Daintree Village lies on the south side of the Daintree River in Far North Queensland. To reach the village when driving north from Port Douglas and Cairns you will need to take a left and not take the turning towards the Daintree Ferry, stay on the Mossman Daintree Road. Daintree Village is about 110 Km north of Cairns, 35km north of Mossman, 55Km north of Port Douglas.
The Daintree Rainforest really starts for drivers on the other side of the river, once you get off the ferry by car, then you will be heading into the Cape Tribulation part of the Daintree National Park.
A collection of photos from Daintree Village and tourist information, to convince you to visit.
It’s a very pleasant drive (just off The Great Barrier Reef Drive from Cairns to Cape Tribulation) to this little village and here you will find accommodation options including fairly expensive hotels, B&Bs and camping facilities.
There are small shops, a tour booking desk and a couple of cafes for visitors.
Daintree Village is undoubtedly a very pleasant place to spend a day or two and there are a few things to do in the village and nearby, using Daintree Village as a base.
It’s a lovely spot to sit and admire the view, soak up the tranquility or maybe take some pleasant walks.
Daintree River Tours
Crocodile spotting tours depart from the jetty below Daintree Village and this is a very good place to see salt water crocodiles if you didn’t get a chance to take a Lady Douglas River Cruise in Port Douglas.
We have taken croc spotting tours from Daintree village a few times now and we’ve seen some very interesting birds and reptiles.
This trip isn’t just for the crocodiles.
You probably won’t see as many as in The Northern Territory, but we’ve always seen crocs on both The Lady Douglas and the Daintree River tours.
Croc Xpresso Cafe Daintree Village. We can vouch for their coffee and toasted sandwiches and they will do a vegetarian toastie if you ask.
Tours of Daintree
Here’s a selection of some of the best tours you can take, in or near Daintree.
We think the best Great Barrier Reef tour from Port Douglas, is this one.
From Cairns, book a full-day tour to Mossman Gorge and Daintree, including an optional river cruise and indigenous experience. Book here.
From Port Douglas, book a half-day (morning or afternoon) tour to Mossman Gorge and the Daintree River. This is a cheaper option and great if you’re short of time. Book here.
To book a crocodile and wildlife cruise on the Daintree River, you need this link.
To take a night walking tour in the Daintree Rainforest, spotting wildlife in the dark, go here. This particular tour is for families with young kids, there is also an adult tour.
It’s also possible to go trekking in the Daintree National Park, look here.
Daintree Village History
This part of the world was originally settled by timber cutters back in the 1870s. The red cedars of the region were highly prized and this industry burnt itself out. A woodcrafts store in the village pays testament to Daintree Village’s logging history.
After the loggers dairy farming came to the region.
Daintree Village Today
The red cedar cutters are long gone. Today the main focus of the village is tourism along with cattle farming.
On the outskirts of the village you’ll likely see beef cattle, the traditional brahman cattle of the tropics. Even the livestock has to be adapted for tropical living.
The big barramundi, or big barra in Daintree Village Australia. ” Big Things” are an Australian tradition but did you know that barramundi wasn’t generally known as barramundi until recently. Check out this post on Australian food to find out why. It opens in a new tab so you can carry on looking at this post.
The “Big Barra” is a tourist draw for local tourists on the hunt for a photo opportunity with Australia’s “big things”. They’ve moved it, it’s on the grass now.
I seem to remember it used to be on the roof of a woodworking shop adjacent to its current location. Can anyone confirm that?
There are a few interesting little shops to take a look at in Daintree Village, including gifts and local artwork.
The Croc Express Cafe is a quaint little spot to enjoy a lunch or snack, we recommend their cakes, coffee, and toasted sandwiches.
Hotels and Other Accommodation in or Near Daintree Village
There are quite a few places to stay in Daintree Village or nearby.
As I doubt many people come up here without a car, motorbike or other transport, being right in the center of town probably doesn’t matter too much.
My husband cycles here by bike from Port Douglas, it’s about 50 km one way.
Accommodation options in or near Daintree Village include:
Daintree Village Hideaway
Daintree Riverview Lodges
Daintree Village Bed and Breakfast
Red Mill House in Daintree
Egret’s Rest
Cloud 9
Janbal Retreat
Daintree Ecolodge
Daintree River View Camp Site Prices Displayed On A Sign at Daintree Village. Camping in Australia is pretty expensive, a lot of people free camp. This is a lovely location overlooking the jetty and Daintree River with a couple of cafes nearby.The beautiful Daintree River from the boat jetty at Daintree Village. Salt water crocodile watching cruises depart from here and your chances of seeing crocs are excellent at the right time of year.
About us – We are a very large travel blog covering 50 or so countries. Port Douglas and Far North Queensland are our home turf so we have a lot of detail and coverage on this part of the world. We’d like to invite you to take a look at some of our other content, including Things To Do in Port Douglas and Things To Do in Cairns. We also have a much bigger guide to the best Places to Visit in Queensland. Our site is free for you to use and we hope you find it useful. We’ve been building it since 2012 and spent 7 years travelling full-time to do that.
Should You Visit Daintree Village?
Daintree Village is well worth a look if you’re holidaying in Port Douglas or taking a north Queensland road trip. It would be lovely to experience some of the more interesting hotels and lodges up here, I’ve heard good things but we can’t vouch for them ourselves as yet. When we do, we’ll add our reviews to this post.
We also suggest you take a look at this company to get a quote for all kinds of the more tricky adventure or extended travel insurance.
Try Stayz / VRBO for an alternative way to find rentals on homes/apartments/condos in any country!
About the author
Alyson Long
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
