We were very excited to hear about a new tour to Green Island recently. Any new activity in the Cairns area piques our interest, especially when it’s for a popular destination, and we like to try things out to give personal recommendations.
So I found myself setting a 6am alarm for my usual ‘sleep in’ day to make sure I was up and ready for the boat’s 7am check in time. It might be early but that’s for a good reason – you arrive on the island at 8am way before the other larger ferries do. But I was still quite sleepy!
The boat used by Cairns Adventure Cruises is fast, seriously fast. One large coffee and a 40 knot 30 minute ride on a jet boat later and I arrived on the island a lot more awake and way more enthusiastic.
As we all stepped on to the pier I encountered something I'd never experienced before on the island...serenity. It was completely silent and deserted, a total opposite to the usual craziness I'd felt. Although the Cairns Adventure Cruises boat holds about 20 we had a little group of seven and we were the only souls to be seen. The second we were all offloaded we raced to the beach, eager to make the most of our isolation and get started snorkelling as soon as we could.
The rest of our group, despite being Aussies from the Gold Coast, totally freaked out and left the water when we spotted a shark. My reaction? To chase it with my Go Pro for pictures. Their reaction? To swim to the pier and climb out there rather than swim back to the beach. Nuts, but great for me.
I found a perfect little nemo home, complete with little and large clownfish that kept me occupied for a while. Then while on the lookout for turtles I caught two huge dark shapes out of the corner of my eye and was shocked out of my turtle blindness by a pair of eagle rays swimming along beside me.
In less than an hour I’d seen so many different sea creatures I could have gone home happy! But I was intent on finding at least one turtle and so I followed the rest of our group around to the main beach to try and find one…and found myself bumping in to two of them!
The first was happy to let me swim alongside him/her Go Pro pole outstretched in an attempt to nab a great selfie. I'm a big believer that marine life will let you know when you're not wanted and I've had enough turtles bolt away from me to know when to back off, but my new mate barely deigned to acknowledge my presence.
There's a myth that turtles get a little ‘high’ when they eat seagrass. I've never bought into it but seeing how docile the second turtle I encountered was changed my mind somewhat. His whole world was the patch of grass right in front of him and I could practically hear him 'cowabunga dude'-ing me every time I duck dived down. He even tried to give the Go Pro a nibble and I ended up with a few pretty funny shots right up his nose!
We also had the chance to visit Marineland Melanesia during the morning. Entry is usually $18 but drops to $15 for Cairns Adventure Cruises customers and is well worth a visit. Not only do they have a host of tribal artefacts but it’s home to Cassius, the biggest croc in captivity! There is plenty of time to catch the croc feeding at 10.30am and it’s great that you can get so close to these magnificent creatures. Getting splashed by the water from a hungry saltie exploding out of the water to grab his brekkie was the perfect way to finish off a fantastic morning!
I absolutely loved my morning on Green Island with Cairns adventure cruises and cannot recommend it more. Let us know if you want more info on the tour or are interested in booking it in during our stay.
For a full write up and lots more potos click HERE.
Important Info:
- The tour is $120 for adults, $65 for kids and $320 for a family.
- Check in is at 7am for a 7.30am departure and you return by 12.15. It gives you approximately 3 ½ hours on the island.
- Tour departs 7 days a week.
- For the non swimmers you can book yourself a glass bottom boat tour with another company for $15.
- This would be great for people prone to seasickness. The journey is short and you get fresh air the whole way!
Online Bookings