Cairns: the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef

The most convenient departure point to reach the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns also offers within the city a waterfront designed to compensate for the absence of swimmable beaches near downtown.

Great Barrier Reef excursions must be booked in advance, as they occupy the entire day.

Boats for the Great Barrier Reef depart every morning from the city dock toward floating pontoons offshore, from which snorkeling or guided diving is possible above the corals.

The Esplanade Lagoon, a free saltwater pool built along the waterfront, replaces the city beach, made uninviting by tidal mudflats and the seasonal presence of dangerous jellyfish.

The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, a cable car over seven kilometers long above the UNESCO World Heritage rainforest, leads to the hilltop village of Kuranda with intermediate stops on observation platforms suspended among the trees.

The Cairns Aquarium recreates ecosystems ranging from freshwater mountain streams of the interior to the depths of the barrier reef, with tanks dedicated to species endemic to Northern Queensland.

The Esplanade Lagoon exists only because the sea in front of Cairns doesn't lend itself to swimming: few cities build their own public pool precisely to bypass the ocean that surrounds them.

That same ocean, a short boat ride away, holds one of the most spectacular ecosystems on the planet—a contrast that Cairns lives with daily without much thought.