We are stopping in Cairns en route to Bali at end of June, will be in Cairns for 8 hours in total. Is there anything that we can do to fill our time other than sitting at the beach?
Many thanks all!
PS Mother and 15yr old son travelling!
Things to Do Whilst on Stop over in Cairns
Comments
There isn't much of a beach at Cairns, it's muddy. People swim in the outdoor pool instead to avoid the crocs and jellyfish. 8 hours is not much, perhaps you could make a trip to downtown to see the esplanade and have a meal.
Yorkeys Knob
Walk along Esplanade is the realistic option with many cafes and restaurants. If you're really organised could even get a half-day boat trip to great barrier reef and even snorkel/scuba dive. Might be tight but should be doable in 8 hours.
Get the cablecar to Kuranda over the top of the rainforest and get the train back down, would be a nice way to spend the afternoon and will still leave a couple of hours to relax up in Kuranda. http://www.kuranda.org/getting-here/skyrail-rainforest-cable…
How about Skyrail? https://www.skyrail.com.au/
It's about 10 minutes drive from the airport. And I think there's a shuttle bus from there.
The Skyrail itself is a 2.5 hours round trip.
I had a good experience finding discounted activities in Cairns using
https://www.bookme.com.au/things-to-do/cairns-port-douglas/h…
and https://www.experienceoz.com.au/en/cairnsMostly they full day tours but there are a few shorter activities in there that might fit the right times
Transition between domestic and international terminals? There's a few-minutes walk between the 2 terminals and you might need to collect your bags from domestic and check back in to international. This was how it was for us a couple of years ago and we hadn't factored this in (things may be different now).
If you really want to hit the town, I think it's about 10 mins by cab, although there may be shuttles.
Nevertheless, bon voyage. Have a safe and awesome holiday.
As greenpossum says, most people go to the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon. Not much else in Cairns. They sometimes have music in the park next door.
Ironman
There is a cable ski park which is loads of fun…
About 20mins away from downtown, so depends if you're willing to hire a care/ Uber or not.
If not, downtown is nice to walk along the esplanade, see the boats, parks, and relax in the 'free public lagoon'
Hire a car for around $40. Drive along the scenic coast towards Port Douglas and grab a beer, or visit Mossman Gorge and have a swim, or do both.
sit at the bar.
cairns international airport is pretty lame