Cairns Mini Guide
Cairns is an Australian city built in an area of natural beauty which is surrounded by rain forest and near to the Great Barrier Reef. Despite having no recognised swimming beaches, this special location has meant that thousands of tourists want to visit the city every year and Cairns has accordingly catered its economy towards tourism.
These international arrivals swell the population of the city which usually stands at 130,000 inhabitants. At the Northern end of the state of Queensland, Cairns attracts so many Japanese tourists annually that many signs in the city are written in their language. If you plan to go diving at the Barrier Reef we offer great value car hire at Cairns Airport which is open to any age of driver and which will get you to the main step off points for trips out onto the reef.
Among the things to do in Cairns is cool off in a huge artificial lagoon which has been constructed for those times when you can’t go in the sea. The months between October and May are known as ‘stinger’ season in Australia when the water is full of deadly box jellyfish. But don’t let anything put you off going scuba diving on the Barrier Reef, one of the world’s natural wonders and the only living thing on earth which is visible from space. You will find many companies who can take you out to the reef by boat and guide you around. Two hours south of Cairns is Mission Beach where you can watch nature, swim or do watersports all in a natural setting.
Cairns has picked up a reputation as being a popular location for adventure sports. Along with diving you will find many places offering white water rafting, sky dives (tandem options too!) and hang gliding. Slightly more sedate but just as exciting are the chances to go hot air ballooning, deep sea fishing (large marlin are often caught there) and sailing.
Flying into Cairns Airport you will be able to pick up your Rhino rental car through major car hire companies such as Europcar, DIY Car Hire, Hertz, Avis Car Hire and Thrifty rental cars. It is possible to get to Cairns Airport from many international destinations. Among them Jetstar has connections with Osaka in Japan,
Auckland is accessible with Air
New Zealand and Cathay Pacific goes to Hong Kong on every other day of the week.
If you want to travel to destinations within Australia there is of course the national airline Qantas which flies to the major cities of
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth as well as the other locations such as
Darwin and the
Gold Coast. Jetstar and Virgin Blue also have domestic flights while Mac Air flies regionally within Queensland to places such as Mount Isa and Townsville.
Cairns in tropical north QLD has many activities on offer. To help you compare and book a list of things to do in Cairns check out Godo.com.au or
visit this page for our guide to Australia.