Daintree Afternoon & Nocturnal

Afternoon and Nocturnal Full Day

Guests will depart Cairns around midday and head north towards the world famous Daintree Rainforest; an area of ancient tropical rainforest spanning 120,000 hectares, estimated to be 180 million years old. This region was given World Heritage status in 1988 and has the highest diversity of rainforest mammals in Australia.

The mid-afternoon sun will deliver magical views of the Great Barrier Reef Drive, one of Australia's most scenic coastal highways. Upon arriving into the Daintree National Park, guests will enjoy a delicious afternoon tea, before boarding our Daintree River Wildlife Cruise upon a solar powered vessel, providing abundant opportunities to spot Saltwater Crocodiles and some of the regions 420 bird species without noise or fumes. The river is a haven for kingfishers, including the Azure, Forest, Little & Sacred species, cormorants, herons, ibis, spoonbills, flycatchers, Brahminy Kites, White-bellied Sea Eagles, Wompoo fruit doves, Sunbirds, Spotted-whistling ducks and Rainbow Bee-eaters.

After the amazing cruise, the group will continue to Cape Tribulation. This famous valley resembles a giant amphitheatre, with a semicircle of hills dominated by Mt Sorrow (850m) and Mt Hemmant (1000m). The south-eastern rain, trapped by this valley, results in a tropical climate with high temperatures, humidity and rainfall. This provides a unique vista, being one of the rare locations where rainforest extends right to the shoreline (littoral or beachside rainforest), separated by beautiful white sandy beaches. Led by an expert wildlife guide, travellers explore the natural assets of the coastline.

Dining in the evening Rainforest is an experience not to miss, with travellers enjoying regional produce at one of the region's finest restaurants. A wildlife tour in Far North Queensland is not complete without a night walk. Much of the local wildlife has adopted a nocturnal lifestyle to avoid the heat of the day in the tropical climate. Perhaps the most unique part of this experience is to observe nocturnal wildlife in the Wet Tropics.

Your guide will share information about some of the 3,000 plant species, including 65 percent of Australia’s fern species, along with several crepuscular and nocturnal wildlife species, such as the Daintree River Ringtail Possum, Northern Long-nosed Bandicoot and Northern Bettong.

Guests will be returned to accommodation in Cairns at 10:30pm.

Key Details

Group Size: Maximum of 7 guests
Pick-up and Drop Off Point: Cairns/Northern Beaches/Port Douglas
Pick-up and Drop-off Time: Cairns 12:00pm/Northern beaches 12:30pm/Port Douglas 1:00pm (location dependent), Drop off approximately 10:30pm

Responsible Tourism

As part of our commitment to sustainability we have developed a Code Of Practice relating to our wildlife interactions which is available for your reference. Our river affiliates are using only solar powers vessels, clean, quiet and zero impact on the environment during wildlife cruises. 

As our way of contributing to the local wildlife community, we are heavily involved with FNQ Wildlife Rescue. Our organisation attends rescues and is active in sharing stories that may help educate our guests on safe and helpful practises for supporting injured or orphaned wildlife. We are also proud partners of the Australian Quoll Conservancy, dedicated to the conservation of the Spotted-tailed Quoll in North Queensland and Forever Wild; a charity set up to protect vast and wild places, rich in biological diversity and human culture including the Shared Earth Reserve in the Tablelands.