Cairns Trip in August

Hi, I am a 21F living in San Francisco. I will be in Australia visiting family in August, and I thought I would do a solo trip to Cairns. I don't plan on driving, so I hope to use local transport to get around. Here is what I have compiled so far. I would love to get your opinion and suggestions on which days it seems appropriate to do these activities and the most convenient way to get there. Thank you so much!

August 16

Arrive in Cairns + check into the hostel.

Explore the Cairns Esplanade and Lagoon.

Evening: Dinner and nightlife

August 17 - Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelling, diving, or glass-bottom boat tours.

Evening: Return to Cairns.

August 18 - Kuranda Village and Skyrail

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to Kuranda.
Explore Kuranda Village + Kuranda Koala Gardens.
Return via Kuranda Scenic Railway.

Evening: Relax at the hostel or explore local nightlife.

August 19 - Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation

Daintree Rainforest + Cape Tribulation tour.

Evening: Return to Cairns.

August 20 - Fitzroy Island

Ferry to Fitzroy Island (depart from Cairns Marina).
Hiking, snorkelling, visit Turtle Rehabilitation Centre.

Afternoon: Return to Cairns.

Evening: Free time in Cairns.

August 21 - Crystal Cascades and Palm Cove

Crystal Cascades: Swim and explore the cascades.
Afternoon: Half-day trip to Palm Cove (accessible by public bus or car).

Evening: Return to Cairns.

August 22 - Atherton Tablelands

Atherton Tablelands: Visit waterfalls (Millaa Millaa Falls, Josephine Falls), lakes, and rainforests.

Evening: Return to Cairns.

August 23 - Port Douglas

Explore the town, and visit Four Mile Beach and Wildlife Habitat.

Evening: Return to Cairns, and explore Cairns Night Markets.

August 24 - Magnetic Island

Early start to catch the ferry to Magnetic Island from Townsville
Explore the island, hiking, snorkelling, and visiting wildlife parks.

Evening: Return to Cairns.

August 25 - Fly back to Melbourne.

in AskAnAustralianby profTrelawney0_0

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ArkPlayer583

As someone who worked in tourism in the region, this is probably one of the best travel plans I've seen, it's all completely reasonable and well researched. Few tips from doing most of this:

Great barrier, snorkel or dive, glass bottoms kind of underwhelming. You are outside of stinger season so it should be great.
Take the train up and the skyrail back, the towns nice, but there isn't thaaat much stuff to do and it gives you the option of leaving whenever you want (skyrail is constant, trains at a specific time). When I lived in the region (2020) there was a french crepe place in the local market I would highly, highly recommend.
Really take in the daintree. It's the worst oldest rainforest, two world heritage sites side by side and the highest concentration of plant life globally.
Port douglas (my old home), north side of 4 mile is a hike to a lookout, absolutely worth it the views are great and usually there's something going on out at see to look at, Salsa bar and grill was the best food for lunch (many close contenters), if you drink the brewery hemmingways in the afternnon as the big ships are all coming back in from the reef is an absolute vibe.

You are going to have a busy, yet awesome time!

PeterDuttonsButtWipe

Some of these can be done as a day trip

Some of it is full on, especially with no driving

The stuff you’re choosing is good but you aren’t leaving much time otherwise

You’ll struggle on 19, 20, 22 in particular. You might want to consider overnight stays there. There’s also other things on the way to do as well. Recommend Hartleys Croc Farm (Wangetti), even going past Pt Douglas and going to Mossman and Gorge and enjoying scenery at Wonga Beach

iilinga

Not sure anymore. Lets go with QLD

Question, Aug 23 you’re in Cairns but Aug 24 you’re catching the ferry to magnetic island from Townsville. How does that work?

KatTheTumbleweed

I was going to ask the same thing. You would need to drive or fly to Townsville from Cairns to get to Maggie Island. Also - it’s nice but not that worth it. I’d add more time on exploring the Daintree

NotNobody_Somebody

Yeah, that's a 4hr drive. Might need to rethink that one.

[deleted]

Used to live in Cairns, I don’t think there are any PT buses that stop at the crystal cascades car park, and it’s a pretty decent walk to it from the redlynch shops

ThunderGuts64

You will go everywhere and see nothing. Where you are spending a day, I would spend at least 4.

Maybe see less appreciate longer