Cairns Tours

Roughly November to May. Box jellyfish and irukandji are present in coastal waters through those months, so beaches using stinger nets and suits are recommended. The islands and outer reef carry lower risk, and full stinger suits are standard on reef trips through the season.

Estuarine crocodiles live in the creeks, mangroves and river mouths around Cairns, and they are the reason you never swim in an estuary or unpatrolled waterway in far north Queensland. They are not in the Esplanade lagoon or out at the reef islands. Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures ($125) is where you see them safely.

Not really. The city centre is walkable, and almost everything worth seeing, the reef, Kuranda, the Daintree, the Atherton Tablelands, Green and Fitzroy Islands, is either offshore or a day trip that a tour covers with hotel pickup. A car sits in a hotel car park for most of a reef holiday.

May to October, the dry season: 25 to 29 degrees, low humidity, calm water and clear reef visibility. November to April is hot, humid and wet, with cheaper rates and greener rainforest. Cyclone risk sits in that window too. Tours run all year.

Green Island ($120) is a small coral cay 45 minutes out, with reef right off the beach and a walk around the whole island in half an hour. Fitzroy Island ($104) is a bigger continental island with rainforest walks, a beach of coral rubble and better hiking. Green for snorkelling, Fitzroy for walking.

Cairns has the airport, the marina where most reef boats leave, more accommodation and cheaper food. Port Douglas is quieter, prettier and closer to the Daintree by about an hour. If you are doing reef and rainforest day trips, Cairns is the practical base.

The Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree are the two headline acts, and they are the only place on earth where two World Heritage sites meet. Closer in, Kuranda by Skyrail and Scenic Rail ($210) and the Atherton Tablelands waterfalls ($225) are the scenic drawcards.

About 45 minutes by catamaran from the Cairns marina. Fitzroy Island is a similar run.

Reef-safe sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, swimmers and a towel for island and reef trips, and a light rain jacket in the wet season. Closed shoes for the Tablelands and Kuranda. The far north sun is stronger than it feels on the boat.