nancymaat

As usual, I'm coming to this website for advise as we plan our next vacation. My family will be traveling from San Francisco to Sydney for 8 days the first week of September.(Arrive 6am on Saturday and leave at noon the following Sunday)We are a family of 3. Our little one is 3 years old. We love the outdoors. The husband hopes to try scuba dive once. The little one loves animals. So far,we've settled on the fact that we'll have to come back another time and we want to fly to Cairns for the GBR. Question is should we split the days equally between the two cities? How much time should we plan to spend in the airport?Does Australia have long security process for domestic flights? Given that San Francisco has great coastal views, does it make more sense to spend more time in Sydney versus Cairns? help. Many thanks in advance.

longhorn55

Having done this trip a few times, this is what I would recommend:

1. If possible, get a flight from SFO to CNS. You will probably land in SYD, but customs and immigration will be in CNS, which is easier. If this is not possible, book a flight from SYD to CNS on Saturday. You should be able to get through customs and immigration in 2 hours or less, but let the airlines tell you how much time to allow between flights.
2. Once you get to CNS, get bus transport to Port Douglas which is about 1 hour north of Cairns. (Bus transportation needs to be arranged ahead of time. You won't really need a car in PD for just a few days and the drive from Cairns to PD is curvy, which could be difficult for an American who is jet-lagged.) Cairns doesn't really have a beach and Port Douglas has the lovely Four Mile Beach which all of you, especially your 3-year-old, will love. There is a wide choice of accomodations in PD, but I would look for a serviced apartment which will give you more space than a hotel room and will give you the option to prepare some meals.
3. Spend the rest of Saturday getting over the jet-lag and, if you can, arrange for a trip to the reef. You can do this through your accomodations or in town. They should be able to tell you what the weather will be like for the next few days (you don't want it windy), so that you can choose the best day for a dive.
4. Spend Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in PD visiting the Sunday market in the park, doing a reef tour, having "Breakfast with the Birds" at the Rainforest Habitat, doing a tour to Kuranda or Daintree, spending time on the beach, etc. (FYI, Four Mile Beach is great for kids because the sand is nice and, due to the GBR, is protected from waves.)
5. Fly from Cairns to Sydney on Wednesday. Spend the rest of Wednesday and all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Sydney. Be sure to take the ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Park Zoo. You also might be interested in the animals at Featherdale Nature Park which, I believe, can be reached by bus.
6. We took our daughter to Australia for the first time when she was 3 and we had a great time, so enjoy!

cf5657

Australia has very little security requirements for domestic flights. We were surprised no one ever asked for ID. The international flights have very strict security however. Keep in mind on the diving that depending on how deep you dive you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can fly so plan that accordingly. I'd split the time. The other poster gave a pretty good trip but the drive to Port Douglas is not bad. It gets bad when you head north from Port Douglas up to Cape Tribulation and further, which it then gets really bad as the road isn't sealed/paved. There are some great animal places in Cairns and also in Sydney.

nancymaat

Thanks for these tips. Now the trick is to find a cheap flight. Longhorn55, thanks for providing such a detailed plan. We've been pouring over tourguides and checking out the places you mention and the route. (Sigh)....if only we have more time. We'll definitely have to plan another trip back. Thanks again.