Ultimate 4-Day 3-Night Cairns Adventure Travel Guide 🇦🇺🏝️

**Day 1**
Our home base was the Novotel Oasis, and we kicked off our adventure with a thrilling half-day Barron River rafting trip. Each person paid a 30 AUD tax to the scenic area driver. Be sure to bring a towel, as you’ll get drenched! Water shoes are highly recommended for comfort and safety, and they can be rented on-site for just 5 AUD.

The experience is exhilarating but exhausting—by the end, our arms were too tired to paddle much more 🚣‍♀️. In the evening, we explored the Night Market (for food recommendations, check the next post) ❤️.

**Day 2 ☀️**
We embarked on Sunlover Reef Cruises, which included a round trip by boat and a breathtaking 10-minute helicopter ride. Many recommend flying out and returning by boat, but with only six spots available per day, even booking two weeks in advance, we couldn’t secure it. First, head to the ticket exchange at 📍Reef Fleet Terminal, Spence St 1, Cairns QLD 4870.

Our tickets covered free snorkeling, a semi-submarine experience, a glass-bottom boat tour, and a cruise lunch (Western cuisine). ✨Tip: If you’re prone to seasickness, grab some motion sickness medicine from CW and take it 30 minutes before departure.
Key points:
🚁 10-minute helicopter experience: As soon as you board the ship, report to the staff and confirm your helicopter ride time!

We managed to get a 2:30 pm slot (we initially forgot, and earlier times were already booked). You can’t board the helicopter while wet, so we spent some time taking photos on the deck. After the flight, we quickly changed into our swimsuits for snorkeling, but we had limited time. The boat returns to the city at 4:00 pm (the journey takes 1 hour and 30 minutes).

The Great Barrier Reef is stunning, and I strongly recommend wearing light-colored clothing for the best photos.

**Day 3**
We booked a full-day Kuranda Rainforest tour, including the Skyrail, train, and rainforest activities. We took the train up and the Skyrail down. After exchanging tickets, we hopped on the rainforest train to Kuranda Station (the journey takes about 2 hours, with a stop at Barron Falls Station).

Highlights included an indigenous dance performance, an amphibious vehicle experience, and a visit to the koala zoo. We were particularly lucky because the driver mentioned this was the last month to hold koalas for photos in Queensland, and it costs 33 AUD for one photo. The amphibious vehicle experience was a bit underwhelming ❌, mostly sitting and listening to the driver explain the flora.

Afterwards, we walked 15 minutes to the Kuranda Skyrail station, glided down the mountain to Smithfield Station, and returned to the hotel.

**Day 4 Palm Cove**
On our final day, we opted for a more relaxed itinerary and headed to Palm Cove (palm trees 🌴, beach 🏖️), which is absolutely beautiful and reminiscent of Sanya. We took the bus directly from the hotel, and after boarding, we told the driver we wanted a return ticket; for the three of us, it only cost 1 AUD in total.

**Total expenses: 2700 AUD, depending on your choices.**