Outrigger in the Village, Port Douglas

Advantages: beautiful preserved victorian railway
Disadvantages: hard seats and bumpy ride

...Railways came to The Isle of Man before the Victorians. There are the remains of track in the 18th Century lead mines at Barrada Head. In 1871 The Isle of Man Railway Company was formed to link the four Major towns of Douglas, Castletown, Peel and Ramsey. A three foot gauge was recommended by Robert Fairly, the inventor of the patented double Locomotive. Sufficient finance for the Railways was not to be found on the Island so private finance was found elsewhere. Construction was started on routes to both Peel and Port Erin in 1872. However there was a difficulty with local labour who would down tools and rush away to the Herring fishing. Labour had to be found with Welsh and Irish labourers. The station at Douglas is one of the finest examples of a Victorian narrow gauge station in all of Europe. Although now much reduced... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Quiet, relaxing and the reef is very accessible
Disadvantages: Poor TV reception?

...A very nice village about 1h north of Cairns. The population is about 3000, built on a peninsular it gets nice cooling sea breezes compared to the surrounding rainforest. And all buildings must be no taller than the Palm trees. Your hotel can arrange a pick-up from the airport, a car is not needed. We have stayed at both Radisson resorts that have free shuttles into town. The main road in has the hotels and leads on to the main street with the shops, verandahed restaurants and pubs. Over the last two years it has grown (it now has two supermarkets!) but the character remains The marina has a number of snorkeling and diving boats leaving practically everyday of the week at about 9am but usually 10am. You can go out all year round, we have been there in August and the temperature was in the 80s. The operator will arrange the hotel pick... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: lots to do, great beach
Disadvantages: box jellyfish in the hot wet season

...Someone asked me yesterday whether they should stay in Cairns or Port Douglas and I had no hesitation in recommending the latter. It is much smaller than Cairns and far more attractive. There is loads to do in PD and surrounding area eg the Daintree River where you can take a trip to see crocodiles and other wildlife, visit the rainforest, Mossman Gorge, drive to the Atherton Tablelands where you can go hot air ballooning and of course you can do the Quicksilver trip out to the Reef. The beach at PD is superb so it's best to build a few lazy days into your schedule. There are many good restaurants in PD, a favourite of ours being the Starfish which specialises in shellfish.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful