Port Douglas is a beautiful place to holiday, so beautiful that some people don't want to leave 😎🌴

This is why sometimes we receive requests from our passengers, who spend holiday time to email or text us, asking to leave Port Douglas just 2 hours, or even, 1.5 hours before their flight leaves Cairns. The reasoning seems to be that visitors want to enjoy every last minute, and that because the direct transfer takes 1 hour, almost exactly, from Port Douglas to Cairns Airport, there is no need to leave any earlier.

The 1 hour transit time is the time it takes when everyone is on board your shuttle, when the weather is 100% fine, and there is no heavy rain, no traffic delays, no start - stop roadworks, no landslips, no accidents, and no traffic jams around Smithfield.

We're using the attached text message alert from Monday 13 March 2023 and this post as a little 'heads up' why we always schedule pick ups from Port Douglas to be 3 hours before a flight departure from Cairns. These TMR alerts can come through at any time day or night. Accidents involving one or two vehicles, blocking one or two lanes on The Captain Cook Highway, is the most common issue.

We do hope everyone enjoys their holiday in Port Douglas, and ask that visitors to our region understand both the natural beauty, and also fragility, of the Captain Cook Highway.

​Let us use our experience of the Captain Cook Highway to transfer you between Port Douglas and Cairns. Our aim is always to have you at Cairns Airport in a relaxed fashion. Time to check your bags, grab a coffee or a snack, and continue relaxing before you head home and book your next holiday to Port Douglas. 🌴😎🍹

Works will occur 6am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and all road users have been advised to plan 20 minute delays between 6am and 6pm Monday to Saturday.

CairnsAirportShuttle.net may need to adjust some times leaving Port Douglas depending on when the road is closed. At times traffic will be down to 1 lane. At times there will be total closures.

Works are expected to be completed, weather permitting, early February 2023.  Works are to remove rocks and debris which will improve road safety, and works will also install rock bolting and nets.

CairnsAirportShuttle.net is very pleased to see these works which have been happening for some years along the highway. For visitors to our region, these works help stablise the highway, improve safety and also reduce the likelihood of total road closures which can happen when major rock slides occur.

Thumbs up Dept. of Transport and Main Roads, and the local contractors, for doing this important work  👍

Where does the Port Douglas local shuttle operate? Well, here is the map :)

The Port Douglas local shuttle includes the highlighted area below. The local shuttles do not go to Mossman, Thala Beach or down to Cairns.

Like a special to go with your holiday in Port Douglas? Save 15% on weekly tickets!

Visitors to Port Douglas have the option to save 15% on local shuttle prices. Weekly deals for singles, couples, and families save you $$ off your local Port Douglas shuttle trips when you purchase online with your airport transfers.

Simply select the option to add a discounted weekly ticket to your airport transfers. We will provide your weekly shuttle pass when you arrive in Cairns so you can start using immediately once you get to Port Douglas. You can either call for pick up or check with reception as shuttles are moving and looping around Port Douglas daily from 7am to midnight.

The local shuttle collects direct from the reception of your hotel, Airbnb, or residential address. Go anywhere in Port Douglas on this map. Macrossan Street shopping and dining, 4 mile beach, IGA,  Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina etc.

​We look forward to seeing you in Port Douglas :)

We are often asked if we can pick up from Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns after our passengers have returned from the Green Island Ferry, or any of the Reef Tours. The answer? YES! Not a problem. This is the spot where we will meet you at Reef Fleet Plaza, just 50m from the end of the jetty where the ferries and reef tour boats depart and arrive. We look forward to providing your transfer. Just use the option on our shared shuttle booking form, or our private transfer booking form 😎🪸🐠

You don't need to go to a zoo or wildlife park to see nature in Cairns! These pelicans are regulars on the Cairns esplanade boardwalk not far from La Pizza restaurant. This picture about 7:30am on October 2022 when Visnja and Paul were enjoying a walk along the esplanade. The pelicans are not camera shy, and enjoy entertaining the morning walkers and tourists. The pelicans approaching the rocks were hoping to find a spare spot to rest, but the pelicans already on the rocks were having none of it and stood their ground. 'Wait your turn' I think was the message. We love seeing wildlife in nature. See our other nature pics from Port Douglas of other critters not stuck in a zoo.   🌴😎

We are often asked if we can provide a day trip to Port Douglas from Cairns.
The answer is yes!

• 10am pick up from your Cairns Accommodation, and
  
• 4pm pick up from Port Douglas.
• No stops or pick ups or drop offs in Palm Cove
  
• Cost is our standard Cairns Airport <> Port Douglas transfer rates + $40 for the accommodation pick up and drop off in Cairns. For example two adults would cost $179 + $40 = $219 for day trip. 
  

We offer a seats in shared shuttle service day trip to Port Douglas from Cairns accommodation. That can be booked on our standard form here. Please request 10am pick up from your accommodation, and 4pm pick up from Port Douglas. We suggest this because it helps us coordinate Cairns city pick ups and then avoid also picking up at Cairns Airport as we head north to Port Douglas.

You will arrive in Port Douglas at approx. 11-11:30am after travelling up the world heritage Captain Cook Highway that hugs the coastline between the Daintree Rainforest, and the simply gorgeous Coral Sea. 

Arrive in Port Douglas in time for lunch, then cruise the shops or 4 mile beach and on Sundays enjoy the famous weekly market, before heading back to your Cairns accommodation at 4pm just in time for beer o'clock in Cairns. Alternatively, you can request a private transfer and have more flexibility with your pick up times between 6am in Cairns through to 5pm from Port Douglas.

It is great to see the skies open up once more, however COVID-19 continues to affect staffing and airline schedules. One of the current issues we are observing in 2022 are multiple changes being made by airlines due to staffing and demand fluctuations. For single groups arriving on one flight into Cairns Airport this has an impact, but is manageable and relatively easy for our passengers to alter their shuttle time by simply contacting us with your new details.

The problem we are seeing is when a single booking is made for a group of people who are arriving on 2 or even 3 different flights. While we understand care would have been taken to align arrival times by the person booking the shuttle and the attraction of a discount for larger groups travelling together, these plans can quickly come unstruck when one of the flights is either late, or is totally changed by Jetstar or Virgin or Qantas to a new flight at another time of day.

This creates anxiety for passengers who have booked the single group shuttle and can in turn trigger a long and involved email trail for passengers and our shuttles as we try to reallocate seats or work out what to do with a booking now with arrivals spread over 4 or 6 hours. Is that the best way to start your 2022 holiday in Port Douglas or Cairns?

Solution? Please make one booking per group per flight. You will very likely travel with your friends and family on other flights when you all arrive, but if there are flight schedule changes for one part of your group the others can proceed to Port Douglas quickly and easily. Your friends or family can either go ahead if arriving early, of follow you if arriving late. You can settle into your accommodation and have a cold drink ready for them when they arrive 🍹🍺

We strongly encourage passengers in 2022 not to make a single arrival booking for flights arriving separately. Any small discount achieved can quickly be eroded by the burden of emails and cost changes, alterations, group emails to recheck everyone's approval or availability for the new details.

​Start your holiday relaxed - please make one single booking per group per flight 👍

Hi all, heads up that proof of vaccination is coming to our shuttles and many venues in Queensland. The easiest way to prove vaccination is to add your digital certificate to your Check In Qld app.  You will need the Check In Qld app when holidaying in Cairns and Port Douglas, so download Check In Qld app today and be ready for arrival. 😊