Great Barrier Reef
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Great Barrier Reef - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Airlie Beach Lagoon
Hugely popular with locals and visitors, especially in stinger season, this stinger-free swimming enclosure on Airlie's shorefront has dedicated lap-swimming lanes, real-sand "beaches," adjoining children's pools, and sensor-activated lighting after dark. There are toilets, showers, and change rooms nearby, and all pools are patrolled by trained lifeguards year-round. Surrounding the lagoon are a children's playground and a tropical garden, crisscrossed with walkways and dotted with public art, picnic tables, and free electric barbecues. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; showers; toilets. Best for: swimming.
The Esplanade, Airlie Beach, Queensland, 4800, Australia07-4945–0200-Whitsunday Council -
2. Mossman Gorge
Just 5 km (3 miles) outside Mossman are the spectacular waterfalls and swimming-hole-studded river that tumble through sheer-walled Mossman Gorge. The Kuku Yalanji–run Mossman Gorge Centre is the starting point for various walks, tours, and activities. There are several boulder-studded, croc-free swimming holes within the gorge, and a 2½-km (1½-mile) rain-forest walking track and suspension bridge. (Swimming in the river itself is hazardous, crocs or not, due to swift currents, slippery rocks, and flash flooding.) Keep your eyes peeled for tree and musky rat-kangaroos, Boyd's water dragons, scrub fowl, turtles, and big, bright butterflies—and try to avoid stinging vines (plants with serrated-edge, heart-shaped leaves, found at rain-forest edges). If you intend to hike beyond the river and rain-forest circuits, inform the information desk staff at the Mossman Gorge Centre, which also has café/restaurant, gift shop, Indigenous art gallery, restrooms, showers, and visitor parking.
View Tours and Activities212r Mossman Gorge Rd., Mossman, Queensland, 4873, Australia07-4099–7000Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free entry to Mossman Gorge Centre; A$12 return bus trip out to gorge; tour prices vary -
3. Reef Teach
CBDKnowledgeable marine biologists and conservationists give entertaining talks and multimedia presentations, usually to packed houses, about everything Great Barrier Reef–related, from sea turtles' sleep cycles to coral-killing starfish. Expect to learn more than you thought possible about the reef's evolution and the diverse inhabitants of this delicate marine ecosystem. The attached Marine Shop sells an array of reef-themed merchandise: T-shirts, DVDs, books, field guides, and souvenirs. Sign up for a Reef Teach seat by midday.
Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia07-4031–7794Sight Details
Rate Includes: A$23, Shows Tues.–Sat. 6:30–8:30, Closed Tues., Thurs., weekends -
4. Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
SmithfieldFrom the Skyrail terminal just north of Cairns, take a six-person cable car on a breathtaking 7½-km (5-mile) journey across pristine, World Heritage–listed rain-forest canopy to the highland village of Kuranda, where you can visit wildlife parks and shop for local crafts and Aboriginal art. At two stations along the way, you can hop off and explore (the Skyrail ticket price includes a short ranger-guided rain-forest tour at Red Peak, and there's an info center and lookout at Barron Falls). Upgrade your ticket to the glass floor Diamond View Gondola for an even better view. The cableway base station is 15 km (9 miles) north of Cairns. Many visitors take the Scenic Railway to Kuranda, the cableway on the return trip.
View Tours and Activities6 Skyrail Dr., Cairns, Queensland, 4878, Australia07-4038–5555Sight Details
Rate Includes: From A$57 -
5. The Strand
Dubbed Australia's Cleanest Beach, this palm-flanked stretch of sand—lined with jogging tracks and cycleways, picnic-friendly parklands, and hip beachfront bars—has two swimming enclosures and a long pier perfect for fishing. The beach and its permanent swimming enclosure, Strand Rock Pool, are fitted with temporary nets during box-jellyfish season, November through May. There's also a free, kid-friendly Strand Water Park. All are patrolled by lifeguards daily, with hours varying seasonally. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; toilets. Best for: swimming.
The Strand, Townsville, Queensland, 4870, Australia134--810-Townsville City Council -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Wildlife Habitat
This world-class wildlife sanctuary just off the Captain Cook Highway is divided into "immersion" wetland, rain forest, grassland, and savanna habitats, enabling close creature encounters with everything from koalas to cassowaries and crocs. The park shelters more than 180 species of native wildlife in its 8-acre expanse, including technicolor parrots, emus, kangaroos, echidnas, and reptiles. The breakfast with the birds, served daily 9–10:30 am, is accompanied by avian residents so tame they'll perch on your shoulders—and may steal your food if you're distracted. You can also lunch with the lorikeets from 12:30 daily, then join one of the sanctuary's free expert-guided tours, held several times daily. For something even more special book the nocturnal tour (A$43) or a two-hour animal and dining package (A$170).
Port Douglas Rd., Port Douglas, Queensland, 4877, Australia07-4099–3235Sight Details
Rate Includes: From A$38 -
7. Billabong Sanctuary
This eco-friendly, interactive sanctuary on 22 acres of bushland shelters koalas, wombats, dingoes, wallabies, endangered bilbies, snakes, crocodiles, lizards, and numerous birds, most featuring in daily wildlife shows, presentations, and feedings. The sanctuary has daily free-flight birds of prey shows, crocodile and cassowary feedings, venomous snake presentations, and turtle racing. Visitors can snap a selfie with a koala, or have their photo taken holding a wombat, snake, or baby croc. Thrill-seekers can book a personal croc-feeding experience, with or without souvenir photo.
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8. Cairns Art Gallery
CBDOccupying the impressive former Public Office Building constructed in the 1930s, Cairns Art Gallery houses a hodgepodge of local, national, international, and Indigenous artworks, including a fine collection of Australian photography, in its wood-paneled rooms. The shop stocks high-quality Australian giftware, toys, jewelry, prints, books, and cards. There are also kids' programs, classes, talks, and workshops.
Shields St. at Abbott St., Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia07-4046–4800Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
9. Conway National Park
Ten minutes' drive southeast of Airlie, Conway National Park is a 54,000-acre expanse of mangroves, woodlands, rocky cliffs, and tropical lowland rain forest that shelters the endangered Proserpine rock wallaby and other rare species, as well as sulfur-crested cockatoos, emerald doves, Australian bush-turkeys, and orange-footed scrubfowl. Most walking trails start at the park's picnic area at the end of Forestry Road, about 10 km (6 miles) from Airlie. Mount Rooper Walking Track, a 5.4-km (3-mile) circuit, meanders uphill through bushland to a lookout with breathtaking Whitsundays views. If time permits, and you're sufficiently fit, you can cycle, run, or walk the 27-km (17-mile) Conway circuit, starting at Forestry Road carpark and ending in Airlie Beach. Swamp Bay track follows the creek to a coral-strewn beach with a bush camping area.
Shute Harbour Rd., Airlie Beach, Queensland, 4802, Australia137--468Sight Details
Rate Includes: Camping permits, A$7 per person, per night, Camping permits must be prebooked -
10. Daintree Discovery Centre
This World Heritage–accredited Wet Tropics Visitor Centre's elevated boardwalks and a high viewing tower enable you to overlook an astoundingly diverse tract of ancient rain forest. You can acquire information en route from handheld audio guides, expert talks, and the on-site interpretative center. Four audio-guided trails include a Bush Tucker Trail and a Cassowary Circuit, on which you might spot one of these large but well-camouflaged birds. Take the Aerial Walkway across part of the bush, then the stairs to the top of the 76-foot-high Canopy Tower. Keen students of botany and ecology might want to prebook a guided group tour. The shop sells books, cards, souvenirs, and clothing. There's also an on-site café.
Tulip Oak Rd., Cow Bay, Queensland, 4873, Australia07-4098–9171Sight Details
Rate Includes: A$37 (includes 68-page guidebook/return entry for 7 days) -
11. Hamilton Island Wildlife
This charming wildlife sanctuary houses kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, dingoes, birds, and reptiles, including a resident croc. Guided tours run daily, at 10 am and 3 pm, and there are daily breakfasts with the koalas.
1 Resort Dr., Hamilton Island, Queensland, 4802, Australia07-4946–9078-sanctuarySight Details
Rate Includes: From A$30 -
12. Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
Hartley's houses thousands of crocodiles as well as koalas, wallabies, quolls, snakes, lizards, southern cassowaries, and tropical birds in natural environs, accessible via boardwalks and boat tours. A lagoon cruise, on which keepers feed big crocs at close range, is included in your entry price. There are daily cassowary, wallaby, quoll, and koala feedings, croc and snake shows, and croc farm tours. Most thrilling is the "Big Croc Feed," a private tour for up to four people. It's your chance to handle squirming baby crocs and pole-feed gigantic ones, and includes a guided tour and commemorative photo. Lily's Bistro showcases local delicacies, including crocodile, of course. If you don't feel like driving, several Cairns-based tour operators include Hartley's on their day-tour itineraries.
View Tours and ActivitiesCaptain Cook Hwy., Wangetti, Queensland, 4879, Australia07-4055–3576Sight Details
Rate Includes: Entry from A$43 -
13. Museum of Tropical Queensland
Centuries-old relics from the HMS Pandora (the ship sent by the British Admiralty to capture the mutinous Bounty crew), which sank in 1791 carrying 14 crew members of Captain Bligh's infamous ship, are among the exhibits at this repository of the region's maritime, natural, and Indigenous history. There's a fun introduction to North Queensland's culture and lifestyle, a shipwreck exhibit, and the ecology-focused Enchanted Rainforest. Displays of tropical wildlife, dinosaur fossils, local corals, and deep-sea creatures round out a diverse public collection.
70–102 Flinders St. E, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia07-4726–0600Sight Details
Rate Includes: A$15 -
14. Paronella Park
A sprawling Spanish-style castle and gardens grace this offbeat National Trust site in the Mena Creek Falls rain forest. Explore the park on a self-guided botanical walk or 30-minute guided tour, enjoy Devonshire tea on the café's deck, buy local crafts, and cool off under a 40-foot waterfall. On hour-long flashlight-lit evening tours starting nightly at 6:15, you might spot eels, water dragons, fireflies, and glowworms. Allow at least three hours to explore.
1671 Japoonvale Rd. (Old Bruce Hwy.), Mena Creek, Queensland, 4871, Australia07-4065–0000Sight Details
Rate Includes: A$50 -
15. Queens Gardens
North WardOffering shade and serenity less than a mile from the CBD, Townsville's colonial-era botanic gardens occupies 10 verdant acres at the base of Castle Hill. Bordered by frangipani (plumeria) and towering Moreton Bay fig trees, whose unique dangling roots veil the entry to the grounds, the gardens are a wonderful place to picnic, stroll, or amuse the kids. There are play areas, a hedge maze, formal rose garden, fountains, and a lovely rain-forest walk. A compact aviary houses bright-plumed peacocks, lorikeets, and sulfur-crested cockatoos.
Gregory St. at Paxton St., Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia1300-878--001-toll-free in AustraliaSight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
16. Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park
CavaronicaAt the base of the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, this park offers many opportunities to learn about indigenous Djabugay people through exhilarating dance performances, hands-on workshops in traditional fire-making, spear and boomerang throwing, arts and crafts, didgeridoo lessons, and talks on bush tucker and natural medicines. You can buy Aboriginal artworks, artifacts, and instruments (including didgeridoos) at the retail gallery on-site; café fare, buffet lunches, and dinners are also available. One of Australia's most informative cultural attractions, it's also one of the few that returns profits to the indigenous community. Ticket options include Tjapukai by Day and Tjapukai by Night, the latter a nightly four-course buffet dinner/performance package.
View Tours and ActivitiesCairns Western Arterial Rd.- 07 - 4042–9999Sight Details
Rate Includes: From A$62. Transfers from A$28, Daily 9–5, night show 7–9:30 pm -
17. Townsville Town Common Conservation Park
PallarendaSpot wallabies, echidnas, dingoes, goannas, and hundreds of bird species at this terrific wetlands conservation park crisscrossed by walking and biking trails, and dotted with bird blinds and a wildlife-viewing tower. You can take the easy, hour-long Forest Walk to see kingfishers and honey-eaters, the Pallarenda to Tegoora Rock circuit for wetlands overviews, or several other walking and biking trails (with estimated walk times ranging from 30 minutes to five hours). The 5-km (3-mile), two-plus-hour-long trail from Bald Rock to Mount Marlowl is worth the uphill trek for the glorious regional panorama at the summit. Most trails start from Bald Rock parking lot, 7 km (4½ miles) from the park entrance on unpaved roads.
Freshwater Lagoon Rd., Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia07-4721–3660-Townsville Tourist Information -
18. Undara Experience
This extraordinary complex on the edge of Undara Volcanic National Park, 275 km (171 miles) or a four-hour scenic drive or rail trip from Cairns, supplies the complete Outback experience: bush breakfasts, campfire activities, lava-tube tours, and guided evening wildlife walks, plus a range of distinctive accommodation. Vintage railway cars have been converted into comfortable (if compact), fan-cooled motel rooms with their own en suites. You can also stay in a modern, air-conditioned "Pioneer Hut" with private veranda, fridge, and bathroom (A$195 per night in high season), in a safari tent; or at a powered or unpowered site with shared amenities. One-night "budget" self-drive packages that incorporate tours, campfire activities, and swag-tent accommodation cost A$217 per person in high season, with meals; or from A$321 per person with swankier accommodation. Two-night packages including meals, rail-carriage or Pioneer Hut accommodation, and tours range cost A$497 per person in high season. Other packages include transfers to and from Cairns via coach or on heritage train The Savannahlander. Drink and dine on-site at Fettler's Iron Pot Bistro; breakfast at the Ringers' Camp.
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19. Wallaman Falls
Surrounding the highest sheer-drop waterfall in Australia is glorious Girringun National Park, in which ancient rain forests accessible via scenic walking trails shelter rare plants and animals that include the endangered southern cassowary, platypus, and musky rat-kangaroo. You might also spot eastern water dragons, saw-shelled turtles, and crocodiles here. The park is the start of the Wet Tropics Great Walk, suitable for experienced hikers. For day-trippers, there are two spectacular lookouts and some scenic short walks, such as the 45-minute Banggurru circuit along Stony Creek's bank, or the steeper, two-hour walk to the base of the falls.
Lava Plains Mount Fox Rd., Queensland, 4810, Australia137--468-ParksQ infolineSight Details
Rate Includes: Free
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