Keep it intimate
Continue the resort as it is: an established destination with a distinctive identity, a loyal following and an internationally recognised position in the adults only, inclusive lifestyle market.
Secluded Port Douglas absolute beachfront · For sale by expressions of interest
Thirty keys on 1.14 hectares of absolute beachfront near Port Douglas. 800 m of private beachfront, reached only through the property’s front gate. Tropical rainforest behind, the Coral Sea in front, and no neighbours for four kilometres.
The place
Somewhere between Palm Cove and Port Douglas, the Captain Cook Highway winds between ancient tropical rainforest and the Coral Sea. Turtle Cove sits where the two meet, and nowhere else.
The property is 1.14 hectares of absolute beachfront, wrapped in tropical gardens and opening directly onto 800 metres of sand that nobody else can reach: the only way onto the beach is through the property’s front gate. Turtle Cove is bordered on four sides by two UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Wet Tropics rainforest behind and the Great Barrier Reef in front, with no neighbours within four kilometres.
No crowds, no passing foot traffic, no interruptions. A freshwater tropical rainforest stream runs adjacent to the property. The sunrise is directly in front of you, and on the right nights, the full moon glows over the Coral Sea Barrier Reef.
“It’s not often a Freehold site like this comes to the market in such a unique location. I don’t think it would be able to be built today, that close to the waterfront and surrounded by tropical rainforest.”
Seclusion, to scale
The ring is drawn to scale on satellite imagery: four kilometres in every direction from the resort. Rainforest on one side, reef on the other, 800 metres of beach that can only be reached through the front gate, and the Captain Cook Highway the only way in.
Satellite imagery: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics
A day here
This is not a resort defined by marble lobbies. It is waking to the sound of the sea, wandering barefoot to the beach, long afternoons beneath the coconut palms, and the feeling that there is nowhere else you need to be.
The resort faces east over the Coral Sea. The sun rises in front of the pavilion, and on the right nights the full moon glows over the Coral Sea Barrier Reef.
Set beneath the spectacular ancient melaleuca eucalypts between the pavilion and the beach, with the spa and wellness precinct beside it.
The only way onto the sand is through the property’s front gate. Rainforest headland at either end, and nobody in between.
A freshwater tropical rainforest stream runs adjacent to the property and pools among the boulders before it reaches the sea.
“You fall asleep to the sound of the waves and nothing else, and you wake up to the waves and the birds. The sunrise is directly in front of you.”
The resort
An established 30 key resort, private enough to disappear into and social enough to bring people back year after year. Parts of the resort have been renovated and it keeps the relaxed character of a traditional Australian beach retreat. It is offered with the operating business.
Plans
Gallery
The next chapter
Continue the resort as it is: an established destination with a distinctive identity, a loyal following and an internationally recognised position in the adults only, inclusive lifestyle market.
Create a new luxury resort or wellness destination on a site that could not be built today, with the pool, pavilion, dining terraces and wellness precinct already in place.
A private tropical estate for family, friends and the generations yet to come. 30 rooms, a beach, a freshwater stream and a tropical rainforest, a 40 minute drive or 10 minutes by helicopter from Cairns International Airport.
Worth knowing
The property is offered with the operating business. A previous ownership group secured approval for up to six private residences, a caretaker’s residence and a tennis court within the grounds. The present status and conditions of that approval are for buyers to confirm with Douglas Shire Council and their own advisers.
All information is subject to verification by interested parties, who should rely on their own inquiries, legal and planning advice, and technical investigations.
Scarcity
Legacy assets are not defined by their replacement cost.
They are defined by what can never be replaced.
Since 1993
For more than three decades Turtle Cove has welcomed guests from around Australia and the world, drawn not to conventional luxury but to something harder to find: privacy, freedom, authenticity and a genuine sense of belonging.
It has welcomed all since 1993. The present owners bought it almost two decades ago, and the two managers who run it today have done so for about eight years. When regular guests were told of the sale before it went public, more than twenty wrote back within days.
That following is part of what is for sale. The owners would like to find a custodian willing to carry the legacy on, whatever shape its next chapter takes.
Enquire
For sale by expressions of interest. Request the information memorandum or arrange an inspection with the agents.
Queensland Sotheby's International Realty