← Cairns Marathon·Day trip

Green Island: The Reef Without the Hard Work

A 45-minute catamaran to a flat coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef, where a glass-bottom boat shows the coral while tired legs stay seated.

DurationDay trip
TransitAbout 45 min by catamaran from the Reef Fleet Terminal
DepartsReef Fleet Terminal, Cairns

After the Cairns Marathon: Green Island

The Route: Reef Fleet Terminal → Green Island → Reef Fleet Terminal Logistics: Great Adventures catamaran both ways. 27 km offshore to a coral cay and back the same day. Marathon Month: July Duration: Day trip

Reef Fleet Terminal, Cairns ──(about 45 mins catamaran, 27 km)──> Green Island
            ▲                                                          │
            └────────────────(about 45 mins return catamaran)──────────┘

The Cairns Marathon finishes at Fogarty Park on the Esplanade, and the Reef Fleet Terminal is a short, flat walk south along the waterfront to the marina. Of all the ways onto the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns, Green Island asks least of post-marathon legs: a short crossing, a small flat island and a glass-bottom boat that shows the coral without anyone getting wet.

July on the reef: the middle of the dry season, with warm days, lower humidity than summer and, in most years, calmer seas than in the wet months. Conditions offshore still vary from day to day, so check the forecast the evening before. July is outside the main marine stinger season, though operators advise on current precautions and hire stinger suits for anyone snorkelling.

Great Adventures runs the Green Island trips from the Reef Fleet Terminal. The crossing takes about 45 minutes on an air-conditioned catamaran, with the earliest departures around 08:30 and the last returns around 17:30. Adult fares start at about A$112 (£59) for the ferry alone. The Eco Tour at about A$127 (£67) adds snorkelling equipment and a glass-bottom boat trip, and the Discovery Tour at about A$156 (£83) is the fullest package. A Great Barrier Reef environmental management charge of A$8.50 a person and a fuel surcharge are added. Book the day before; prices are a guide only.

The Island

Green Island is a small coral cay, part of a national park inside the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. It is flat from end to end. A shaded rainforest boardwalk crosses the middle of the island, which is the place to be in the middle of the day, and sandy beaches ring the edge.

The glass-bottom boat is the recovery-day way to see the reef. It leaves from the island's jetty and involves stepping on and sitting down. The lagoon off the beach is calm and shallow, so snorkelling from the shore is possible for anyone who wants it, but there is no obligation to get in the water at all.

Green Island Resort has a restaurant and a café open to day visitors, along with showers and changing rooms, which makes a long lunch in the shade the natural centre of the day.

Getting Back

Return catamarans run through the afternoon to the Reef Fleet Terminal. Take one an hour or two before the last boat: sun and salt air after a marathon are more tiring than they seem, and the terminal is a few minutes' walk from the central hotels on the Esplanade.