TNQ Writer
This summer, swap your inner city stresses for cool, rainforest rejuvenation, checking into one of these accommodation providers in the rainforest.
The sound of rain falling on the roof is so well associated with relaxation, millions of people around the world pay money to listen to artificial raindrops via meditation apps to calm their monkey-minds. But what if we told you there’s a place that’s as restorative and rejuvenating as any app you’ll find, where the air is pure thanks to 180-million years of lush rainforest growth?
Enter the Wet Tropics World Heritage listed area, which covers almost 900,000 hectares of North Queensland with leafy, rejuvenating, vegetation.
Sure you can visit it for a day if you’re chasing a small dose of freshly photosynthesised oxygen, but if you really want to put your mind, body and soul on the charger, up the ante by sleeping among the Wet Tropic’s famous foliage.
This summer, swap your inner city stresses for cool, rainforest rejuvenation, checking into one of these accommodation providers in the rainforest.
Silky Oaks Lodge
Stay in a treehouse with dreamy river views
Stay in a treehouse with dreamy river views
Relax by the Mossman River
Relax by the Mossman River
Take forest bathing to a literal level
Take forest bathing to a literal level
Live the luxe life at Silky Oaks Lodge, a lush rainforest retreat next to the iconic Daintree Rainforest. Take one look at this spot and you won’t be surprised to hear that it’s a hit with the rich and famous. Kim Kardashian anyone?
The 40 luxury tree-house style suites are nestled in amongst the treetops and range from stylish rainforest retreats, to the lavish Daintree Pavilion, which features it’s own infinity pool and two bedroom wings. With outdoor bathtubs surrounded by lush greenery or looking out to the emerald green waters of the Mossman River, you can take the term forest bathing to a literal level.
Your stay includes a tropical breakfast and dinner with matching wines in the Treehouse Restaurant, which grows some of its produce in the onsite Kitchen Garden, daily sunset drinks and an in-suite-bar. By day, relax in the onsite pool or hire kayaks and snorkels to explore the Mossman River which runs through the lodge.
Canopy Treehouses
Take in the views of the Wet Tropics rainforest from your balcony
Take in the views of the Wet Tropics rainforest from your balcony
Sleep in your very own treehouse at The Canopy Treehouses in Tarzali
Sleep in your very own treehouse at The Canopy Treehouses in Tarzali
Be mesmerised by the sounds of the rainforest without leaving your room
Be mesmerised by the sounds of the rainforest without leaving your room
Check into the kind of rainforest accommodation that would make Tarzan jealous at Canopy Treehouses on the Atherton Tablelands.
Hiding among 100 acres of World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics rainforest, you won’t need to wander far from your timber chalet to see why UNESCO awarded this rainforest’s status for biodiversity.
In fact, CSIRO conducted studies on the property, revealing Canopy Treehouses to be positioned on one of the most verdant sections of the rainforest, on land producing 4-7 times the amount of fruit than neighbouring sections of the forest.
To soak up the greenery, choose between one of five tree houses which front onto Ithica River, for an immersive rainforest stay.
mist at Cape Tribulation
Explore the rainforest just steps from your bed
Explore the rainforest just steps from your bed
You'll be surrounded by rainforest in every room
You'll be surrounded by rainforest in every room
Sleep in comfort at mist
Sleep in comfort at mist
Few places can lay claim to the fact they have the Great Barrier Reef as their front garden and the Daintree Rainforest in their back garden, but mist at Cape Tribulation has mastered the double act.
Settle into a pavilion set amongst eight acres of rainforest, each with a modern open plan design that lets you take in the rainforest from just about every room.
Staying in the rainforest is a full sensory experience where you fall asleep to the sound of giant king fern leaves rustling and wake to the orchestra of 430 bird calls from the forest that awaits just 30m from your door.
Daintree Ecolodge
See the rainforest from your window
See the rainforest from your window
Invigorate yourself with yoga next to the on-site waterfall
Invigorate yourself with yoga next to the on-site waterfall
Dine at Julaymba Restaurant set amongst the rainforest
Dine at Julaymba Restaurant set amongst the rainforest
Explore the rainforest at Daintree Ecolodge
Explore the rainforest at Daintree Ecolodge
There’s magic in the rainforest and those who check into one of Daintree Ecolodge’s 15 eco-friendly bayans will be introduced to it the moment they cross the threshold.
The Kuku Yalanji Traditional Custodians of this area call the Daintree Rainforest, ‘Wawu-karrba’, which translates to ‘healing of the spirit’. To ensure the property carries this sentiment and heals on all levels, Daintree Ecolodge deliberately has no WiFi or TV onsite, with the exception of the communal area, so you embrace the rainforest right outside your bayan’s door.
Everything about this stay has been designed to nourish your senses – whether it’s the gourmet meals prepared using vegetables from the onsite garden or the Daintree Wellness Spa which uses the Daintree’s healing waters, and have long been recognised as rejuvenating by generations of Kuku Yalanji women.
Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat
You'll still feel like you're in the rainforest while inside
You'll still feel like you're in the rainforest while inside
A bubble bath with a rainforest view? Yes please!
A bubble bath with a rainforest view? Yes please!
Sleep in comfort with incredible views at Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat
Sleep in comfort with incredible views at Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat
Meet the local wildlife
Meet the local wildlife
If the only trills you’ve heard in a while have come from notifications on your devices, it’s time to escape the sounds of the city and replace it with the bird calls of the forest, at Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat.
From your villa, you can watch for wildlife, which is in abundance in this Atherton Tablelands section of the Wet Tropics rainforest. While you won’t have many human neighbours (there’s just 12 villas all up), you will have to share the area with the local forest fauna, which plays home to 30 per cent of Australia’s marsupial species.
When you’re not relaxing in your villa, bring your walking shoes to pace it out along the 9km of walking tracks that crisscross the property, and take in views of Queensland’s tallest and second tallest peaks.
Ferntree Rainforest Lodge
Take a dip in a resort pool in the middle of the rainforest
Take a dip in a resort pool in the middle of the rainforest
Relaxing both inside & out
Relaxing both inside & out
See the rainforest without travelling far from your hotel
See the rainforest without travelling far from your hotel
If you’re wanting to tread lighter on the environment you’re staying in, check into eco-friendly Ferntree Rainforest Lodge in Cape Tribulation. You’ll find it 1km away from Cape Tribulation Beach and 230 metres from Myall Beach via the Dubuji Boardwalk, the very spot where the rainforest and reef collide.
Your host’s passion for landscaping is the first thing you’ll notice, with mature rainforest trees dotted around the property, which encourage the local wildlife into the lodge’s surrounds.
There’s a menu of accommodation types to suit your budget – from the Garden Loft right through to shared dormitory-style accommodation, making a rainforest stay accessible to more people.
Thala Beach Nature Reserve
Sleep in the trees at Thala Beach Nature Reserve
Sleep in the trees at Thala Beach Nature Reserve
Swim amongst the rainforest
Swim amongst the rainforest
Even Osprey's Restaurant at Thala Beach has incredible views
Even Osprey's Restaurant at Thala Beach has incredible views
Wander through the coconut plantation
Wander through the coconut plantation
Set on its own private peninsula jutting into the Coral Sea, have yourself a green getaway at Thala Beach Nature Reserve. It’s green not just for the rainforest it backs onto or the coconut plantation that greets you on arrival, but green in terms of Thala Beach Lodge’s accreditation as an eco-lodge and Green Travel Leader.
Privacy is what’s afforded to all guests at Thala, with bungalows scattered over the 145-acre headland as if playing hide-and-seek among the forest. Most of the Bungalows reflect the same design so it doesn’t matter which one you book, unless you request the Sandpiper Suite, which has primo position at the southern-most point of the headland with uninterrupted views over Thala’s two beaches.
Daintree Wilderness Lodge
Rainforest views from every window
Rainforest views from every window
Stay in the heart of the rainforest
Stay in the heart of the rainforest
Photo by @helloemilie (Instagram)
Wander through the lush rainforest
Wander through the lush rainforest
Surrounded by the 1200km² Daintree Rainforest, Daintree Wilderness Lodge is the perfect antidote to a fast-paced urban life. Reset your circadian rhythms in nature and sleep easy knowing the Wilderness Lodge has an Advanced Eco Certification.
By day, discover why they call this part of the world the Botanic Ark with ancient plant species and unusual wildlife, you won’t find anywhere else in the world. By night, play spotlight with the rainforest’s more unusual nocturnal inhabitants.
Choose between seven cabins dotted across the property, all hidden among the canopy of the forest. Check-in even comes with your first of many botanical lessons, with each of the cabins named after trees found in the forest.
Mt Quincan Crater Retreat
Sleep beside a volcanic crater at Mt Quincan Crater Retreat
Sleep beside a volcanic crater at Mt Quincan Crater Retreat
Nothing like a bath with a view
Nothing like a bath with a view
It doesn’t get better than checking into a treehouse overlooking an ancient volcanic rim, but add in the Wet Tropics rainforest and the produce bowl of the Atherton Tablelands on your doorstep and you’re starting to get the Mt Quincan Crater Retreat picture.
There’s very little reason to leave your pole home in the forest, when you have a double spa, wood fire place and full kitchen complete with breakfast provisions at your fingertips – but we’d recommend you do to explore the famous forest that surrounds it.
No matter what time of year you visit, you’ll be treated to a cool change on the Tablelands. At 2500ft above sea level, the temperatures are always milder on the Tablelands than the coast – making summer a temperate time to visit.
Bedarra Island Resort
Stay in a luxurious villa at Bedarra Island Resort
Stay in a luxurious villa at Bedarra Island Resort
Enjoy beach and rainforest together at Bedarra Island Resort
Enjoy beach and rainforest together at Bedarra Island Resort
Settle down to sea views
Settle down to sea views
If you looked up luxury island resort in the dictionary, Bedarra Island Resort would be front and centre, with its pristine sand that collides into lush rainforest-clad hills, all packaged into a neat 100-hectare package off the coast of Mission Beach.
The team at Bedarra Island Resort have set the benchmark for barefoot luxury, so you know once you arrive there’s nothing to worry about other than deciding if you’d like to start with a cocktail or move straight to beer, wine or something from their extensive spirit collection.
Chances of running into anyone else are slim, this is an adults-only island, which you’ll share with a maximum of just 18 other guests.
When you’re not exploring the reef that surrounds the island by boat, SUP or kayak (all provided as part of your stay), take one of the rainforest walking tracks that meander across the island.
