Mantra PortSea

Once there was the top pub, the bottom pub, a pie shop along with the warm tropical breezes blowing up Macrossan Street enjoyed by the few who ventured north of Cairns. A gold rush town that boomed in the late nineteenth century, the population of Port Douglas dwindled as the gold ran out and the town drifted into sleepy obscurity.

Today it is arguably the most fashionable resort destination in Tropical North Queensland, five star restaurants, resorts and designer boutiques competing for the tourist dollar alongside pizza joints and the earthy delights of the pub's public bars.

Each morning the sleek, multi-hulled super catamarans crowded with hundreds of day trippers cast off from the wharf and head out to the Great Barrier Reef where their passengers snorkel and scuba dive among the tropical fish, turtles, eels, anemones which live amongst the endless varieties of coral which make up this natural wonder.

Other visitors explore the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest surviving rainforest on earth or take 4WD excursions north to Cape Tribulation visiting beaches such as Cow Bay, Alexandra Bay and Noah Beach.

Safaris further afield head out to view the stark beauty of Black Mountain, staying at bush camps where they can admire some of the most significant Aboriginal rock art sites in the country with galleries dating back forty thousand years.

From the hilltop overlooking the town, the white sands of Four Mile Beach stretch south while to the north the mountains, beyond which lies Cooktown, are lost in the tropical haze.

Port Douglas has a distinct ambience, an unusual but appealing combination of tropical languor and cosmopolitan sophistication set against the backdrop of the pale blue waters of the Coral Sea.

Tropical North Queensland is famous for the reef, rainforest and numerous adventure activities that can be undertaken. Four Mile Beach (just one minute's walk from the resort) is a unique stretch of beach that looks out over the Coral Sea. All tours can be booked by the reception tour desk.

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