The town is situated adjacent to two World Heritage areas, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

[4] The Port Douglas township was established in 1877 after the discovery of gold at Hodgkinson River by James Venture Mulligan.

[10] On 5 July 1943, a RAAF Vultee Vengeance (Serial Number A27-217) crash landed on the beach near Port Douglas.

[11] In the late-1980s, tourism boomed in the region after investor Christopher Skase financed the construction of the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Resort.

[12] On 4 September 2006, television personality and conservationist Steve Irwin died at Batt Reef, off Port Douglas, after a stingray barb pierced his chest during filming of a documentary called The Ocean's Deadliest.

[15] Port Douglas was a popular location to view the 14 November 2012 solar eclipse at 6:38 am (local time).

[1] Port Douglas has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Port Douglas has a tropical monsoon climate according to the Köppen climate classification (Am), with hot summers and warm winters, with heavy rainfall primarily from January–March, the wettest month of the year typically being February.

[32] The Port Douglas branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the CWA Hall at 8 Blake Street.

[34] The annual Port Douglas Carnivale is held in May and runs for 10 days over two weekends, beginning with a parade attracting over 10,000 people.

Numerous companies run daily trips from the marina to the outer reef and the Low Isles for scuba diving and snorkelling.

[citation needed] Near the centre of town is a wildlife park that displays crocodiles, tree-kangaroos, cassowaries, koalas, quolls, flying foxes and other native animals.