Plan your dream escape with this ultimate guide to the Cassowary Coast

A region named after its elusive, endangered feathered and flightless residents - who you might spy foraging through the tropical underskirts of Queensland’s highest mountains or rummaging beachside – the spectacularly scenic, yet unassuming and un-spoiled Cassowary Coast is a must-visit.

Growing an abundance of exotic tropical fruit and boasting estuaries that produce some of Australia’s best seafood, this pocket of paradise is a foodie’s nirvana. You’ll also find idyllic beaches wearing very few footprints, plenty of rainforest pools and waterfalls, plus Australia’s largest island National Park and a necklace of emerald islands to explore offshore.

What are you waiting for? Book in some annual leave and follow our guide to the Cassowary Coast.

How to get to the Cassowary Coast

Heading south from Cairns, you’ll find the towns of Innisfail, Tully, Cardwell and Mission Beach tucked into the Cassowary Coast’s pretty little pocket. Expect a verdant mesh of fruit farms, rainforests, and beaches with spots to stop and stay, plenty of places to refuel on fresh local produce and warm and welcoming locals.

But first, feast

With roadside fruit stalls and farm gates aplenty found throughout this region, plan to fill up your car boot en route. Make your first stop Babinda Bakery where you can load up on the region's best cream buns and cakes. Then follow your nose 15 minutes further to Broken Nose Vanilla where delicious bourbon vanilla products can be picked up at the farm gate including beans, paste, and the most delectable vanilla balsamic vinegar you’ll ever drizzle. 

If you’re a deli devotee, savoury heaven awaits in Innisfail, where Oliveri’s Continental Deli brought the first tastes of Europe to the tropics in 1920 and has been feeding the locals ever since. Here you can fill your picnic basket with over 60 cheeses, charcuterie, international and local gourmet goods, plus a really great cup of coffee. 

But if chocolate is your weakness (ours too), taste and tour the plant-to-palette experience at Charley’s Chocolate, El Arish, where single-origin 70% cocoa chocolate is grown, harvested and sprinkled with bush tucker ingredients like Davison Plum and lemon myrtle. Factory tours take place every Thursday and Sunday at 10.30am. 

Tick off the best things to do in the Cassowary Coast

Thankfully, there are plenty of places to walk all that indulgence off. A brisk 1.3 km return walk at Babinda Boulders will deliver you to the awe-inspiring Devil's Pool to witness the thundering power of nature forcing water through a narrow corridor of giant granite boulders. Local Yidinji legend warns of the whirlpool dangers (it's forbidden to swim), but you’ll find a more serene spot just near the picnic area to take a refreshing dip. Alternatively, drive for a further 20 minutes to Josephine Falls, where you can take the plunge into a sun-dappled rainforest pool via a natural rock slide.

Meeting the region's namesake is a must, so take a detour just south of Innisfail to the beachside hamlet of Etty Bay where Southern Cassowaries are often spotted foraging. A cafe and netted swimming enclosure make this a perfect spot to linger for a picnic - just keep your eye on those Cassowaries as they do like to share lunch.

Driving is a sensory pleasure on the Cassowary Coast, so wind the windows down and listen to the hum of cicadas and bird call as you take the breathtaking drive to Mission Beach winding through the Wet Tropics Rainforest where it tumbles towards the turquoise waters of the Coral Sea.

Keep an eye out for the beautiful blue Ulysses Butterfly (it’s wing span is between 100 and 130 mm), and pop in to do a Banana Farm Tour at Nutrinana Banana Farm to find out why 94% of Australia’s bananas are grown in this region (no that’s not a typo), and what makes them taste so good.

Explore natural wonders

Elevate your snorkelling and camping experience with Great Barrier Reef Safaris, based in Mission Beach. Husband and wife owners; Stuart and Adele (a marine biologist) arrange private snorkel tours in and around the Family Islands and Barnard Island Group National Parks. You’ll have the option to stay on an island to camp if you choose, with the crew supplying all your essential supplies, including tents, and will return to get you when you’re done. 

If you’re not quite ready for camping, take a four-hour cruise from Cardwell to Hinchinbrook Island, Australia’s largest national park island. Be on the lookout for dugongs, turtles, dolphins, birds and crocodiles as you wind through the mangrove systems of Missionary Bay before exploring Ramsay Bay’s uninhabited beaches with Hinchinbrook Island Cruises. And add a side of adventure to your trip by staying on to tackle the epic Thorsborne Trail -  a rugged 32km journey from one side of Hinchinbrook to the other.

The Cardwell Spa Pool is worth visiting too - a naturally fed seasonal creek, mixing rainwater and mineral particles that infuse its waters into a shade of baby blue.

Where to eat on the Cassowary Coast

The Cassowary Coast is the perfect region to eat your way around and we’ve already mentioned some of our favourites above. But it really is an endless feast, so add some fresh and sustainable seafood from Innisfail Seafood's wild, line-caught local fish to your menu too. Locals regard this as the best fish and chips in the region, so grab a seat by the river and tuck-in. 

The beloved Bingil Bay Cafe is another delicious option for lunch or dinner with a mouth-watering menu using fresh local ingredients served on the perfect breezy porch nestled in a lush grove of rainforest.

For home cooked meals and friendly service, pop into The Pocket Elarish for breakfast or try a famous ploughman’s plate for lunch. Leave room for home-baked sweet treats, add a barista coffee and fill your basket with fresh farm-grown produce too. The cafe sells everything from freshly churned ice cream (try the dragonfruit), to preserves, pottery, honey and more. 

When it comes to beverages, Murdering Point Winery in Silkwood turns tropical fruit and native bush tucker into wine, port, liquors and creams. Try banana, mango, lychee, passionfruit and pineapple specialties or turn it up a notch with exotic Jaboticaba, Black Sapote (chocolate pudding fruit) and Davidson Plum too.

Where to stay on the Cassowary Coast

From the luxurious Castaways Resort & Spa nestled under the sashaying palm trees at Mission Beach, the retro Black Marlin Motel in Innisfail, or an architectural shipping container, cabin or powered site at Etty Bay Caravan Park, there are plenty of places to stay on the Cassowary Coast. Camping is also a great option, with Dunk Island just 5km from Mission Beach boasting eight great sites, toilets, hot showers and a recently renovated camp kitchen. But if you really want to spoil yourself, book into the impeccable Bedarra Island Resort, regarded as one of the best island resorts in Queensland with just 10 villas shrouded within 45 hectares of tropical rainforest. Go on - you’re worth it.