you’ll find the weather can be, well, tropical.

I am visiting toward the end of the rainy season in February, which suits me perfectly as I plan to spend the next 72 hours relaxing at my resort. If you want to avoid the wet, be sure to travel during the dry season from April to November: the town is sleepier during November to March; the weather is balmy enough to enjoy a swim in the pool; and the sun still makes an appearance in between downpours.

Where to stay

The Alamanda Palm Cove By Lancemore

The Alamanda Palm Cove by Lancemore is as beachfront as it gets in Palm Cove as you only have to walk a few metres to sink your toes into the sand. Just don’t go for a swim, as there is a very real chance you will encounter a crocodile or two lurking in those inviting waters. Opt for one of the resort’s three onsite pools instead, one of which is adults only.

The Alamanda Palm Cove has 69 extra-large one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, each with a private balcony overlooking the sea or the hotel’s tropical gardens – making it perfect for a romantic escape, a girls’ weekend away or a family holiday. Each apartment comes complete with a kitchen, dishwasher and laundry facilities to make a longer stay easier.

Address: 1 Veivers Road, Palm Cove

Nestle into Palm Cove

Where to eat in Palm Cove

If you base yourself at the Alamanda you’ll be within easy walking distance from the esplanade and spoiled for choice for places to eat and drink. Take your umbrella with you and join the early risers for a stroll along the beach before making your way to one of the many cafes for breakfast and coffee.

Espresso & Co

Serving up the best coffee I had during my stay, Espresso & Co also has a standout breakfast menu. The crushed avocado with pistachio dukkah is served on freshly toasted Turkish bread and topped with roasted cherry tomatoes and buffalo feta, and you can add a poached egg for good measure. If you’ve got more of a sweet tooth when it comes to breakfast, then choose between their buttermilk or ricotta pancakes with all the trimmings. They are also open for lunch and offer a separate kids menu.

Address: 3/115-113 Williams Esplanade, Palm Cove, Queensland

Chill Cafe Palm Cove

This cool cafe came highly recommended by locals and it more than lives up to its name. Perch yourself on the stools at the front of the deck for a good dose of morning sun and views of the beach as you take your pick from the menu. I opted for a breakfast classic of bacon and scrambled eggs, which didn’t disappoint.

Dinner is best enjoyed from the back of the deck. Order the Chill Cafe signature fish tacos stuffed with melt-in-your-mouth coral trout, avocado, shredded lettuce, house-made pico de gallo and aioli alongside jambalaya rice and coleslaw. Settle in for a night of cocktails and live music.

Address: 41 Williams Esplanade, Palm Cove

Nu Nu Restaurant

Soak up beachfront views while enjoying modern Australian cuisine made with locally sourced produce at Palm Cove’s award-winning Nu Nu Restaurant. Better yet, indulge in their four- or seven-course tasting menu – both available with matched wines – to really get the most out of your dining experience.

You may be tempted to skip the puffed lemon bread to pace yourself for the rest of the evening – but don’t! The artisanal bread is made fresh twice daily using stoneground flour from Gunnedah. It is all kinds of zesty, crunchy and doughy goodness and is definitely not to be missed.

Address: 1 Veivers Rd, Palm Cove

Modern dessert and beachfront views

What to see and do

Great Barrier Reef

It may be raining but the water is still at a balmy 22 to 29 °C during the wet season, which is perfect for exploring all the world-renowned Great Barrier Reef has to offer. You can snorkel, dive, take a helicopter or seaplane ride over the top or soak it all in at sea level with a cruise. No matter how you want to experience it, there will be a tour to suit your needs, budget and level of experience.

The Marine Park and World Heritage Area is home to roughly 10 per cent of the world’s coral reef system and you’ll find more than 1600 types of fish, 100 jellyfish species, and 133 varieties of sharks and rays. It’s regularly labelled a bucket-list-worthy experience for a reason.

Australia’s most beautiful natural wonder is visited by over 2 million tourists yearly.

Daintree Rainforest

Pull on some waterproof hiking shoes and embrace the 180-million-year-old Daintree Rainforest in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland, in all its misty, canopy-glistening glory during the wet season.

The Daintree is on the land of the Kuku Yalanji people and is the oldest continuously living rainforest in the world. Inside its 17,000 hectares of lush rainforest, you will find plenty of trails to choose from, waterfalls to see and an abundance of flora and fauna to spot.

Visit the Daintree Discovery Centre for information on self-guided tours or to book from a range of professional group tours including a guided ‘Dreamtime’ walking tour, bird-watching tours and nature walks.

Reflecting on the Daintree River – Elise Hassey

Alamanda Palm Cove Spa

Treat yourself to an indulgent experience at the Alamanda Palm Cove Spa. I opted for the 60-minute signature massage, which is designed to relieve muscle tension and increase circulation. You also get to choose your preferred aromatherapy oils and, for an extra hourly fee, book the Private Spa Pavilion to enjoy after your treatment.

The pavilion is located above the spa overlooking the sea with a private infinity plunge pool for use. Food can be preordered from Nu Nu’s spa menu and delivered to the pavilion or you can bring your own food and drink to enjoy.

Read the Ultimate Travel Guide to Tropical North Queensland here for more tips on what to do, see and where to eat and stay.

From must-eat tropical delights to blink-and-you’ll-miss-it destinations you’ll only find up in North Queensland, these are the best places to eat, drink and be merry in Port Douglas.

The tropical seaside paradise of Port Douglas is wedged between two magnificent World Heritage Sites – the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest – and surrounded by fruit farms, reef fishing hot-spots and growers of great regional produce. When it comes to where to eat in Port Douglas, we’ve made it simple: these are the best restaurants and cafes to put at the top of your itinerary.

The shortlist

Best outdoor dining: Treehouse Restaurant, Silky Oaks Lodge
Great for special occasions: Zinc
Most Instagrammable: Nautilus
Hottest new opening: Jungle Fowl
Fine dining gem: Harrison’s

Breakfast

Grant Street Kitchen

Sip on iced lattes in a relaxed outdoor seating. (Image: Grant Street Kitchen)

Cuisine: Bakery
Average price: $
Atmosphere: Relaxed
Location: Shop 4/5, Corner Grant Street and Macrossan Street, Port Douglas

Flaky almond croissants and succulent pies (creamy prawn and coral trout, anyone?) are handmade onsite by the owners at this buzzy bakery that sits beneath umbrellas at one of the town’s busiest intersections. Come for breakfast or lunch – there’s an all-day cafe menu, too – or pick up pastries to enjoy with an aptly iced latte. Pro-tip? The duo behind the bakery also sell their goods at Port Douglas’ Sunday market, so you can enjoy the deliciousness in store or at home.

St Crispins

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Atmosphere: Relaxed cafe
Location: 9 St Crispins Avenue, Port Douglas

Located on the sugar-cane-centric Bally Hooley railway line, which was used to transport sugar from the now-defunct Mossman sugar mill and down to the wharf at Port Douglas, this all-day eatery enjoys views over the water and greens of the Mirage Country Club golf course. Tuck into cinnamon French toast with chargrilled local bananas or a crispy fried chicken burger (elevated with Thai-inspired chilli mayonnaise, thank you very much), and pair it with a Bloody mary, sparkling mimosa or strong flat white. Four-legged friends are welcome, too. 

Lunch

Nu Nu

This beachside restaurant offers panoramic views of the ocean. (Image: Nu Nu)

Cuisine: Modern Asian-Australian
Average price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Relaxed, tropical
Location: 1 Veivers Road, Palm Cove

Technically in Palm Cove, a 40-minute drive south of Port Douglas, this beachside restaurant is a must-do if you’re in the region. Ask for a table outside, where you’ll be shaded by coconut palms and serenaded by the gentle waves while overlooking Double Island. The eatery is open from 7am to 10pm, off and on, but a leisurely lunch is the best time to experience the tangy signature thin slice of caramelised duck wrapped around a cube of pineapple, followed by spicy butter-poached reef fish with salted cucumbers and tall, glistening glasses of blood orange gin sours in true tropical spirit. Take the flavour to go, too, with a scoop of white-chocolate-and-macadamia gelato from Numi Ice Creamery (by the same folks), just down the road. 

Salsa Bar & Grill

The light-filled Salsa Bar & Grill has a wraparound verandah with views of Market Park and Dicksons Inlet.

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$ / $$$
Atmosphere: Casual and fun
Location: 26 Wharf Street, Port Douglas

An institution in Port Douglas for thirty years (just look at the signed plates stacked into the ceiling above the bar), this all-day eatery buzzes as loudly at lunch as it does at dinner. Diners on the wraparound verandah will enjoy sparkling views over Market Park and Dicksons Inlet. Wherever you sit, you’ll be amongst the hustle and bustle of experienced local waitstaff ferrying generous plates of linguine “pepperincino” with local tiger prawns, a jambalaya with chunks of crocodile sausage, and a lunch-friendly tropical cocktail, such as the “Gone bananas”, which features Bacardi, banana liqueur, coconut cream and fresh banana. Save room for dessert: the tasting platter is a sweet (and shareable) note to end on. 

Melaleuca

The menu at Melaleuca champions local and regional produce.

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$$$
Location: 22 Wharf Street, Port Douglas

When freshly baked bread comes out in a paper bag, still warm, and is followed by thin, crispy slivers of pig ear, you know you’re in for a special kind of evening. The latter is perhaps a nod to the Scottish roots of Melaleuca’s head chef, but the remainder of the menu is a thoroughly Australian affair, championing local and regional produce across dishes such as seared Tassie scallops with smoked bacon, pan-seared Daintree barramundi with a cauliflower puree, and homemade gnocchi with a creamy, nutty mushroom and pumpkin treatment. Sit outside – beneath soft festoon lighting and swaying palms – to make the most of the warm breeze, or settle under cover; either way, the indoor-outdoor dining experience here epitomises the Port way of life.

Afternoon Delights

Zinc

Share hearty meals and cocktails on a Friday arvo. (Image: Zinc)

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Smart casual
Location: 53-61 Macrossan Street, Port Douglas

Grab a table on the outdoor deck at this long-time eatery on one of Port Douglas’ main thoroughfares, where the cocktail list is extensive and the dishes – generous bowls of luscious pasta with fat prawns, whole barramundi fillets in a coconutty curry, and the signature eye fillet from Queensland’s Darling Downs – are piled high. It’s a family-run operation with roots in the local community, and you can find flavour from 2pm until the late evening. The Smoking Mandarin cocktail combines tequila and mezcal with zesty citrus to create a perfect complement to whatever is on your plate.

Wrasse & Roe

The ocean-centric eatery is a seafood haven. (Image: Wrasse & Roe)

Cuisine: Seafood
Average price: $$$ / $$$$
Atmosphere: Casual dining
Location: Coconut Grove Complex, 9-11/56-64 Macrossan Street, Port Douglas

It’s only fitting that you embark on a seafood expedition while you’re up in Tropical North Queensland; if hopping on a fishing charter isn’t on your agenda, then this relatively new ocean-centric eatery should be. Tuck into buckets of chilled locally-trawled prawns or a bowl of rich, tomatoey seafood marinara packed with calamari, mussels, clams and more, then cap off the afternoon with a suitably tropical passionfruit parfait. Seats outside are perfectly placed for people watching and making the most of languid summer afternoons.

Dinner

Nautilus

Nab an open-air table beneath a canopy of palms at Nautilus. (Image: Toby Stanley)

Cuisine: Modern Australian / Seafood
Average price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Rainforest retreat
Location: 17 Murphy Street, Port Douglas

Dishes of blushing pan-seared scallops and succulent kingfish tartare look especially appealing when they’re ferried out to open-air tables beneath a canopy of palms at Nautilus, a Port Douglas institution and locally recommended must-visit dining destination. It’s been here since 1954, so the street cred is legit, and the menu puts tropical produce on a pedestal. The five-course degustation menu (available in vegetarian, pescatarian and seafood-free variations, too) gives you a little taste of everything, but you’ll want to add the signature crispy-skinned whole coral trout, which comes out vertical atop a pool of sticky, sweet, oh-so-moreish caramel sauce.

Jungle Fowl

The menu at Jungle Fowl features homegrown ingredients from their kitchen garden. (Image: Chrissie Cosgrove)

Cuisine: Modern Thai
Average price: $$$
Atmosphere: Youthful, fun and funky
Location: Shop 2/28 Wharf Street, Port Douglas

The fun factor is turned up to 100 at this Thai restaurant, where the bright, colourful murals keep pace with the vibrant dishes. Happy hour runs from 5-6pm and includes $12 cocktails such as the makrut lime-spiked mojito or zesty Thai-twisted margaritas alongside $10 ginger-topped beef-brisket bao. The rest of the time, you’ll find pinchable portions of prawn-topped betel leaf and shareable chilled squid salad keeping pace with spicy green curry and Angus laced with snake beans on a menu that features homegrown ingredients from the kitchen garden out back. (The six-course banquet menu, at $83 per person, is a great way to get a taste of everything.) 

Seabean

Seabean is within a short walking distance of Wharf Street. (Image: Catseye Productions)

Cuisine: Spanish
Average price: $$ / $$$
Atmosphere: Lively
Location: Shop 3/28 Wharf St, Port Douglas

Open Thursday to Sunday, this tapas-centric restaurant turns out pintxos and paella to deliver a trip to Spain without the jetlag. Consider the perfectly portioned terracotta bowls of grilled Spanish chorizo with poached pears, fishcakes made with local barramundi served with spicy tomato jam, or classic patatas bravas dusted with paprika, then order them all. Bite-sized pintxos change regularly, the paella is generous and piping hot, and dessert – Crema catalana served in a coconut half – is unmissable. Plus, it’s all within walking distance to both the water and the downtown action. 

Knock-Outs

Bam Pow

The signature pineapple dish at Bam Pow. (Image: Supplied)

Cuisine: Vegan / Asian
Average price: $$ / $$$
Atmosphere: Relaxed
Location: 79 Davidson Street, Port Douglas

Neon lights and board games help this vegan eatery pump up the fun – but the funk is innate in the menu as well. Beyond the happy hour specials (refreshing $12 margaritas in shades of watermelon, spicy and classic, $7 beers and a banh-mi-and-beer combo for $24), the menu straddles the Asian fusion brief to produce flavour-packed dishes of chilli-topped dumplings, crispy eggplant tempura and a zesty papaya salad topped with a crunchy cassava crackle. With cuisine this creative, you won’t miss the meat at all.

Harrison’s

Find an idyllic spot to dine on the lagoon-side deck. (Image: Harrison’s)

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Poolside elegance
Location: Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas Rd

While it’s now located within the massive 147-hectare Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, this eatery has been a part of the fabric of Port Douglas since 2007. It moved over here in 2017 and has been turning out luxurious degustation dinners and a la carte plates of citrus-cured reef fish, whole Queensland crayfish dressed in brown butter, and Hervey Bay scallops tossed in XO sauce ever since. The lagoon-side deck is the place to be on a balmy Queensland evening, where your meal’s backdrop will include lush palm fronds and the symphonic sounds of crashing waves from the beach further afield. 

Treehouse Restaurant, Silky Oaks Lodge

The Treehouse Restaurant boasts lush views of the rainforest.

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Tropical luxury
Location: 23 Finlayvale Rd, Finlayvale

Technically in Finlayvale, still in Douglas Shire, this exceptional eatery enjoys stunning views over a private stream of the Mossman River with tables nested within a cavernous open-air dining room serviced by a capable, passionate culinary team. The menu changes regularly but makes a point of featuring local produce artfully presented with flair. Lunch is a set affair, with options for a two- or three-course selection including dishes such as fluffy smoked potato raviolis with pork ragu, kingfish cured in macadamia milk, and slow-cooked lamb shoulder with kunzea and black lemon. Settle in for the afternoon and let the gentle soundtrack of the river guide you between courses.

Discover the best places to stay in Port Douglas

How to visit Palm Cove during the wet season