Cairns City
Sunrise over the inlet
A walk down the Esplanade as the sun rises over Trinity Bay is a 'must do' activity while staying in Cairns. The Cairns RSL has views across the water and features a number of historical monuments to the fallen soldiers of the Cairns region. Image supplied by Tourism Queensland.
Sparkling waters: The free, salt water lagoon pool on the Cairns Esplanade is a magnet for visitors and locals alike. Open every day the pool has Life Guards and great picnic areas surrounding it. Image supplied by Tourism Queensland.
Classical: Cairns City is home to some substantial architecture like the Cairns City Library which was formerly the Cairns City Council chamber. Air-conditioned, the building is a great place to catch up on some reading. Image by Tourism Queensland
Marvellous marina: The Shangri-la Hotel Cairns and Pier Shopping jut out into the Marlin Marina, home to local and visiting boats and yachts and a great place for a stroll. Image supplied by Tourism Queensland.
Cairns city officially follows a narrow coastal strip from Ellis Beach in the north to Mirriwinni in the south and covers an area of 1687sqkm, but for most purposes Cairns is defined by Gordonvale in the south and Ellis Beach in the north.
The city centre focuses on the Cairns Esplanade at the seafront with the relatively small CBD bounded by Cairns Central Shopping and the Cairns Railway Station to the west; North Cairns and Cairns International Airport to the north and Cairns City Council buildings to the south.
The majority of Cairns tourist attractions and services are based around the Reef Fleet Terminal on Pierpoint Rd, jutting out into the ocean with wharves, a marina and shopping centre at The Pier all built on reclaimed land.
The Pier also contains Shangri-la at the Marina, one of the city’s best 5-star hotels. There are a number of excellent oceanfront eateries in the same complex including Tides BDL & Bar at the Shangri-la; The Waterbar and Mature Yogo.
The Esplanade redevelopment took four years and about $44 million but is considered to be an over-whelming success. The final phase finished in 2007 included a state-of-the-art youth activity area with two skate bowls, beach volley ball courts, fitness equipment and a playground.
The whole project covers about 12 hectares of open space on the Cairns foreshore and includes a massive swimming lagoon, BBQs, a major walking/cycling track, a police station and two cafes.
The centre of the development is the Esplanade Lagoon, a 4800sq metre saltwater swimming pool. Saltwater is pumped from the inlet and filtered through a state of the art filtration system. There are sandy edges with shallow water for the kids and timber decks with deeper water for adults. Jumping, running and diving are not permitted.
Trained lifeguards are on duty at the Lagoon from 6am-10pm daily from October to March and from 7am-9pm daily from April to September. There are also security guards and police on patrol in the area 24 hours a day.
Moving back from the Cairns Esplanade, the city centre is based on a grid system of streets running north to south and east to west.
The main streets of Abbott, Lake, Grafton and Sheridan run parallel with the Cairns Esplanade and are segmented by Wharf, Spence, Shields, Aplin, Florence and Minnie streets before hitting the more residential areas to the direct north of the city.
The majority of restaurants, entertainment venues, bars, clubs and tour outlets can be found in the city centre. Likewise it is home to the major hotels like Cairns International, Cairns Hilton and the Reef Hotel Casino.
Further west of the city centre are the major industrial areas of Cairns combined with retail and residential suburbs.
South of Cairns
There are three shopping centres south out of the city centre on Mulgrave Road, which eventually becomes the Bruce Highway heading south out of the city via Edmonton and Gordonvale.
A major suburb of southern Cairns, White Rock is named after White Rock Peak, home to a scenic walk that has a great view of Cairns and makes the walk worthwhile. From almost anywhere in Cairns you can see Mt Sheridan and White Rock Peak looming on the western horizon at the southern end of the Whitfield Range.
North Cairns
Returning to the city centre, visitors will be interested in the northern suburb of Edge Hill, about 5 minutes by car or bus from the city centre. In fact, if you are fairly fit and it’s not the middle of summer visitors can walk from the city to Collins Avenue in Edge Hill.
The main attractions to this precinct are the Cairns Botanical Gardens, Tanks Arts Centre and Mt Whitfield National Park. There is also a cute shopping hub with great delis, a bakery, spa & beauty services and fashion stores.
One street back towards the city is Greenslopes St with the Centenary Lakes – there’s a walk that goes from Collins Ave through to the lakes – which are great for birdwatching and botanists. The Lakes Resort, on the same street, offers serviced holiday apartments as well as hotel facilities. The Rondo Theatre, home of Cairns Little Theatre amateur dramatic group, is just across from Centenary Lakes and offers quality plays four or five times a year.
The Cairns International Airport is about 7 minutes from the city centre and is home to both domestic and international routes as well as smaller local airlines that can take visitors around the region, including to Papua New Guinea.
Airlines servicing Cairns include Qantas, Virgin Blue, Jetstar, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, Korean Air, British Airways and American Airlines as well as a number of flight sharing arrangement with airlines like JAL.
The suburbs of Stratford and Freshwater, about 15 minutes north west of Cairns city, are mainly residential areas but there are a number of cool cafes, a funky little hotel in Stratford on the top of a hill and the Freshwater Connection train station for the Kuranda Scenic Railway.
Cairns’ northern beaches
Heading directly north out of Cairns city, visitors can follow a trail of beaches starting with Machans Beach, just after crossing the Barron River Bridge on the Captain Cook Highway. This is a mainly residential area, as are the next two beaches, Holloways Beach and Yorkeys Knob.
Holloways Beach offers a couple of cute cafes and a fairly empty beach with some holiday apartments and a luxury hideaway as accommodation. Yorkey’s Knob is home to some of the best wind-surfing in the area with a number of national and international competitors living at this beach. There are some great holiday apartments and a couple of resort hotels here as well as one of the best golf courses in the city. The Yorkey’s Knob Boat Club offers quality pub food on a covered deck looking out over the ocean.
The shopping hub of Smithfield breaks up the beaches and offers visitors cafes, restaurants, retail shopping and grocery stores. This district is mainly residential with a number of schools and James Cook University’s Cairns Campus. The only tourist attraction is the AJ Hackett Bungy Jump site on McGregor Rd, next to the university.
Continuing north along the highway are Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach and Clifton Beach before reaching the ‘spa capital of Cairns’, Palm Cove. The first three beaches are mainly residential with good holiday accommodation available at Trinity Beach, particularly for families and a more upscale resort at Kewarra Beach. Clifton Beach is home to championship-grade Paradise Palms Golf Course, a shopping centre, lots of residential homes and some holiday apartments.
Cairns Tropical Zoo is between Clifton Beach and Palm Cove and includes night tours, a reptile house and a café.
Palm Cove is considered to be the ‘poshest’ of the northern beaches with every last inch, just about, covered with luxury resorts, hotels, restaurants and holiday apartments. This spot is also home to the most expensive residential areas in the Cairns region.
The next beach along the coast is Ellis Beach, just after the expensive real estate of Buchan’s Point, home to a great surf life saving club of the same name, a bar and restaurant, of the same name and a caravan park. This is a great spot on the weekend with locals and visitors both enjoying the wide sandy beach.
There are a number of lovely Cairns beaches on the Captain Cook Highway that heads north towards Port Douglas and Mossman, along side some tourist attractions like Hartley’s Creek Crocodile Farm and a couple of exclusive resorts.
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