Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas has been closed due to ‘quite a big’ croc being spotted

A popular beach in Port Douglas has been closed following the confirmed sighting of “quite a big” saltwater crocodile swimming in the area. See the pictures.

As a lifeguard hurried to the shoreline frantically waving her arms and urging swimmers to leave the water, a visitor trying to cool off at Four Mile Beach said he had no idea a large crocodile had been just a “few meters away”.

Henry Long had been swimming with a friend at the tourist hotspot on Wednesday morning just after 10am when they heard a siren sound.

“We thought it must be an ambulance behind the surf club, like maybe someone must be in a bit of trouble,” he said.

“A minute later, we turned around and realised everyone was out of the water and we saw the lifeguard looking pretty distressed and shouting at us to come in”.

A popular beach in Port Douglas has been closed following the confirmed sighting of “quite a big” saltwater crocodile swimming in the area. Picture: Brendan Radke

Mr Long said while he couldn’t hear the instruction the lifeguard was giving, he knew it must be urgent as her hand gestures were “pretty aggressive”, urging them to come in.

“We were a fair way out so we quickly came back in and asked what was going on and the lifeguard said, ‘oh, turn around, have a look’ and there was a big crocodile about 10 meters from where we just were,” he said.

With more than 100 people on the beach and about 30 swimming in the water at the time, the popular beach in Port Douglas was closed following the confirmed sighting of the large saltwater crocodile.

Surf Lifesaving Queensland confirmed an on-duty lifeguard spotted a “quite big” crocodile at about 11.40am on Wednesday, leading to the closure of Four Mile Beach for the next four hours.

“The lifeguard on duty confirmed the sighting and evacuated the water, followed by closing the beach,” the spokeswoman said.

“Four Mile Beach will remain closed for the next four hours, so roughly at 4pm we will look to reopen the beach.

“However, the four-hour time frame will restart if we see the croc again.”

A Surf Lifesaving Queensland drone image of the saltwater croc that caused the closure of Four Mile Beach on Friday morning. Picture: Surf Lifesaving Queensland

The spokeswoman said the four-hour window gave the crocodile time to pass through the area and allowed lifeguards to confirm the apex predator was no longer present.

“As we’re heading into breeding season and the weather is warming up, it’s not uncommon for crocs to be travelling up and down the coast,” she said.

“They are usually just travelling through however and are not hunting as such, they’re just moving from A to B, preferring to hunt in rivers and around rocks.”

With Four Mile Beach being a popular spot for residents and interstate tourists, Surf Lifesaving Queensland urged beachgoers to obey the closure signs, and be mindful lifeguards stop patrolling the beach at 5pm.

“Check the beach closure signs before swimming and please don’t swim at dawn and dusk,” the spokeswoman said.

When asked if the near encounter with apex predator had made him hesitant to entering the water again, Mr long said “not particularly”.

“I think he was just moving to another river, coming from cold Victoria it’s been nice being able to cool off in the pool or at the beach,” he said.

As of 4.30pm Surf Lifesaving Queensland confirmed Four Mile Beach has been reopened, with no further sightings of the crocodile.

Originally published as Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas has been closed due to ‘quite a big’ croc being spotted