Featured Wildlife Journeys

Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo
Ulysses Butterfly
Southern Cassowary
Saltwater Crocodile
Boyd's Forest Dragon

Daintree Exclusive

From: $1,040 USD

Duration: Full Day

Type: Private Charter, Shared.

Departs: Daily

Interests: Reptiles & Amphibians.

This full day tour focuses on the World Heritage Listed Daintree National Park, the largest section of tropical rainforest in Australia and oldest continually surviving rainforest in the world. Guests will be mesmerised by the combination of waterfalls, mountain ranges, idyllic streams, deep gorges and dense rainforest, that makes this one of the most complex and celebrated ecosystems.

An interpretative guided walk to the gorgeous Mossman Falls, will provide the opportunity to spot numerous butterfly, frog, reptile and marsupials and learn more about living examples of some of the earliest flowering plants, orchids and ferns and the emergence of Australia’s glorious songbirds.
After lunch guests will embark on a wildlife cruise of the Daintree River, full of opportunities to observe and photograph the region’s apex predator, the Saltwater Crocodile, along with iconic species such as the Boyd’s Forest Dragon, Ulysses butterfly, Spectacled flying-fox, White-lipped tree frog, Common Tree Snake, Azure, Little, Forest & Sacred Kingfishers, Wompoo fruit dove, Sunbird, Great-billed Heron, Spotted-whistling ducks and the Rainbow Bee-eater.

About FNQ Nature Tours:

After ten years of guiding nature and wildlife safaris in Northern Australia, James Boettcher established FNQ Nature Tours in 2015, with a firm belief that tourism is the key to the protection and conservation of this World Heritage area. The company offers tours designed for nature minded travellers desiring a personal, educational and interactive guided experience, whilst sharing the necessity of protecting the natural wonders and biodiversities of this world famous region.

_{Price per group of 1-4 passengers, including touring & meals. Pricing is subject to availability and all prices, itineraries and routings are subject to change without notice. Currency fluctuations may affect prices as quotes based on AUD. Prices are current at time of posting (1/4/2023) and may differ when you book your travel. Please contact us for our current pricing and itinerary details**}

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Itinerary

Tour day-by-day

Full Day Daintree Experience

After departing from Cairns around 7:30am, guests will 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.

Led by your expert guide, guests will enjoy a two and a half kilometre walk through a private section of the National Park to learn more about some of the 3,000 plant species from over 210 families, including 65 percent of Australia’s fern species, 30 percent of Australia’s orchid species and the earliest examples of flowering plants on the planet. The trees into Mossman Gorge provide the opportunity to spot the endemic Boyd‘s Forest Dragon (a chameleon that can adapt its colouring for camouflage), along with the beautiful White-lipped Tree Frog and iconic Ulysses Butterfly.

Once travellers reach the spectacular Mossman Gorge, there is the option to take a swim and enjoy the magnificent vistas. Upon arriving to the Daintree Tea House, lunch will be served with the opportunity to sample some of the region’s delicious fruits and berries, surrounded by views of the tropical rainforest and continuous sounds of birds and nature.

"It’s the idea of telling people to look into the forest deeper, rather than just walking and not paying much attention, and when they really start looking around and spot them themselves, they are blown away at their own observation skills. I get real excited when people change their way at looking at things, and they spot these awesome creatures." James Boettcher - Founder

Next stop is the Daintree River for a Wildlife Cruise upon a solar powered vessel, providing abundant opportunities to spot Saltwater Crocodiles and some of the regions 420 bird species. 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.

Guests will be returned to accommodation in Cairns at 5:30pm.
Tour details

Private Group Size: Maximum of 7 guests
Pick-up and Drop Off Point: Cairns/Northern Beaches/Port Douglas
Pick-up and Drop-off Time: Cairns 7:30am/Northern beaches 08:00am/Port Douglas 8:30am (location dependent), Drop off approximately 5:00pm

How you'll be making a positive impact

We have aligned our sustainability vision with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Citizen Science with FNQ Nature Tours
FNQ Nature Tours contributes observations of flora & fauna via iNaturalist, the world’s leading global social biodiversity network. This platform allows our team to create research-quality citizen science data that enables a more detailed picture of our national biodiversity, and assists bodies such as the CSIRO, ecologists and other decision makers to deliver better outcomes for the environment and our species.
Our guides record observations with iNaturalist Australia by using the iNaturalist app on mobile phones or desktop computers. An observation records an encounter with an individual organism at a particular time and location in Far North Queensland. We require photos to be attached to observations for them to become research grade and added to the Atlas of Living Australia.

This is where you can greatly assist us in capturing images out on tour! Although we make broader observations that we think are valuable to the local scientific community, we have identified the following species to track when we are exploring Far North Queensland by vehicle or on foot.

Key species we're looking out for include:
- Black-throated Finch
- Grey Goshawk (white morph)
- Lesser Sooty Owl
- Southern Cassowary
- Red-necked Crake
- Lumholtz’s Tree-Kangaroo
- Green-eyed Tree Frog
- Boyd’s Forest Dragon
- Great-billed Heron
Solar-powered Daintree River Cruise
FNQ Nature Tours have a preferred arrangement with Solar Whisper for their Daintree River Cruises, which uses solar panels on the boat’s roof to provide the overwhelming majority of energy used, and an extremely quiet experience with no exhaust, fume, wake.

Red-filtered Flashlights for our Nocturnal Beauties

White torches or spotlights can significantly disturb our marsupials, due to the greater sensitivity of their pupils to light compared with humans. FNQ Nature Tours use, and share with guests the importance of using, red-filtered spotlights.

Although spotlighting is a fantastic means of revealing some of Australia’s most endearing creatures, white torches or spotlights can significantly disturb our marsupials, due to the greater sensitivity of their pupils to light compared with humans. High-powered spotlights effect the ability for pupils to function properly for extended periods of time, leaving them blinded temporarily.

For this reason, we share with guests the importance of using red-filtered spotlights along with prohibiting flash photography.

Developing Partnerships To Meet Sustainability Goals
FNQ Nature Tours have developed a number of partnerships with key environmental organisations in Far North Queensland, including FNQ Wildlife Rescue, Bush Heritage, Forever Wild, Australian Quoll Conservancy, Tolga Bat Hospital, Tree Roo Rescue and Wildlife & Raptor Care Queensland. These organisations are supported financially via special touring experiences provided by FNQ Nature Tours.