Cairns, Australia

Evergreen city guide with quick facts, travel, business, and culture.

AustraliaQueensland

Overview

Cairns is the tropical gateway city of Far North Queensland — the launch point for the Great Barrier Reef and the ancient Daintree Rainforest, two World Heritage wonders that meet here. With its waterfront lagoon, reef and island trips, rainforest railways and a laid-back tropical feel, it is one of Australia's great adventure bases.

Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelling and diving day trips and liveaboards to Green Island, the Low Isles and the outer reef, plus scenic reef flights.

Rainforest & Daintree

Kuranda by Scenic Railway and Skyrail, Mossman Gorge, and the Daintree and Cape Tribulation where rainforest meets reef.

Atherton Tablelands

The waterfall circuit, crater lakes and platypus spots of the cool hinterland, plus the northern beaches like Palm Cove.

City & Esplanade

The waterfront Esplanade and swimming lagoon, the Night Markets and dining, and the marina that launches the reef trips.
Travel Overview

Cairns, on the coast of tropical Far North Queensland, is the gateway to two of Australia's natural wonders — and one of the few places on earth where two UNESCO World Heritage sites sit side by side: the Great Barrier Reef offshore and the ancient Wet Tropics rainforest, including the Daintree, behind the coast. That double draw makes the relaxed, palm-shaded city one of the country's premier holiday and adventure bases. Cairns itself has no surf beach in the centre — instead, the lively Esplanade runs along the waterfront to a popular saltwater swimming lagoon and boardwalk, ringed by restaurants, bars and the night markets, and the marina is the departure point for the boats that are the city's lifeblood. From here, day trips and liveaboards head out to the Great Barrier Reef for some of the best snorkelling and scuba diving in the world — to the close-in coral cays of Green Island and Fitzroy Island, the Low Isles, and the outer reef itself, with its gardens of coral, turtles, rays and tropical fish. Inland, the rainforest beckons: the village of Kuranda is reached by the historic Scenic Railway up through the gorge and the Skyrail cableway gliding over the canopy; the Atherton Tablelands rise to waterfalls, crater lakes and cool-climate produce; and to the north, beyond the upmarket resort town of Port Douglas, lie Mossman Gorge and the Daintree Rainforest at Cape Tribulation, the storied spot 'where the rainforest meets the reef'. Wildlife is everywhere, from reef life to crocodiles, cassowaries and tropical birds, and the region has a strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural presence. The climate is tropical, with a warm, dry, sunny season from May to October (the best time to visit) and a hot, humid wet season from November to April — when marine stingers (box jellyfish) make stinger nets and suits necessary for ocean swimming near shore. Cairns is the essential base for the tropical north.

Discover Cairns

Cairns is the world's best-known gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef system on the planet and a UNESCO World Heritage area, and getting out onto the water is the headline experience. A fleet of day boats and liveaboards leaves the Marlin Marina each morning for the reef in its many forms: the easy, close-in coral cays of Green Island (with its rainforest and beaches) and Fitzroy Island; the calm Low Isles off Port Douglas; and the spectacular outer reef, an hour or more offshore, where pontoons and dive sites give access to walls and gardens of coral teeming with turtles, reef sharks, giant clams and clouds of tropical fish. Snorkelling, introductory and certified scuba diving, glass-bottom boats and scenic flights over the reef and the heart-shaped Heart Reef all showcase it, and operators cater to everyone from first-timers to serious divers. Because the reef is precious and under pressure, choose high-eco-standard operators, and remember that conditions and visibility vary with the season. A reef day is, for most visitors, the single reason to come to Cairns — and it rarely disappoints.

Frequently asked questions

Cairns is the gateway to two of Australia's greatest natural attractions, which meet here: the Great Barrier Reef offshore and the ancient Daintree and Wet Tropics rainforest inland, both UNESCO World Heritage areas. From the city you can snorkel or dive the reef, ride a railway and cableway into the rainforest at Kuranda, explore the Daintree and Cape Tribulation, and tour the waterfalls of the Atherton Tablelands — all from a relaxed, tropical base with its own international airport. That concentration of reef, rainforest and adventure is unmatched.

The city centre itself has no surf beach — the foreshore is mudflats along Trinity Inlet — but this is solved by the free, patrolled saltwater Cairns Lagoon on the Esplanade, a popular spot to swim and sunbathe. For sand, the northern beaches such as Palm Cove, Trinity Beach and Yorkeys Knob are a short drive north and make relaxed places to stay. Note that in the wet season (November–April) marine stingers make ocean swimming risky without stinger nets or a protective suit; the lagoon is safe year-round.

The dry season, from May to October, is the best time — warm, sunny days, lower humidity, calmer seas and better reef visibility, and it's outside the marine-stinger season. The wet season (November to April) is hot and humid with heavy tropical downpours and the presence of box jellyfish, when ocean swimming near shore needs stinger protection; it is greener and quieter, and the reef and rainforest are still accessible. Whenever you go, bring sun protection and reef-safe sunscreen.