Echo the comments about Port Douglas being far nicer and much more romantic than Cairns. It has several nice restaurants - and one of the bars does cane toad racing (which I think was my husband's highlight of our whole trip!). When we stayed in Port Douglas, we actually hired a villa from here. It was absolutely gorgeous with a private pool, close to the beach which you could walk up to the centre, but I can't remember how much it was as it was a couple of years ago.