2-Day Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest Tour from Cairns

About This Experience

This package from Billy Tea Safaris joins the two trips most people come to Far North Queensland for. You book the reef cruise as your first date, then contact the operator to choose the day for the rainforest tour. The two days do not need to run back to back, which leaves room for a rest day or a weather reshuffle in between.

Reef day starts at the Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns, with check-in between 7:15am and 7:45am. The boat heads for two Outer Great Barrier Reef sites with about five hours of reef time between them, snorkel gear, flotation devices and a lycra sun suit included, and lessons for anyone new to it. Lunch on board is a barbecue with seafood, prawns, steak and salads, and the ride home comes with a glass of wine, cheese, biscuits and fruit. Transfers are not part of this day, so either walk to the terminal or pay the operator to add them.

Rainforest day is the guided half of the package, with pickup from Cairns, the Northern Beaches or Port Douglas. It opens with tea, coffee and biscuits before a one-hour Daintree River cruise looking for crocodiles and birds, then an elevated boardwalk walk with the driver-guide, lunch, a freshwater swim, time on Cape Tribulation Beach and a tropical fruit ice cream at the Daintree Ice-Creamery. You cross the Daintree River by ferry on the way home.

It suits visitors with limited days in Cairns who want the reef and the rainforest sorted in one booking, and families with teens who can manage two long days. Mossman Gorge is not on this rainforest itinerary, so if the gorge matters to you, look at a day tour that includes it. Reef days are weather-dependent, and recent guests mention a reef cruise cancelled for weather and a big, busy boat.

Highlights

• Snorkel two separate Outer Great Barrier Reef sites in one day
• Watch for estuarine crocodiles and birdlife on an hour-long Daintree River cruise
• Follow your driver-guide along an elevated boardwalk through the rainforest
• Cool off with a freshwater swim in the heart of the Daintree
• Walk Cape Tribulation Beach, where rainforest runs down to the reef coast
• Pick your own rainforest date after the reef day, with no need for consecutive days

What's Included

• ✓ Full-day Outer Reef cruise with about 5 hours of reef time at 2 locations
• ✓ Snorkelling equipment, flotation devices and lycra sun-suit hire
• ✓ Barbecue lunch on the reef day, plus wine, cheese, biscuits and fruit on the way back
• ✓ Roundtrip transfers and live commentary from an eco-accredited driver-guide on the rainforest day
• ✓ 1-hour Daintree River cruise with tea, coffee and biscuits beforehand
• ✓ Rainforest-day lunch, freshwater swim, Cape Tribulation Beach and a Daintree ice cream

Not Included

• Accommodation
• Transfers on the reef day (can be added at extra cost)

What to Bring

• Swimwear
• Change of clothes
• Hat
• Comfortable clothes
• Closed-toe shoes

Good to Know & Caveats

• Book the reef cruise as your first date, then contact the operator to set the rainforest day; the two days need not be consecutive.
• Reconfirm your booking directly with the operator 48 hours before travel.
• Reef day check-in is 7:15am to 7:45am at the Reef Fleet Terminal, Cairns, unless you add paid transfers.
• Rainforest-day pickup covers Cairns, the Northern Beaches and Port Douglas, but guests staying on Cairns Southside make their own way to the operator's office at 287 Draper Street, Parramatta Park.
• Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free lunches are available; large bags and luggage are not allowed.

Meeting Point

Reef day starts at the Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns; rainforest day includes pickup from Cairns, the Northern Beaches or Port Douglas.