Tour Around Cairns Suggestions

My parents booked some flight and accommodation deal last year to Cairns. Without any planning, they thought they will sort things out in due course. Well, due course is now, they are going in a couple of weeks and have zero activities planned so far. And of course they called me now.

They will stay for 3 nights, but realistically only have 2 full days. I'm thinking the Reef for day 1 and Kuranda for day 2. Unless absolutely necessary, they would prefer not to get a rental, so accessibility by public transport would be ideal, or taxi, but they are not ready for Uber.

  • The Reef - They are old and will not be doing any water activities, so limited to platforms or pontoons tours. Years ago I drove to Port Douglas and naturally went with Quicksilver to Agincourt Reef. Have no idea about Reef Magic or Sunlover, both are based in Cairns and Moore Reef, are they any good for older tourists without having to snorkel or dive?

  • Kuranda - looks like the railway is back in operations, they can take the train from Cairns to Kuranda, then the Skyrail flyover the rainforest, bus back to Cairns.

Any other suggestions? Especially in Cairns? They have half day on arrival.

Comments

  • Isn't there a heatwave on the north coast of Old at the moment? Whatever they do they might want it to be air-conditioned.

    • +1

      According to BOM it's easing, hopefully all gone by then.

  • +2

    Spent 6 years in Cairns

    Whether Kuranda is worth the trip or not depends on the day imo. It is buzzing on Friday/Saturday but quieter on weekdays.
    I would recommend the Skyrail (cable car) to visit Kuranda but would 100% not recommend the scenic rail. It is unairconned, 6-8 people crammed into two bench's facing each other. They are so close that knees have to be adjusted to fit. They cram you in, even if other cars are empty. Not suitable for the elderly, particularly in this season.

    I'm not so sure how much of the reef you can see just by going on a cruise? Perhaps they can visit Green/Fitzroy Island and get a glass bottom boat.

    Some other activities to consider
    Paronella Park- requires transport as it is roughly 1-1.5 hours drive south. Highly recommended and not a lot of tourists know about it. Old people love this shit, guaranteed.
    Cape Tribulation/Daintree Rainforest- ideally requires self drive and can be done in a long day
    Cairns Casino Wildlife Dome
    Cairns Aquarium
    Prawn Star- best tasting prawns in Australia IMO
    Rusty's Markets

    • Thanks for the feedback. That's why I prefer road trips, drove all the way up to Cape Tribulation last time, much more freedom to explore around. But completely missed/unaware of the Cairns attractions you have mentioned.

      Railway wasn't operating last time due to fallen trees, sounds like it did a favour. My folks are keen to try different things, but will warn them about it. My son would love to visit the Armour Museum again, but not their cup of tea, would have been convenient otherwise.

      Paronella Park is too far without a car, we visited it and was fascinated to learn what young Jose was able to achieve in 10 years a 100 years ago.

      Wildlife Dome and Aquarium sound perfect for the half day they have.

  • +1

    Give us their age and where they normally live.
    Been here over half my life and seen the ups and downs.
    Rule 1: Do NOT carry more than $20 in cash. The more robbers net the more they will rob the elderly and weak. 2 eftpos cards for redundancy.
    Uber is now 1% cheaper than the taxis. Same drivers, same red light runners. The bus is half price for pensioners if it even shows up. After they been robbed it is usually free for weeks. Here you need cash and do NOT expect the driver to carry change.
    Skyrail is much better down, true Ozbargainers find the John's bus to Kuranda, it is feral but hey at 5 bucks what do you expect?
    Car next door is now run by uber. Expect another 1% savings.
    The train is above Oz average but hey it is a tourist trap run by a socialist so no matter what you pay the govt puts more borrowed money on top of it.

  • +3

    Our favourite area around there is the Atherton tablelands. The waterfall circuit and the lakes there are amazing. It gave a less touristy vibe then kuranda

    • For sure, I would stop at Mareeba also, a couple of coffee plantations to chillax.

  • I did a one day minibus tour to the Daintree. Fantastic! Really interesting and stress free, pick up from hotel, guide to point out interesting stuff, not expensive. Amazing part of the world.

    • Did the tour stop at Mossman Gorge?

      • +1

        Mine didn't but others do. It's quite a long way so you would spend less time at your destinations. I was happy to have more time at Daintree.

  • Hartley's Croc Adventures

    • Thanks, see if can arrange it.

    • There are tours that do Kuranda and Hartley's, would have been prefect, but for some reason they are not running this time of the year.

      • +1

        It's the start of the wet season and February is the low time for tourism. I actually went in mid-Feb 2020. Very very humid.

  • +1

    Good places for a low cost feed, Cairns RSL, Coast Roast Coffee (opposite Maca's waterfront), Palm Cove Surf Club, Trinity Beach Hotel, Courthouse Hotel Port Douglas (huge markets opposite each Sundays).

  • How's Cairns Night Market? Worth checking it out?

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