Port Douglas

A palm-lined strand running dead straight for more than 6km, as the name says. During jellyfish months a mesh enclosure hangs off the patrolled north end and bathers keep within it. Once the tide drops, the packed sand carries many cyclists.

A small coral cay offshore where an 1878 lighthouse still stands. A few steps out from the beach bring you to coral that sea turtles cruise over, good for snorkellers wary of depth. The neighbouring islet is a seabird nesting ground that nobody enters.

A clear river runs between granite boulders where the Daintree's southern fringe begins. Private cars stop at the centre by the entrance and a shuttle bus takes everyone in, and walks led by Kuku Yalanji guides explain which plants serve as medicine and food.

An outer ribbon reef on the continental shelf's rim, some ninety minutes out by fast catamaran. Deep ocean starts right past its outer wall, keeping visibility high, and the catamaran berths at an anchored pontoon, base for a day of swimming.

From the headland hill north of the village the whole of Four Mile Beach stretches south below you. Walking up from the far end of Macrossan Street takes fifteen minutes, and photos work best while the morning sun lights the beach.

Every Sunday morning stalls fill the lawn of Anzac Park by the water. Cane juice, tropical fruit and crafts set up in the shade of big fig trees, and by midday the heat thins the crowd.

A white timber chapel on a waterside lawn, where a large window behind the altar frames the sea and hills. Weddings are frequent, so on weekends you often cannot look inside; visitors are let in only between ceremonies.

Small boats leave the jetty at Daintree Village and drift down the mangrove banks looking for saltwater crocodiles. On mornings when the water is cool the crocs haul out to bask on the mud, which makes them easier to spot.

A wildlife park divided into rainforest, wetland and grassland zones, where you see animals found only in this region, cassowaries and tree kangaroos among them. At breakfast time you can eat inside the wetland aviary with birds flying around.

Where the coast road between Cairns and Port Douglas clings to the hillside, this lookout shows the Coral Sea shoreline running north and south, and in the right wind hang gliders launch from it towards the water. There is roadside room to pull over briefly.

A crocodile park off the Captain Cook Highway, midway along the Cairns to Port Douglas drive. On a small boat round the lagoon, a keeper dangles meat from a pole until crocodiles leap clear. Cassowaries and koalas live here too, so break the journey for it.

A rainforest interpretive centre near Cow Bay, past the Daintree River cable ferry. A tower climbs from the forest floor to the canopy, pausing at each layer to show what lives there. Borrow an audio guide and listen as you walk.

Here rainforest descends onto the beach and meets the reef. In 1770 James Cook's ship struck a reef offshore, and he named the cape for that trouble. It lies far north past the cable ferry, so budget a whole day; skip swimming, as crocodiles and stingers lurk.