Review: Harmony Creek Naturist Retreat in the Daintree Rainforest, Australia

Is it just us, or do you also immediately think about the Amazon when someone says the word “rainforest”?

We often seem to forget that there is more than one rainforest. Like the Daintree in northern Queensland, which is 10 million years older than the Amazon, making this the oldest rainforest in the world. In size, Daintree definitely can’t compete with the Amazon, but it can in biodiversity. In fact, it is home to the cassowary, one of the last remaining Jurassic birds.

What drew us over the line though was that there’s also a place to get naked.

To be located right in the rainforest, Harmony Creek Naturist Retreat is surprisingly easy to get to. The nearest international airport is in Cairns, a good two hours away. Other than an abundance of national flights, Cairns Airport only has direct connections to certain places in Asia and New Zealand. In case you’re arriving from somewhere else, you’ll probably have a layover at one of the larger airports in Australia.

There is a daily bus going from Cairns to Cow Bay, that will drop you off at about 2 kilometres from the retreat. Keep in mind that there are no taxis or Uber here, so if you choose this option, you’ll have to walk (or ask the owner very nicely).

Also important to consider is that this is self-catered accommodation. That’s fancy holiday language for “Bring your own food and drinks”. There is one grocery store in the area, but it’s too far to walk to and only sells the basics. So unless you arrive completely prepared, we would recommend renting a car in Cairns. There are plenty of agencies in the airport.

From Cairns, you hop on the 44 going north. Past Port Douglas, take a turn on the Captain Cook Highway driving through Mossman. This is where you’ll find the last supermarket before the Daintree. The road name changes to Mossman Daintree Road, which you keep following north until you reach the ferry. After you cross the Daintree River, another 20-minute drive will get you to Cow Bay.

Harmony Creek is a small guesthouse that can only accommodate up to 6 guests. The house has two very spacious rooms on either side, each with private bathrooms. The fully equipped kitchen, the living area and the large terrace are considered communal areas and free to use for everyone.

Disconnected from the house is the cottage, which can sleep up to 2 people and also has a private bathroom, a living area, a terrace and a kitchenette.

From our experience, the guest rooms in the house are more convenient because you have everything right at your doorstep. The cottage, on the other hand, offers more privacy and although you’re free to use the communal areas, you have more space to retreat to.

Given the size of this guesthouse, there’s obviously not an abundance of amenities. But that’s not really necessary, this is not the kind of place you visit to be active all day. Well, you definitely can be active, but then the rainforest itself is a much better spot than the guesthouse. We found ourselves most of the time on the terrace, talking with others or just dreaming away to the sounds of nature.

The name probably already gave it away, there is indeed a creek on the domain which is perfect to refresh. We wouldn’t say “swim”, as the water is in most places not more than knee deep, but for refreshing it’s great. There’s also a small platform built next to the creek where you can read a book in silence, do some yoga or just have a drink and enjoy nature.

There are two ways to discover the rainforest. One way is what apparently most people do, the one-day excursion from Cairns or Port Douglas. These tours will take you to some of the tourist hot spots in the Daintree and will make sure that you get enough scenic pictures to prove that you’ve actually been here.

Although we can understand why people do this, spending most of your day in an airconditioned minibus is almost the exact opposite of experiencing nature. The way we prefer is to just head out and discover. We had the advantage of having Yelma, the owner of Harmony Creek, tag along as a guide, but there are enough maps available that you can easily do this on your own.

There are so many hidden beaches, hiking and cycling trails, and swim spots where the excursion people don’t stop and where you can easily spend some time naked. One excursion we can very much recommend is the waterfall trip with Daintree Experience Tours. The owner has access to a waterfall on a private domain which is an excellent place for a skinny dip.

We briefly mentioned Yelma, the owner. He has owned this land for decades but only recently decided to share his space with possible guests. Because the rainforest is just not something you want to keep for yourself.

Most of all, he wants to share it with like-minded people. People who enjoy being naked in nature and who can appreciate the beauty of the rainforest. For us, it was the perfect base to explore the surroundings, but we imagine that this retreat will be equally attractive to those who just want to escape from the busy outside world.

The best ways to book at Harmony Naturist Retreat are:

We believe that travelling is not about seeing new things but about experiencing them. From that point of view, the Daintree rainforest was definitely a great experience and Harmony Creek proved to be the perfect base for this.