Beach bliss at Palm Cove

by Matt Shea | 22 Jan 2019

Head to Queensland’s north coast for a perfect tropical getaway. Plus: win a free stay with Holidays of Australia.

I remember the first time I laid eyes on Palm Cove. It’s how I imagine it happens for a lot of travellers: on an airport shuttle destined for Port Douglas, 45 minutes north.

What was this place? The gentle crescent-shaped beach; Williams Esplanade, the town’s gorgeous high street; the leaning palms and towering paperbarks. In the twilight, the restaurants were slowly blinking to life and taking their first guests. We cruised the esplanade with my face and hands pressed up against the window. All it needed was Ricardo Montalbán waving back at me and the scene would have been complete.

My second visit to Palm Cove starts much the same. Again, I’m on the airport shuttle. My driver, Pete, a North Queensland local, gives me a primer on this tiny beachside hamlet. “It’s got a very different feel to Cairns or Port Douglas,” he says. “I live in Port Douglas and my wife and I will come down to Palm Cove for a week away. It’s where you go if you want to completely disconnect.”

The perfect base at Villa Beach

I’m also staying for a week. My accommodation is Villa Beach Palm Cove (85-87 Upolu Esplanade, Clifton Beach; villabeachpalmcove.com). A three-storey Spanish-inspired edifice housing six spacious villas, it looks straight out over Clifton Beach. Technically we’re just south of Palm Cove, but this is part of the property’s charm.

On a leafy dead-end street, there’s very little traffic, meaning the only sound you hear once the sun goes down is the breaking waves and a tropical breeze moving through the trees.

Stepping inside for the first time we find an enormous, crisply fitted-out apartment, its cool tiled and wooden floors populated by handsome Southeast Asia-inspired furniture. A spacious, full-featured kitchen is made for entertaining, welcome bags of jam drops and gluten-free tropical muesli a neat touch. 

Travelling as a couple, we move into the light-filled master bedroom at the front of the apartment, with its ensuite, bathtub and walk-in wardrobe. But two extra bedrooms (not to mention a brilliant balcony overlooking the sea) leave us wondering if we should have dragged along family or a few friends.

Step outside Villa Beach and Williams Esplanade is only a ten-minute walk away along a shaded access path. On our first afternoon we set off to explore the town. It’s just how I remember, a miniature paradise lined by sand, sea and perfect lawns on one side of the esplanade, and the restaurants and shops with their neatly trimmed hedgerows on the other.

On a leafy dead-end street, there’s very little traffic, meaning the only sound you hear once the sun goes down is the breaking waves and a cooling tropical breeze moving the trees. Inside, it’s neat and spacious, crisply fitted out in tiled and wooden floors, and handsome Southeast Asia-inspired furniture. We’re travelling as a couple, but two extra bedrooms (not to mention a brilliant balcony overlooking the water) leave us wondering if we should have dragged along a few friends.

Exploring Palm Cove

Step out the front door of Villa Beach and Williams Esplanade is only a 10-minute walk away along a shaded access path. On our first afternoon, we set off to explore the town. It’s just how I remember: a miniature paradise lined by sand, sea and perfect lawns on one side of the esplanade, and the restaurants and shops with their neatly trimmed hedgerows on the other.

Over the next four days it becomes our home away from home with its own little rituals. We duck into 27 Degrees (1 French Street; 27degreesqld.com) for perfectly brewed Allpress coffee, or go large at Vivo (49 Williams Esplanade; vivo.com.au) with its finely tuned Asian-inflected breakfasts, before lazing on the netted beach and slipping into the aquamarine waters of the Coral Sea.

At night, the sun goes down and the restaurants come alive. We aim for Portofino (3/41 Williams Esplanade; portofinopalmcove.com) and its fabulous wood-fired pizzas, or Reef House (99 Williams Esplanade; (07) 4080 2600) and its rarefied take on modern Australian cuisine.

Of course, though, when staying somewhere like Villa Beach Palm Cove you hardly need step out the front door. Much of our days are spent lazing in the pool out front of the apartment or sitting on the balcony, sipping iced tea and catching up on our reading lists. On the last night we fire up the barbeque to cook steaks and locally sourced seafood. Mixing a couple of drinks using the classic cocktail recipes that hang throughout the apartment, we start discussing our next scheduled visit to Far North Queensland.

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