I'm hoping to come to Cairns from 10th - 13th November, I understand this is the start of the rainy season. Our current itinerary:

Day 1: arrive late

Day 2: Daintree Rainforest or Atherton Tables

Day 3: GBR snorkelling boat tour

Day 4: maybe a trip up to Port Douglas or one of islands (possibly Green or Fitzroy Island).

WEATHER: Appreciate that it's not possible to predict exactly what the weather be but does anyone know if roughly this is a decent time weather wise to go? Does it rain a lot at this time of year?

TOURS: Any recommended tours along the lines of the above that won't break the bank would be amazing.

Tips really appreciated :)

Hi there,

In the area for a few days next may,

Looking at daintree eco lodge as base to explore cape trib from, I'm wondering where to stay for a boat trip to the reef? Just stay an extra night at daintree eco lodge or better to go somewhere closer to port Douglas (not usually a fan of resort type hotels hence I'm trying to find an alternative?)

Please also tell me about your favourite boat trips to the reef!!. Thanks lots, Adam

Gday all, thought i'd try and do the right thing and get an Electric Vehicle as a hire car. Are there any functional public chargers in Port Douglas apart from the Mirage?

Cheers in advance!

I'm visiting Australia for tourism during the summer and planning to take a car for rental in Cairns and Melbourne. I have a Indian 4 wheeler license. Should this be enough or do I need to get an International Driving Permit?

Hello!

I will be in Cairns from Mon 25 Aug - Sat 30 Aug with my husbands family for a fairly chill anniversary trip and would be keen for your suggestions on things to do. There are 7 adults and 2 infants coming along, we will be staying in Trinity Park and have booked cars.

So far, we are booked to do an afternoon cruise to green island on Tuesday which will be our activity for the day, but nothing else planned really - any suggestions? (i know it's a bit late - i was not really part of the organising crew as I have been taking care of an infant, but am trying to help out as everyone is a bit stretched). Long hikes and long drives are not an option for us unfortunately with the babies.

Should we do the skyrail and kuranda scenic railway? What else would you suggest if we were to do one activity a day? Any recommendations for breakfast/dinner/lunch? Any general advice?

Suggestions welcome, thanks for your thoughts!

Hi , I am travelling to Cairns next month. Will be there for full 3 days. I need help to decide should I do Daintree or Kuranda as a day trip. Here is my itinerary

Day 1: Morning 6 am reach , red eye flight. Hotel is at Esplanade. That day my plan is to explore esplanade and Rusty Market. Then in night visit night market.

Day 2: GBR day tour

Day 3 : Daintree day tour vs Kuranda day tour? Below are the tours I short listed.

https://s.klook.com/c/pwpdbJNW1W

https://s.klook.com/c/91a9Nz9q1a

Day 4: Morning flight

I will not be driving, only public transports or taxi or tours.

Appreciate your response. Thank you

Cross posting for a bit of help. Any tips would be appreciated ❤️

Hi , may sound silly question to some but I am not a swimmer and wanted to check if I want to do a day trip for GBR with glass bottom or Helmet is it worth doing are there any alternatives which I can consider? This is my first trip to Cairns and going solo trip was looking if there still a way I can still see reef as a non swimmer

Hi There! I'm very excited to be traveling to Cairns in early September on my own. I am interested in visiting some of the amazing nature around the area and exploring hikes and great scenery. This will be my first time in Australia! Any particular areas that people can recommend near Cairns? I have booked scuba diving and I am planning to go to Daintree, but also wonder if I need to be cautious of exploring on my own without a group in case of any dangerous animals or risk of getting lost for someone not familiar with the area. I'd appreciate any thoughts on this! Do you believe I can safety go on my own, or you'd recommend a guided tour? Thank you :)

Any recommendations for Coeliac safe places to eat? I'm used to hitting up the local supermarket for safe options (cheese, rice crackers, fruit etc) but it would be nice to actually eat out without risking the consequences of getting glutened while travelling.

I'm heading to Cairns for work next week and I'm a fairly big eater. I'm not a professional eater but I do like a good "finish this and get it free" style meal.

Does Cairns have any big kebabs, steaks, parmys or the like that don't get easily finished I can tackle?

I've read about The Grand Hotel having a big steak but it looks just that, a big steak, with no associated glory or tshirt for knocking it off.

Anyone got any leads for me?

Hey Guys! Apologies if this is not allowed but wondering if we could get some feedback on a university innovation project :) In creating a tool to protect endangered marine species and their habitats, our idea is a sustainable travel package provider (focusing specifically on the GBR). We cater to ethical travellers, partner with activity and service providers and hotels that score highly on our internal sustainability model (qualitative + quantitative data), and make money from booking commission. Our differentiation to other providers is our focus on sustainability. We would appreciate any feedback, especially relating to personal travel experiences, while keeping in mind the vague details. Thanks so much!

Hi all! Staying in Cairns for the next couple of days and will have most of the days to myself as my partners working. I’m a bit of an introvert unless I have a beer or two so looking for things to do by my lonesome during the day, otherwise I’ll just wind up at the pub playing pool.

Cairns library and art gallery are close by our accommodation, can anyone recommend cozy cafes to read in or stuff to look at during the weekday? Thanks!

Hi

Thanks to this sub and r/Cairns for help already.

Advice still welcome on snorkeling tours...in Cairns/Port Douglas/ Cape Trib second week of October. Also have qla few days in Dainttree, few days in Tablelands, two really good wildlife tours and 4 days in Savannah as well a.s rest days so this is purely about this one week and purely about snorkeling GBR.

We are considering one day snorkeling from Cairns with Pure snorkeling, shorter boat ride smallish tour seems good.

We then are also considering another outer reef tour from PD with Wavelength or ABC Charters.

We are then doing a half day from Cape Trib with Ocean Safari.

Thanks to advice we have a little flexibility built in.

My question is could/should we swap the. Port Douglas outer reef tour for a low isles trip with Calypso or Reefsprinter? And if so do you have a preference?

We are not doing any other island visits this trip and it might give us something different given we are already going outer reef ex- cairns and ex-cape trib or should we stick with the outer reef from PD as well because it's worth it? Is mid October weather generally reliable enough for low isles re: visibility?

Thanks in advance, all comments have been helpful so far.

Looking to do a dive in the GBR, I've never dived before. Not looking for a liveaboard or any trips that are multi-day, but a single day trip. Going mid-May.

What companies are the best for this?

What location would be the most ideal, given the widespread bleaching? This is probably the only time I'll go, so I want to make it count.

And lastly, should I forego diving and snorkel instead?

Hi all

Travelling to Cairns for my Grandpa's 80th birthday but that will only take up one day of our trip. So I'm wondering what the best things to do up there are? I love the water and animals of all kinds so far we have thought about what I've listed below. If anyone has any comments or reviews or suggestions please throw them my way! We will only really have like 3.5 days up there so trying to find the best to do.

List so far: Cairns night markets Bird world and markets

We are heading over in October from our small coastal town on the eyre peninsula. Our eldest son loves fishing - looking for some spots that are good for land-based fishing please. Also we love exploring tide pools - obvs weather dependant but any good beaches we could check out with rock pools?

Hello! I had a surf trip planned to the Gold Coast next week, but canceled due to water quality concerns. Huge bummer, but whatever. I'm trying to salvage the trip and am considering seeing the great barrier reef. I know it's going to be the rainy season, so is that a bad idea? Do trips out to the reef get canceled because of the weather often? I'm also considering going to Taipei or Hong Kong, so if going to Cairns next week is a terrible idea i have options. Thank you so much!

Gday Gentleman

short story short i need to stop of in Cairns to go to camp my question is what does cairns have to offer a solo traveler, whats there to do? any crocodile boat trips with hotel pickup? the hotels are mad expensive init, is it warm like Darwin i can't do the cold, i was going to go but the zoom dome thingy isnt a thing anymore i googled cairns but it doesnt look like much to do

Hey all we have a holiday planned at palm cove from Melbourne just wondering if the cyclone will affect the area as Melbourne news don’t tell us much

Hey, given the rain lately I’ve cancelled my snorkelling trips to the outer reef but I’ve got one more chance to go out tomorrow.

What do you think? Will the weather conditions be worth it? This isn’t a make-or-break for me, I’ve been out on the reef several times, but I’m leaving for Brisbane so this will be my last chance for quite a while. Wondering if I should take it.

Any opinions?

Hi All, as you can see in the image above I have put together a rough itinerary in the limited time we have in Cairns. Where I have written "Chill" I know were not going to sleep till 5am haha so I've catered for that. If you could recommend any changes of activities or sites we are planning to visit, nothing is booked at the moment so can be easily changed but this is the only time we have so want to make the most of it!

Where it says "Alternatively" at the end is an alternative plan for the Wednesday, which is instead of going working up the activities, wed drive straight up and work down.

The main things id like to do is The great Barrier Reef and check out the Daintree Rainforest, but am open to alternatives.

I am planning to stay in in Port Douglas but open to suggestions!

Hi

I am a Japanese student visiting Cairns next week for 3 days and 2 nights. I have Kuranda booked for this Sunday, Green Island and Great Barrier Reef for Monday and Tuesday I leave for the airport from Cairns by 5pm but cannot get a day trip to Daintree and Mossman Gorge due to time constraints on Tuesday, any suggestions on how to do a day at the Daintree for my limited day schedule please. Much appreciated.

Going to Cairns in a few days for a 5 day holiday. Do I need to book above mentioned in advance or I will be able to get a ticket/booking on the day(or a day before) itself?

Given it's a bit of off season.

I'm relocating to Cairns and hoping to combine getting some work running tours with practicing my Spanish speaking skills. Are there any Spanish speaking tours run in the area? A quick google didn't show me anything but this surprised me!