Beautiful Remote Beaches in Northeast Queensland Where the Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef Meet

 

 

While it is the reef and the rainforest that gets top billing, it is worth coming to the 180 million years old Daintree Rainforest National Park just to visit the magnificent Cape Tribulation beaches.

Presenting you with the very definition of idyllic coastal paradises, the beaches of Cape Tribulation will instantly seduce you with the incredible colours of nature. Think pristine white sand, sparkling blue waters and wine bottle green rainforest that has changed little over time.

What makes these beaches so special is the sense of remoteness and isolation they give you. Quite simply nowhere else on earth will provide you with a coastal experience quite as spectacular as this destination where two world heritage sites meet.

In this post, I’ll highlight six of the best Cape Tribulation Beaches to visit on your next trip to the Daintree National Park.

But just remember if you do go to them, don’t swim in the water due to the presence of crocodiles and jellyfish.

 

How To Get To Cape Tribulation Beaches

The best way to get to the beaches of Cape Tribulation is to drive.

If you are coming from Cairns this will involve you heading along the Captain Cook Highway and the Cape Tribulation Road, before taking the Daintree River Ferry Crossing not far from Wonga Beach and Mosman.

This journey takes about 90 minutes to complete and you will be able to catch a crossing at regular intervals between 5 am and midnight, 365 days a year.

Driving is also the best way to visit the Cape Tribulation Beaches on this list and most of the time you can do this on sealed roads.

If you don’t have access to a car you can catch a Trans North Bus here from Cairns on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, which will take you all the way up to Cooktown if the Bloomfield Track is passable.

However, if you stop off in the Daintree National Park, you will need to find overnight accommodation, because the return journey doesn’t take you back until Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

 

Best Cape Tribulation Beaches

Now you know how to get there, here are six awesome Cape Tribulation beaches you can visit in the Daintree National Park.

 

Cape Tribulation Beach

As you might deduce from its name, Cape Tribulation Beach is the area’s main beach.

It is also the most popular, with many visitors spending most of their time in the Daintree National Park here, at the expense of the other Cape Tribulation beaches on this list.

Lying due north of the cape, one of the first things you should do when you get to this beach is head to the lookout point, from which you will be able to take in spectacular views of the the turquoise hues of the Coral Sea, dazzling white sand and the Great Barrier Reef.

You’ll want to spend some time here taking in the serenity. But if you start to feel peckish, make your way further north towards the Cape Tribulation Beach House. This is a terrific place for a meal or cocktail, and you can even dine directly on the sand if you want to!

 

Thornton Beach

Most people see the magnificent fusion of the rainforest and reef for the first time on the Great Barrier Reef Drive at Thornton Beach.

Dominated by Thornton Peak, which soars to 1,374-metres on one side of it and the alluring waters around the Great Barrier Reef from the other, this is one of the best Cape Tribulation beaches to observe the extremes of this incredible wilderness that dates back 180 million years.

Sitting approximately 20 minutes south of Cape Tribulation and about half an hour north of the Daintree Ferry by car, you’ll be mesmerised by its brilliant white sand, spectacular coastline lined with pandanus and flax Lillie’s, and the alluring Struck Rock Island that lies tantalisingly just a few metres offshore.

 

 

Noah Beach

Perhaps rather surprisingly, considering how many beautiful Cape Tribulation beaches there are, Noah Beach is home to the area’s only public national park campground. But what a beautiful location to set yourself up in!

At this popular destination you’ll find the rainforest and reef separated by just a few metres of sand, which you will be able to camp just 50 metres from.

You’ll need a permit to do so, which must be reserved and paid for before you rock up to it. So, given that you won’t have much in the way of mobile phone reception, you will need to make sure you do that.

Although the beach is a bit on the remote side, there are usually a few other people around, so you won’t get the same sense of seclusion as you’ll get at other Cape Tribulation beaches on this list.

However, as you will probably be too busy marvelling at the craggy headland, striking Beach pandanus and shimmering waters of the Coral Sea, you will probably be too pre-occupied to notice them.

 

Cow Bay Beach

Residing roughly halfway between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation is the stunning and remote Cow Bay Beach.

Framed by the Daintree Rainforest’s uplands that sweep down to the sand from Mount Alexandra, the area is one of the best Cape Tribulation Beaches to take in the majesty of the region’s two spectacular World Heritage Sites.

It is also the first real place of note to visit after crossing the Alexandra Range, and as the brooding silhouette of the Thornton Peak hovers in the background, this idyllic spot is somewhere you’ll want to take plenty of photos of.

 

 

Myall Beach

Myall Beach is notable for residing at the end of the Great Barrier Reef Drive.

As Cape Tribulation beaches go it is a real stunner. Enjoying a lovely setting just to the south of the headland, its pristine white sand is sandwiched in between a fabulous palm-lined rainforest on one side of it and fringing reefs on its other.

Getting to Myall Beach involves parking in the Kulki Boardwalk car park and hiking your way over the bosky ridge of the Cape Tribulation headland before descending down through a lush coastal forest.

Stretching for a distance of around 1.5 km, the Myall Beach walk joins with the Dubuki Boardwalk in a southbound direction and the Kulki Boardwalk due north. Whilst there, you might want to take the opportunity to take a guided horse ride through the Daintree National Park rainforest and along the beach.

 

Emmagen Beach

Emmagen Beach is probably the least well known of all the Cape Tribulation beaches, which should pique the interest of the more curious Queensland tourists amongst you.

This gorgeous sandy, white cove is lined with driftwood and shells, which gives it a very remote feel and also makes it perfect for beachcombing.

To get to it, you will have to go north of Cape Tribulation and then follow a dirt road for around 5 km. Keep an eye out for a big fig, beautiful tree situated on the right hand side of the road. To the left of it you will see a post that has the number 4 on it and an image of a cassowary.

When you see it, park there and head over to the other side of the road where you will see a partially hidden path that will take you to this paradisaical spot.