Things to do in Cairns
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Cairns
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The Dry, warm, breezy and low humidity, with peak reef visibility and no stingers in the sea.
Prime Dry, coolest and driest, with dwarf minke whales June to July and humpbacks passing to September.
The connoisseur's Dry, warmer water and thinner crowds after the September holidays.
The Wet, hot, humid and monsoonal, with spectacular waterfalls, cheaper hotels, stingers and cyclone risk.
Best Wet months, the shoulders when rain is lighter and prices have dropped or not yet risen.
Worst months for a first reef focused trip, peak cyclone risk January to March and heaviest rain.
What's on
- IRONMAN Cairns mid-June
Fills the city on its weekend, book boats, hotels and dinners around it or early.
- Cairns Marathon Festival July
A Dry season weekend that pushes prices up and sells out the best boats.
- Cairns Festival late Aug to early Sep
Parade, fireworks and outdoor concerts at the end of the Dry season.
- Cairns Indigenous Art Fair usually July in recent editions
Check the year before planning around it, it has sat in the Dry lately.
- Chinese New Year celebrations Jan to Feb
CBD celebrations during the Wet season, exact dates vary by year.
- Dwarf minke whale season June to July
Ribbon Reef liveaboards are the way to encounter dwarf minkes, book months out.
Best things to do in Cairns
Great Barrier Reef
The outer reef has the clear water, hard coral gardens and fish density that make Cairns worth the trip.
Mossman Gorge
Granite boulders and a clear river in ancient rainforest, with Kuku Yalanji guided Dreamtime walks.
Cape Tribulation
Where 180 million year old rainforest runs down to the beach, reached after the Daintree River ferry.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
A 7.5 km glide over the Barron Gorge canopy to Kuranda, with boardwalk stops and Barron Falls views.
Kuranda Scenic Railway
Heritage carriages climb through 15 tunnels past Barron Falls on the classic return leg from Kuranda.
Kuranda Koala Gardens
A compact Kuranda stop for koalas and native wildlife between the Skyrail and railway legs.
Birdworld Kuranda
A walk-through Kuranda aviary that pairs easily with the village markets and other wildlife stops.
Australian Butterfly Sanctuary
A large Kuranda butterfly house that local guides rate as one of the village's strongest stops.
Where to stay in Cairns
The Esplanade / CBD waterfront
first trips and no-car trips
Walk to every boat, most restaurants and the Lagoon inside one flat waterfront rectangle.
Cairns North / Edge Hill edge
repeat visitors and lighter sleepers
Residential streets a short walk or bus from the Terminal, with better value and quieter nights.
Palm Cove
couples, families and resort-led trips
A single beachfront esplanade 25 minutes north, superb for resort plus reef plus Daintree days.
Port Douglas
split stays and second bases
A low-rise resort village on Four Mile Beach with its own reef boats and the Daintree on its doorstep.
Trinity Beach / Yorkeys Knob
longer apartment and family stays
Real beach suburbs with space and kitchens, close to Skyrail, but you trade walk to boat convenience.
Fitzroy Island / Green Island resorts
one-night novelty mid-trip
Staying overnight gives the island at dawn and dusk, but strands you from every other tour as a base.
Think twice about
- Manoora, Manunda, Mooroobool, Westcourt, Woree and Bungalow back-streets
Higher crime rates than the tourist core in local round-ups, car dependent, and nothing to walk to at night.
- CBD / Esplanade late-night bar blocks
Noise and a rough late night scene around Spence, Shields and Grafton Streets. Book the northern Esplanade for quiet.
- Gordonvale, Edmonton or Babinda sold as Cairns
Fine towns 20 to 40 minutes south, but early reef check-ins become 5am drives. Check the map before booking.
- Rooms without air-conditioning
Cairns humidity makes a fan only room a sleep destroyer in any month. Confirm AC in the room, not the building.
Best restaurants in Cairns
Tamarind
Cairns' most awarded table, Asian fusion fine dining where Penang duck curry is the signature order.
Ochre Restaurant
Modern Australian cooking with native ingredients, crocodile, kangaroo and emu done seriously, on the boardwalk.
Prawn Star
Dinner on restored trawlers at the marina, shared platters of tiger prawns, bugs and oysters at sunset.
Salt House
A big open air waterfront complex with wood fired grill and a late kitchen, the group all rounder.
Dundee's on the Waterfront
A 30 year waterfront institution for seafood towers, barramundi and the Australian sampler plate.
Waterbar & Grill Steakhouse
The steak splurge over the marina, dry aged sirloin and espetada skewers in a special occasion room.
NOA
The locals' Edge Hill favourite, tapas and share plates built for a table, with strong brunch by day.
Cairns Night Markets
A hawker style food court of pho, sushi and crepes, unbeatable on price and location for a casual dinner.
Best bars in Cairns
Hemingway's Brewery Cairns Wharf
House brewed beers in a heritage wharf shed over the water, the best casual post tour debrief in Cairns.
Rocco
Mediterranean share plates and a serious spritz list on Cairns' highest rooftop, best at sunset.
Three Wolves
The bar locals point couples and groups to instead of the backpacker strip, a proper small bar in the centre.
Best coffee in Cairns
Caffiend
The CBD specialty coffee and all day brunch name locals queue for, with chilli eggs and Tablelands coffee.
Outdoor things to do in Cairns
Passions of Paradise
A locally owned sailing catamaran to two outer reef sites, capped numbers and crew in the water with you.
Reef Magic
A stable Moore Reef pontoon with snorkelling, semi-submersible tours and an observatory for non swimmers.
Seastar Cruises
A small boat taking about 36 guests to Michaelmas Cay and Hastings Reef for two distinct snorkel sites.
Ocean Free
A low numbers sailboat day to Green Island and reef, built for confident swimmers who dislike big boats.
Ocean Freedom
A site hopping catamaran to Upolu Cay and the outer edge, with two snorkel sites and more crew attention.
Sunlover Reef Cruises
The credible alternative Moore Reef pontoon, with good facilities in the same stable platform format.
Tully River
Australia's most famous rafting river, a full day of Grade 3 to 4 rapids through Wet Tropics gorge.
Barron River
The half day rafting taster, Grade 2 to 3, closer and cheaper than the Tully and done by dinner.
Best hotels in Cairns
Crystalbrook Riley
The northern Esplanade flagship, with a huge lagoon pool, day spa and Rocco rooftop for sunset.
Shangri-La The Marina, Cairns
Directly on the Marina beside the Reef Fleet Terminal, the shortest walk to a 7am reef check in.
Pullman Reef Hotel Casino
The CBD business luxury pick by the casino, a block back from the water with a rooftop pool.
Crystalbrook Flynn
The social Crystalbrook, with glass walled pools over the Coral Sea and Boardwalk Social on the street.
Crystalbrook Bailey
The arts leaning, quieter Crystalbrook one block back, often the best priced of the trio in town.
Pacific Hotel Cairns
A refurbished independent tower opposite the Lagoon end, where staff warmth outperforms chains above it.
Mantra Esplanade Cairns
Self contained apartments with kitchens and laundry steps from the Lagoon, the family value play.
DoubleTree by Hilton Cairns
The dependable Esplanade chain stay, a safe mid range choice in the walkable waterfront rectangle.
Is Cairns expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | A$170 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | A$320 a person |
| Splurge | A$650 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Great Barrier Reef: weeks ahead
- Mossman Gorge: weeks ahead
- Cape Tribulation: weeks ahead
- Hartley's Crocodile Adventures: a few days ahead
- Passions of Paradise: weeks ahead
- Reef Magic: weeks ahead
- Seastar Cruises: weeks ahead
- Ocean Free: weeks ahead
- Book the outer reef day first, on day 2 of the trip, so bad weather can push it not cancel it.
- Daintree small groups and Tamarind or Ochre dinners need 2 to 4 weeks out for Dry season weekends.
- Dive courses, liveaboards and June to July minke trips need booking months out.
- IRONMAN, the Marathon Festival, Cairns Festival and school holidays sell out the best boats.
- Keep one flex day November to April, when reef trips cancel for wind not rain.
Is Cairns safe?
- Swim only inside stinger nets in season, wear the reef operator's stinger suit, and never swim off the city foreshore.
- Never swim in rivers or estuaries, keep 5 metres from riverbanks, and treat every crocwise sign as current.
- UV is extreme year round, use SPF 50, a hat and reef-safe sunscreen applied well before entering the water.
- Never swim where signs say no. Devil's Pool at Babinda, unfenced Daintree riverbanks and flooded causeways have killed people.
- In cyclone season December to April, follow Bureau of Meteorology warnings and hotel instructions.
- Tipping is not obligatory in Australia, 10 percent for great table service is appreciated.
Cairns travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Paying outer reef money for an inner reef half day, then judging the Reef on it.
- Treating Kuranda village as a full day. The transport is the experience, the village is 2 to 3 hours.
- Green Island's add-on spiral, stacking paid extras to outer reef money for inner reef water.
- Dinner cruises on Trinity Inlet, pleasant sail and average food. Take a drinks cruise and eat after.
- Night Markets souvenirs sold as local craft. Buy craft at Rusty's, the Tanks or Port Douglas markets.
- The Woolshed and Gilligan's party strip as nightlife for anyone past the backpacker brief.
Getting around Cairns: public transport and more
- Walk the base, tour the rest. The Esplanade to Reef Fleet Terminal is a 15 minute stroll.
- Cairns Airport is 7 km and 10 minutes north. Do not rent a car for a CBD based, tour led trip.
- Rent a car only for DIY days: Tablelands, Crystal Cascades, Palm Cove, Port Douglas and Hartley's.
- Sunbus buses cover the Northern Beaches, Smithfield for Skyrail and Edge Hill, but not tour timing.
- Book Skyrail plus Scenic Railway as one combined ticket so the timings interlock.
Who Cairns suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Cairns your trip
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