Mason's Swimming Hole

I knew it was going to be busy. It's in the Daintree Rainforest, in Far North Queensland, Australia. It's attached to a restaurant that sells crocodlie burgers. It has dedicated bus parking. But I didn't want the inevitable busy-ness to put me off from having a swim in the Daintree Rainforest. It's not that often that I get the chance to swim in one of the oldest remaining rainforests in the world, and a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. And popular places are usually popular for a reason.

First things first - it was lunch time when I arrived. I tasted three of the burgers - jackfruit, emu, and crocodile - at Mason's Cafe and they were, all-in-all, good. I'm certain that I have eaten jackfruit, emu, and crocodile before, but a long time ago. It was good to try them again. I also tried a black sapote smoothie, and a sour sop smoothie. The black sapote is delicious - tastes like chocolate pudding.

It's a very short walk from the cafe to the swimming hole. Past the blue tin asking for donations to swim in the swimming hole (you can also pay by card in the cafe or shop) on the little bridge over the swale, then just inside the rainforest you'll come to Mason's Swimming Hole. It'll most likely be busy. There'll be people using the (very small) rope swing. Mostly boys and young men (old boys?) climbing the tree to show off and jump into the water. Based on what I saw, the only advice I can give about jumping from the tree is to jump as far away from the bank as you can. One of the old boys who jumped from the tree bounced back up suspiciously quickly, and looked quite startled. He'd hit the bottom hard, but fortunately no injuries.

It felt strange taking photos here - to use in a blog post at least, so you'll have to dig up some photos yourself online. Or visit. It won't be as quiet and tranquil as you see in the photos online, but you'll be able to get in the cool gently flowing water and wash off some road-dust.

Try the croc burger.