Hi all,
I am looking for advice on what i can do during our trip.
We plan to go mid June for about 5 days in Cairns. Hope to get way from Sydney winter. Hope it is warmer there in June. What can i do, see during this 5 days stay in Cairns? Anyone have visit Cairns or a local can share their experience please?
Travel to Cairns in June
bargainfinder on 24/05/2021 - 21:09
Last edited 24/05/2021 - 21:33
Last edited 24/05/2021 - 21:33
Comments
I've visited cairns.
In Scotland :)
https://reefencounter.com.au/dive-courses/learn-dive-course/
Do a 3 day live-aboard to get your Scuba Diving certification with 10 dives on the Great Barrier Reef. There's literally nothing better you can do. Couple days in Daintree Rainforest after that for off the grid R&R.
Hire a car and drive north to Port Douglas one day, out west another day, down south another day. Lots to explore but requires a lot of driving. Cairns would be terrible without a hirecar. Boat trip to great barrier reef another day.
Thanks for the tips - my wife and I are also head to Cairns in early June and looking for ideas that don't involve diving on the reef as neither of us are into that.
And make sure you book your hire car early - they book out fairly quickly at this time of year.
Do the cable car and train.
Kuranda hippy market and Barron falls. Botanic gardens was nice as well.
We did a nice day trip when we were there a couple of years back, I'll try and find the details for you. Otherwise the Kuranda railway is a noce trip up the mountain and catch the skyrail thingy down.
Stay in the daintrees for a few days and relax- Daintree eco lodge is great
Local here..
- Hartley's Creek Crocodile Farm (approx. 45min North) - has a man made billabong full of crocs. They do boat tours where they feed the crocs and you can watch them launch out of the water. Can also head further north after the croc farm to Port Douglas - quiet little tourist town with a nice beach and lunch/dining options.
- Spend a day up in the Daintree - lots of rainforest and blue water beaches.
- Rainforestation Nature Park - animal experiences, tours in an army duck and local indigenous shows and experiences.
- Green Island Day Trip - has what is claimed to be the largest Croc in captivity. Coral and sea life is fairly abundant around the island.
- Atherton Tablelands waterfall circuit - there's a website which talks about where they are.
- Gallos Dairyland - Also up on the tablelands. Is a working dairy farm that has local cheese, chocolate and an animal nursery (I've never been personally but they always seem to be busy).
+1 on getting in early for a hire car.
One thing you can do in Cairns is Absolutely Nothing or Go Fishing.
Jokes apart, sharing my recommendations:
Day 1:Hire a car before leaving Sydney. Search ozb for deals such as :Avis
Pick car from Cairns Airport and find a place either on airbnb / booking.com in Cairns cityDay 2:Book a trip to reef (half or full day), do snorkelling, scuba diving whatever suits your adrenaline rush
Return to city, eat at night markets or fancy restaurant depending upon your budgetDay 3:Explore northern beaches: Yorkey's knob > Trinity Beach > Clifton > Palm Cove and you can drive up to Port Douglas.
You can do bungy jumping at AJ Hackett (Skypark Cairns, 6 kms from Yorkey's knob). Just keep in mind you can't do bungy if done scuba@reef within 24 hours.
Stay overnight at Port Douglas if you can and return next day doing Mossman Gorge.Day 4: Go to Skyrail, ride gondolas, visit barron falls, Kuranda ticket costs $117
Or you can drive your car all the way through National Highway 1 and do a round trip to Kuranda.Day 5: Road Trip to Atherton Tablelands, do hot air ballooning costing $239 per adult and on return, go to Lake Tinaroo and back to city.
Day 6: Fly to big smoke and dream about your next holiday.
I've only been to Cairns briefly.
Loved Palm Cove - worth eating a meal and checking it out. You could cover it in an afternoon. I kept going back as I loved it. There was a place that did $5 steaks - O'Donnells Irish Bar & Grill at Palm's Cove - and it was very good (anything you add to it as a side will increase the price - but it's still so cheap! Think I paid $15 and the sides were amazing too) However this was a few years ago so I don't know if this deal exists anymore.
Great Barrier Reef is worth going to - however - the company I picked was horrible so I'll try to locate it so you can avoid them too. I've done the Great Barrier Reef from Airlie Beach (nowhere near Cairns) and it was much better. So maybe I just picked the dud in Cairns. The tour was run by Cairns Dive Centre - avoid!! It felt like if you booked a dive with them that you're just a number - they force you to dive into one spot to pose for a photo then get out. Hardly worth the money. I felt bad for another guy who was trying to go for his first dive - he was just nervous (I think I was about the same at my first dive) and the angry instructor cancelled his chance to dive.
Day tours go to the Daintree and further up or you could drive up to Cape Tribulation and stop along the way.
I also did the Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour which was fun, however be prepared to enter the water no matter how cold it is!
I just came two days ago for a four days trip under the short notice from my friend.
Was very happy about the whole trip.
There were much to see
Reef on the sea is a must see
Daintree range is a much see too
Port Douglas is a definitely perfect place for stay even though a bit expensive at the moment .
Very tropical over there and worthy to be there for sure
Hi all
Travelling cairns in November for 7 days. the car hire seems pretty expensive with minimum $100+/day. I never seen such expensive car rental price before. Checked with apex rental also. Anyone can help with some tips or deals. Its costing us around 1000$ for 7 days which is crazy :-(
Don’t know much about it, but it ends with an s.
Have fun