What's on in Port Douglas (Great Barrier Reef), Australia through the year

Peak crowds — Queensland summer holidays, Summer holidays in Australia

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Stinger season (1 Nov – 31 May), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr), Queensland summer holidays (11 Dec – 27 Jan (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Stinger season (1 Nov – 31 May), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

• Holiday

  Easter long weekend

  3–6 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Good Friday to Easter Monday is a four-day national long weekend, usually next to or inside the autumn school holidays. Australians travel in large numbers, so flights, campsites and accommodation book out early and cost more, and most shops close on Good Friday. Source ↗

Still on: Stinger season (1 Nov – 31 May), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)

Peak crowds — Easter long weekend, Autumn / Easter break in Australia

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Easter long weekend (3–6 Apr), Stinger season (1 Nov – 31 May), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)

Peak crowds — Dry season, Port Douglas Carnivale

• Season

  Dry season

  1 May – 31 OctCrowded

  May to October is when the reef boats run almost every day, the Daintree road is dependable and the town is full. It is also when the rates and the restaurant queues are at their highest.

• Festival

  Port Douglas Carnivale

  22–24 MayCrowded

  A long weekend in May with a street parade down Macrossan Street, a beach day and a lot of long tables. Ten thousand people in a town of three and a half thousand. Source ↗

Still on: Stinger season (1 Nov – 31 May)

Peak crowds — Dry season, Winter (July) break in Australia

• Nature

  Dwarf minke whales

  1 Jun – 31 Jul · usuallyWhale seasonBook early

  The minkes turn up on the Ribbon Reefs for June and July, the only place with permits to snorkel with them. The trips are liveaboards out of here and Cairns, not day boats.

Still on: Dry season (1 May – 31 Oct)

Peak crowds — Dry season, Winter (July) break in Australia

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Dry season (1 May – 31 Oct), Dwarf minke whales (1 Jun – 31 Jul (usually))

Busy — Dry season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Dry season (1 May – 31 Oct)

Peak crowds — Dry season, Spring break in Australia

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Dry season (1 May – 31 Oct)

Peak crowds — Dry season, Spring break in Australia

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Dry season (1 May – 31 Oct)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Stinger season

  1 Nov – 31 MayInsects & disease

  Box jellyfish and irukandji are in the water from November to May. Four Mile Beach gets a netted enclosure for the season and swimming outside it is a bad idea, however inviting it looks. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Cyclone season

  1 Nov – 30 Apr

  November to April brings the rain and the cyclone risk together. The Daintree ferry stops when the river runs hard, and the reef trips stop when the swell does not. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Queensland summer holidays, Summer holidays in Australia

• Holiday

  Queensland summer holidays

  11 Dec – 27 Jan · usuallySchool holidaysCrowded

  The town fills again over Christmas despite the heat and the stingers, because the resorts are here and the school holidays are six weeks long. Source ↗

Still on: Stinger season (1 Nov – 31 May), Cyclone season (1 Nov – 30 Apr)