Holiday in Cairns

elliott550

Hi,

I'm taking myself up to Cairns for a week and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for things to do and see? Also if anyone had any accommodation recommendations that would be great. Thanks!

amybabes

Hi there.

Cairns itself is pretty small!

If you have a full week, my recommendations would be:

1 x full day - do a boat trip out to great barrier reef. I've been out to the GBR from airlie beach/hamilton island and from cairns and the water was much clearer up by cairns/ reef was much more colourful. Do a dive or snorkel - amazing experience.
This is the company we went with and couldnt say enough good things about them: http://www.passions.com.au - $149 includes meals which were really good.

1 x full day - go white water rafting. Wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did - to date it has been one of my favourite things we have done in Australia. We went on a trip on the river barron, 1/2 hr from cairns, which was only a half day trip but took up most of the day with travelling etc. Really really enjoyed it, if you can go a full day i'd really recommend it. River Tully is 2 hours away and higher grades of rapids so if going again i'd do that.

We were only there on a long weekend so we chilled out one day by the hotel pool and the lagoon, and then the last day we didnt have much time due to an early flight.

Alot of other people do skydives, go to the Daintree forest, Cabe Tribulation, Port Douglas etc (which is all in the vicinity).

Regards accomm. - we stayed in the holiday inn - think it was about $149 a night. 4 star hotel. Depending on what your budget is, there are a few nice hostels up there with pools etc. Main one being Gilligans which is one of the main night life options in Cairns too - depending on what you're after really

irishmover

Daintree, cape tribulation definitely.

Also captain cook highway which leads up to port Douglas and the afformentioned. Best drive ever! Except if you're the driver ofcourse. Look out or the paraglyders along the way aswell.

Squ

Karunda was nice, though we're a bit older..
http://www.ksr.com.au/Pages/Default.aspx
Cable car back down was excellent

An overnight in port douglas is a good option, can then use that as your base for gbr and cape trib.

As mentioned, gilligans is a good hostel

LaHaine

As regards accomodation, id stronfly recommend the northern greenhouse hostel. Bit more chilled out than gillugans but close to everything. Best of both worlds!

Cooperspale

+1 for going out to the reef

Either snorkel or if you're game try a pleasure dive. You probably don't have enough time to do a dive course but it's a great way to spend 3 days or so... living onboard for a couple of days out on the reef.
You could also do a boat trip to Green island or Fitzroy island, they're only about a half hour trip from Cairns.
The reef is a lot quicker to get to up here than from Airlie beach etc and the visibility tends to be a lot better though obviously if a storm blows through, it will muddy up the coral.
If you're of the paler persuasion, wear a tee when snorkelling or you'll be sorry.

Rafting is excellent, especially the Tully. The grades of rapids depend on rainfall so it's probably not at its highest right now but still a great day out.

Kuranda is nice, you can get there by skyrail or scenic railway or do a bit of both. The railway line was built by hand and included many Irish workers, it must have been a woeful hard slog at the time.

Cape Tribulation is another great thing to go and see. You could spend a few days up there exploring if you like your hikes and treks.

Port Douglas, yes, a nice drive up the coast; it has a different type of tourist compared to Cairns, a lot more moneyed etc

Atheron Tablelands, you can do the waterfall circuit. Millaa Millaa is the most visited and its very refreshing after hiking about. You're supposed to be able to see platypus as it gets dusk but you could be waiting.

So there's quite a bit to do and you'll need some $$ to do it

statina

Check out travelzoo.com.au- 50% off 4star hotels in port douglas and palm cove for the next 48 hrs.

Go to the Mosmon Gorge, lovely place for a swim. It's about half hr from Port Douglas. Lake Eachem in the Atherton Tablelands is gorgeous as well

We stayed in Tropical Delight hostel in Cairns, by far the nicest hostel I've stayed in Australia

elliott550

Thank you for all the tips. Flying out tomorrow, really looking forward to the break in the end opted to stay in a private room at the Northern Green House hostel. Havn't booked any excursions yet, but def going to the barrier reef and perhaps the rafting.

Thanks again.

whatsyourquota

elliott550 wrote: »

Thank you for all the tips. Flying out tomorrow, really looking forward to the break in the end opted to stay in a private room at the Northern Green House hostel. Havn't booked any excursions yet, but def going to the barrier reef and perhaps the rafting.

Thanks again.

Tully river is closed for october so no rafting think you can do it on the barron but its not meant to be as good