Cairns Travel Tips

In this page you will find practical information to plan a scuba diving trip to Cairns:

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Cairns is a great city located in the North West of Queensland in Australia. Cairns is famous for its proximity of the Great Barrier Reef, making it an attractive spot for divers. In fact, most of the liveaboards cruises which explore the Great Barrier Reef start from Cairns.

It is also fast becoming one of the hot spots in the world for scuba diving courses and is where the largest number of divers in the world get their Padi Open Water certification!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eguidetravel/2920392008/

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world and stretches over 2000km! It is home of fabulous array of biodiversity, fantastic coral and crystal clear water. That is why it is now one of the Top scuba diving destinations in the World!

Activities and excursions in Cairns

Cairns is a major tourist destination in Australia and has a wide range of activities to offer. You can for example:

• Try White water Rafting, Bungy Jumping or Sky Diving!
• Learn Kite surfing
• Go trekking in the Jungle
• Go see a Rugby or Cricket Game
• Visit the Daintree National Park to discover the amazing local Fauna

How to get to Cairns?

Cairns is very popular with tourists, making it a cosmopolitan city filled with visitors coming from all over the world. It is very easily accessible via the following options:

Plane

Cairns International Airport is an important airport with many connections to the main cities in Australia and in Southeast Asia. It is located only 7km North of the city centre and is easily reachable by bus (7 dollars) and by taxi for 15 dollars (about 10 minutes). A shuttle is also available to reach Port Douglas.

As Australia is so huge (two times the size of Europe!), the most common way to travel is by plane and there are many good domestic airlines like Jetstar, Tiger Airways, Virgin Australia and Quantas offering cheap flights to Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Darwin.

International airlines include Air New Zealand to Auckland, the excellent Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Jetstar with flights to Singapore, Osaka and Tokyo. Continental Airlines also offers flights to Guam.

Train

The Train station is right in the city centre just next to the shore, which is convenient as this is where most of the hotels are. However the distances to cover are huge and travelling by train can be very slow in Australia. For example it takes 32 hours just to get from Cairns to Brisbane!

Bus

The main bus company is Greyhound which offers cheap rates to several destinations in the country.

Car

Travelling by car is an experience in itself in Australia and you can make a superb road trip along the East coast. Many travellers staying in Australia for an extended time actually buy a van and travel throughout the whole country. However, Australia is a really huge country and driving from one place to another can take days! It is possible to rent a car at Cairns Airport.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/84326652/

Getting Around

Cairns is not a huge city and if you stay around the city centre you can easily walk everywhere. If you want to go to the suburbs or to the beaches, you should take a Sunbus bus. They usually start at the Market square. If you want to feel more free and visit the surroundings, consider renting a car at the airport or in the city centre.

Where to stay?

Being a very touristy city, Cairns offers a wide range of accommodation to suit all tastes. Most of them are dedicated to backpackers with numerous hostels and budget hotels where you can get a room for about 15 dollars. There are also comfortable hotels and high end luxury places to stay.

Scuba diving

You will find all information about sea life, best time to visit, top dive spots, etc. in our review: Cairns Diving