Port Douglas to Cooktown cruising guide
Port Douglas is a small natural harbour in Dickson Inlet with two marinas and a 24/7 rescue base. Low Isles, a short run offshore, has some of the tightest Reef Authority rules on the coast. North of Cape Tribulation the coast gets quieter, and the section ends at Cooktown on the Endeavour River: a small community port with a lit channel that NGA strongly advises against entering without local knowledge.
- 1Port Douglas & Dickson Inlet · Inlet harbour + marinas
- 2Low Isles · Reef island anchorage
- 3Cooktown & the Endeavour River · River port
Guides in this region, south to north
Port Douglas & Dickson Inlet
Inlet harbour + marinas
Port Douglas and Dickson Inlet: the entrance, anchorages, marinas, sunken vessels and the rescue unit. Not for navigation.
Low Isles
Reef island anchorage
Low Isles off Port Douglas: the anchorage, public moorings, the 6-knot limit and the island's access rules. Not for navigation.
Cooktown & the Endeavour River
River port
Cooktown on the Endeavour River: the channel, wharf, anchorage, Cowlishaw and Dawson reefs, and local knowledge. Not for navigation.
Entrances and hazards to plan around
- Port Douglas & Dickson Inlet: Morey Reef dries on the W side of the entrance range (NGA). Two semi-submerged vessels marked in Dickson Inlet (MSQ).
- Low Isles: Anchorage 0.5 mile NNW in 12.8 to 14.6 m, mud (NGA); 6 kn limit and no-anchoring area (Reef Authority).
- Cooktown & the Endeavour River: Lit channel maintained to 3.1 m; max 2.5 m draft; local knowledge strongly advised (NGA). Approach outside Cowlishaw and Dawson reefs (MSQ).
Read the current MSQ notices for Port Douglas, Cooktown and Far North Queensland, and keep a VHF 16 watch approaching both harbours.
Neighbouring regions
- South: Cairns & Fitzroy Island
- Cooktown is the northern end of this section.
- Whitsundays to Cooktown (section map)
- All cruising guide sections
About these guides
These are planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources: Maritime Safety Queensland notices and port procedures, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Transport and Main Roads boating facilities data, Queensland Government croc and stinger advice, Marine Rescue Queensland, the Bureau of Meteorology, NGA Pub. 127 and OpenStreetMap. They are not for navigation. Use the official chart, current notices, official tide tables and local advice. Each page shows when its facts were last checked.
Sources & credits
Maritime Safety Queensland. Contains Maritime Safety Queensland data (notices to mariners, and the port procedures and information for shipping for Abbot Point, Townsville, Lucinda, Mourilyan, Cairns, and Cape Flattery, Cooktown and Port Douglas) © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts restated and summarised in our own words. Not endorsed by MSQ or TMR.
Transport and Main Roads. Ramp, jetty and pontoon details from the Recreational Boating Facilities Queensland dataset © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads) 2021, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU, fetched 30 October 2026. Not endorsed by TMR.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Zoning, site-specific management, plan of management, no-anchoring area and public moorings information © Commonwealth of Australia (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority), licensed under CC BY 4.0, summarised in our own words. Zoning maps are linked, not reproduced; the official maps and the zoning plan prevail. Not endorsed by the Reef Authority.
Queensland Government. Crocodile and marine stinger safety advice from qld.gov.au (CC BY 4.0), summarised. Marine Rescue Queensland unit details from the MRQ website, checked on the date shown in each rescue box.
Bureau of Meteorology. Tropical cyclone season information, forecasts, warnings and tide pages are linked, not reproduced.
NGA. Background from NGA Pub. 127, Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Australia and New Zealand, U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Parts of it are old; where a page leans on it, we say so. Not endorsed by NGA.
OpenStreetMap. Map tiles, facility positions and the Ashore lists © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Need a boat moved through the Port Douglas to Cooktown region?
Get a delivery quoteNeed a delivery skipper for this coast? Get a quote from Garry Hartshorne, AMSA Master <45.
Townsville, Magnetic Island & the Palms cruising guide
Townsville is northern Queensland's main port and the base for this stretch: Breakwater Marina sits by the harbour entrance, and Ross Creek, behind the port's swing basin, has the yacht club and ramps. Every vessel in the port keeps a watch on VHF 12 and 16. Magnetic Island, across Cleveland Bay, has Nelly Bay Harbour, public moorings and marked no-anchoring areas. North-west, the Palm Islands have anchorages on their west sides, with Orpheus Island's best-known bays now partly marked as no-anchoring areas.
- 1Townsville: Breakwater Marina & Ross Creek · Ship port + marinas
- 2Magnetic Island · Island bays + boat harbour
- 3Palm Islands & Orpheus Island · Island anchorages
Guides in this region, south to north
Townsville: Breakwater Marina & Ross Creek
Ship port + marinas
Townsville for small craft: Breakwater Marina, Ross Creek, Ross River channel, VTS on VHF 12 and current dredging. Not for navigation.
Magnetic Island
Island bays + boat harbour
Magnetic Island by boat: Nelly Bay Harbour, Horseshoe Bay, public moorings, no-anchoring areas and the wreck. Not for navigation.
Palm Islands & Orpheus Island
Island anchorages
Orpheus, Pelorus, Fantome and Great Palm: anchorages, Reef Authority no-anchoring areas and moorings. Not for navigation.
Entrances and hazards to plan around
- Townsville: Breakwater Marina & Ross Creek: Breakwater Marina channel by the white sector light; Ross Creek through the swing basin, not while the port busy signal shows (MSQ). Ross River channel 1.2 m (NtM 549(T)-2026).
- Magnetic Island: No-anchoring areas at Florence Bay, Picnic Bay and Arthur Bay; 6 kn buoys in Horseshoe Bay (Reef Authority; MSQ).
- Palm Islands & Orpheus Island: No-anchoring areas at Pioneer Bay and Yanks Jetty on Orpheus (Reef Authority). Challenger Bay 7.3 to 9.1 m, sand (NGA).
Read the current MSQ Townsville notices before you go: dredging runs in the channels and the Ross River through November and December 2026.
Neighbouring regions
- South: Bowen & Cape Upstart
- North: Hinchinbrook & the Cassowary Coast
- Whitsundays to Cooktown (section map)
- All cruising guide sections
About these guides
These are planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources: Maritime Safety Queensland notices and port procedures, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Transport and Main Roads boating facilities data, Queensland Government croc and stinger advice, Marine Rescue Queensland, the Bureau of Meteorology, NGA Pub. 127 and OpenStreetMap. They are not for navigation. Use the official chart, current notices, official tide tables and local advice. Each page shows when its facts were last checked.
Sources & credits
Maritime Safety Queensland. Contains Maritime Safety Queensland data (notices to mariners, and the port procedures and information for shipping for Abbot Point, Townsville, Lucinda, Mourilyan, Cairns, and Cape Flattery, Cooktown and Port Douglas) © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts restated and summarised in our own words. Not endorsed by MSQ or TMR.
Transport and Main Roads. Ramp, jetty and pontoon details from the Recreational Boating Facilities Queensland dataset © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads) 2021, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU, fetched 30 October 2026. Not endorsed by TMR.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Zoning, site-specific management, plan of management, no-anchoring area and public moorings information © Commonwealth of Australia (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority), licensed under CC BY 4.0, summarised in our own words. Zoning maps are linked, not reproduced; the official maps and the zoning plan prevail. Not endorsed by the Reef Authority.
Queensland Government. Crocodile and marine stinger safety advice from qld.gov.au (CC BY 4.0), summarised. Marine Rescue Queensland unit details from the MRQ website, checked on the date shown in each rescue box.
Bureau of Meteorology. Tropical cyclone season information, forecasts, warnings and tide pages are linked, not reproduced.
NGA. Background from NGA Pub. 127, Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Australia and New Zealand, U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Parts of it are old; where a page leans on it, we say so. Not endorsed by NGA.
OpenStreetMap. Map tiles, facility positions and the Ashore lists © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Need a boat moved through the Townsville, Magnetic Island & the Palms region?
Get a delivery quoteNeed a delivery skipper for this coast? Get a quote from Garry Hartshorne, AMSA Master <45.
Cruising guides: Whitsundays to Cooktown
Free planning notes for the run north from the Whitsundays to Cooktown, written by a working delivery skipper. There are 14 place guides in 5 regions: Bowen and Cape Upstart, Townsville with Magnetic Island and the Palm Islands, Hinchinbrook and the Cassowary Coast, Cairns and Fitzroy Island, and Port Douglas to Cooktown. It's reef country inside the Great Barrier Reef, with working ship ports at Townsville and Cairns, shallow river bars, crocodiles, stingers and the cyclone season. Pick a region, or click a spot on the map.
- Bowen & Cape Upstart
- Townsville, Magnetic Island & the Palms
- Hinchinbrook & the Cassowary Coast
- Cairns & Fitzroy Island
- Port Douglas to Cooktown
- 1Bowen · Bowen & Cape Upstart
- 2Cape Upstart & Upstart Bay · Bowen & Cape Upstart
- 3Townsville: Breakwater Marina & Ross Creek · Townsville, Magnetic Island & the Palms
- 4Magnetic Island · Townsville, Magnetic Island & the Palms
- 5Palm Islands & Orpheus Island · Townsville, Magnetic Island & the Palms
- 6Lucinda & the Hinchinbrook Channel · Hinchinbrook & the Cassowary Coast
- 7Cardwell & Port Hinchinbrook · Hinchinbrook & the Cassowary Coast
- 8Dunk Island & Mission Beach · Hinchinbrook & the Cassowary Coast
- 9Mourilyan Harbour & Innisfail · Hinchinbrook & the Cassowary Coast
- 10Fitzroy Island · Cairns & Fitzroy Island
- 11Cairns & Trinity Inlet · Cairns & Fitzroy Island
- 12Port Douglas & Dickson Inlet · Port Douglas to Cooktown
- 13Low Isles · Port Douglas to Cooktown
- 14Cooktown & the Endeavour River · Port Douglas to Cooktown
Regions, south to north
Bowen & Cape Upstart
Bowen's boat harbour, Edgecumbe Bay, Abbot Point and Cape Upstart · 2 guides
Region overview →Townsville, Magnetic Island & the Palms
Townsville's marinas and Ross Creek, Magnetic Island's bays and the Palm Islands · 3 guides
Region overview →Hinchinbrook & the Cassowary Coast
Lucinda, the Hinchinbrook Channel, Cardwell, Dunk Island, Mission Beach, Mourilyan and Innisfail · 4 guides
- Lucinda & the Hinchinbrook Channel
- Cardwell & Port Hinchinbrook
- Dunk Island & Mission Beach
- Mourilyan Harbour & Innisfail
Cairns & Fitzroy Island
Fitzroy Island and Cairns, with Trinity Inlet and Marlin Marina · 2 guides
Region overview →Port Douglas to Cooktown
Port Douglas and Dickson Inlet, Low Isles, and Cooktown on the Endeavour River · 3 guides
Region overview →Entrances and hazards on this stretch
The whole stretch is inside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: check the zoning map, keep out of the no-anchoring areas and use the public moorings where they're laid (Reef Authority). Townsville and Cairns are working ship ports with VTS on VHF 12 and 16; Abbot Point has a coal terminal and a space-launch exclusion area that is broadcast when active. River and creek entrances shoal and shift: the Johnstone River bar at Innisfail, Enterprise Channel at Lucinda, Molongle Creek and the Daintree are all subject to current notices about mobile seabed. Cooktown is a small river port that NGA strongly advises against entering without local knowledge. From April to November the south-east trade current sets north-west at about 0.5 to 1.2 kn north of Cairns; the cyclone season runs from 1 November to 30 April (NGA Pub. 127; Bureau of Meteorology).
Weather, cyclones, crocs and stingers
The official tropical cyclone season runs from 1 November to 30 April, though cyclones can form outside it (Bureau of Meteorology). On 30 October 2026 the Bureau had not yet published its 2026–27 tropical cyclone outlook. Check the Bureau's coastal waters forecasts and warnings before every leg.
Crocodile habitat starts near Gladstone and runs north, and estuarine crocodiles can be in any waterway or the sea in that area. Marine stingers, including box jellyfish and Irukandji, are in tropical Queensland waters all year, with higher risk from November to May (Queensland Government). Read the croc and stinger advice linked on each page before you swim or take the tender ashore.
Other sections
The Australian coast is split into 8 sections, from north to south and then west into Victoria. 8 Australian sections planned, 6 written, plus Tonga:
- Whitsundays to Cooktown (this section)
- Bundaberg to the Whitsundays
- Mooloolaba to Bundaberg
- Tweed to Mooloolaba
- Tweed to Newcastle (planned)
- Newcastle to Wollongong
- Wollongong to Gabo Island (planned)
- Gabo Island to Melbourne
Pacific: Tonga (4 regions, 11 place guides)
See all sections on the map →How to use these guides
Every guide is a planning aid: what to expect, who to call, and where to look for the official word. None of it replaces the current chart, the MSQ notices to mariners, the Reef Authority zoning maps, the tide tables or a chat with the locals.
Spotted something wrong or out of date? Report a correction.
Sources and credits
Maritime Safety Queensland. Contains Maritime Safety Queensland data (notices to mariners, and the port procedures and information for shipping for Abbot Point, Townsville, Lucinda, Mourilyan, Cairns, and Cape Flattery, Cooktown and Port Douglas) © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts restated and summarised in our own words. Not endorsed by MSQ or TMR.
Transport and Main Roads. Ramp, jetty and pontoon details from the Recreational Boating Facilities Queensland dataset © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads) 2021, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU, fetched 30 October 2026. Not endorsed by TMR.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Zoning, site-specific management, plan of management, no-anchoring area and public moorings information © Commonwealth of Australia (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority), licensed under CC BY 4.0, summarised in our own words. Zoning maps are linked, not reproduced; the official maps and the zoning plan prevail. Not endorsed by the Reef Authority.
Queensland Government. Crocodile and marine stinger safety advice from qld.gov.au (CC BY 4.0), summarised. Marine Rescue Queensland unit details from the MRQ website, checked on the date shown in each rescue box.
Bureau of Meteorology. Tropical cyclone season information, forecasts, warnings and tide pages are linked, not reproduced.
NGA. Background from NGA Pub. 127, Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Australia and New Zealand, U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Parts of it are old; where a page leans on it, we say so. Not endorsed by NGA.
OpenStreetMap. Map tiles, facility positions and the Ashore lists © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Natural Earth. Locator and card maps drawn from Natural Earth (public domain).
Need a boat moved between the Whitsundays and Cooktown?
Get a delivery quoteNeed a delivery skipper for this coast? Get a quote from Garry Hartshorne, AMSA Master <45.