I spend a few weeks a year in Palm Cove in glorious Far North Queensland but I had never been to Green Island. We book a “half day” tour with Great Adventures. For AUD$110, our cruise includes snorkel gear hire or a trip on a glass bottomed boat. If you want to do both, you can pay more (AUD$140 per adult) or pay for the other activity at the Dive Shop on Green Island. (Equally, you can pay less - AUD$96 - if you don’t want snorkelling equipment or the glass bottomed boat tour). We choose the snorkelling gear and think that we might take the glass bottomed boat too. As it turns out, we love the snorkelling and lazing on the beach so much that we never bother with the glass bottomed boat.
The catamaran leaves Cairns at 10.30 and then leaves Green Island at 4.30pm. Given that we are staying in Palm Cove (about a half hour drive from Cairns), this means that I can still do a morning beachfront yoga class and have a leisurely start to the day. Who wants to rush on holidays?
Green Island is part of the Inner Great Barrier Reef, lying only 27 kilometres from Cairns. Forty-five minutes by fast catamaran from Cairns and we are on Green Island, a 6,000 year old coral cay. Of the 300 coral cays on the Great Barrier Reef, Green Island is the only one with a rainforest. We snare seats on the open top deck and feel exhilarated as the catamaran zooms across the water. The crossing is smooth and I know that this is going to be a good day!
As the boat approaches Green Island, the colours of the water change to shades of green and blue. It is so beautiful that it doesn’t look real – it looks like a photoshopped postcard! We spy a dolphin frolicking, a turtle and an enormous sting ray. As the boat ties up, we can see fish everywhere. We both wish that we had come here years ago with our (then) little kids. It looks like Wonderland – a real life aquarium!
There is a hotel on Green Island. As day trippers, we are not allowed access to the hotel but there are a host of day tripper facilities including: a separate swimming pool, toilets, changing rooms and lockers for hire (AUD$9 for 4 hours or AUD $11 for 8 hours). There is also a restaurant and a take-away outlet although you can bring your own food. You can’t BYO alcohol but you can purchase alcohol on the Island if you like.
We bypass the pool and head to the life guard-patrolled snorkelling beach. What a paradise! Lapping water in shades of turquoise and a stretch of yellow, smooth sand. There is a stall where you can buy cold drinks and ice-creams and hire beach lounges and umbrellas. You can even hire a towel if you forget to bring one! Given that there was limited, natural shade and it was 32 degrees Celsius, we pay AUD$45 for full day use of two lounges and an umbrella. We stay there all day so it is money well spent!
Water temperature is a lovely 26 degrees. When we arrive, it is low tide so it is hard to snorkel. Instead, we stand knee deep in the warm water and see so many reef fish - silver whiting, trevally, parrot fish, dart, mullet, red throat emperor, milkfish and garfish. At this point, I should acknowledge my fishing-mad Husband. I wouldn’t know one fish from the other but he is giddy with delight as he sees species after species.
When the tide comes in, we both snorkel to our hearts’ content. Under the water, the light ripples and dances on the sand and coral. It is truly magical.
For most of the day, we are delightfully happy on our comfy lounges under the shade people-watching and admiring this beautiful place. I read and daydream. My Husband does the self-guided Eco Walk around the Island (approximately 1.5 kilometres).
Once we leave the jetty area, we have no WiFi. This adds to the “bliss out.” We aren’t distracted and we can just “be in the moment” and absorb the beauty.
There are heaps of activities you can do during the day for a fee if you want to – helicopter flights, scuba diving and parasailing are but a few. We do none of the activities and we still have a fabulous day.
Begrudgingly, we stroll back to the jetty for our 4.30pm departure. The living aquarium continues to delight – we see another turtle, a giant cod and many schools of big fish.
What an incredible day on this Island Paradise and only a forty-five minute boat ride away from the bustle of Cairns.
Leonie Jarretti, an avid traveller, lives in Melbourne, Australia with her Husband of more than 3 decades, her 4 adult children and her 2 Golden Retrievers. Follow Leonie here.
