Green Island Transfer with Great Adventures

Itinerary – Choice of 2 Departures
You can choose your preferred departure times from Cairns and Green Island!
Scheduled departure and arrive times may differ. Refer to booking form for availability.
Travel time to the island is approximately 45 minutes.

Cairns to Green Island:
Depart 8:30am, arrive 9:20am
Depart 10:30am, arrive 11:20am

Green Island to Cairns:
Depart 2:30pm, arrive 3:20pm
Depart 4:30pm, arrive 5:20pm

Cruise to the beautiful Green Island for a day to remember! Your return ferry transfers include a delicious morning tea, access to excellent on-island facilities like a pool and showers, and the option to add an array of exciting activities to your day!
Whether you're planning to kick back for a relaxing beach day, embark on a self-guided eco hike or make memories with the family, Green Island is an unmissable Cairns gem! Head out to paradise with you and yours on this affordable and incredible nature experience!

Green Island is a very unique island. It is one of 300 sand (coral) cays on the Great Barrier Reef, but it is the only one with a rainforest.

Green Island and its reef is very close to the mainland, lying only 27 km (16 miles) from Cairns. The island sits on the north-western edge of the reef flat. The surrounding reef is classified an ‘inshore patch reef’.

The exact age of Green Island is unknown, but best estimates are about 6,000 years old. Scientists know that all sand cays on the Great Barrier Reef formed since the last Ice Age, about 8,000 years ago, when low sea levels destroyed all previously existing sand cays.

The reef surrounding Green Island supports a diverse range of habitats and marine life. There are two significant habitats:
*the seagrass beds in the shallows
*the reef that starts shallow and continues into the depths.
Seagrass beds support a wide range of animals, from juvenile fish that use the grass for protection from predators to large sea turtles and dugong that feed on the seagrass. The reef around Green Island has over 190 different types of hard corals and over 100 types of soft corals.

With a circumference of just 1.6km, Green Island is home to over 120 species of plants, including a unique mixture of coastal and rainforest plants. The coastline is ringed by short, scrubby coastal vegetation that can survive drier conditions along the beach. But, step a few feet in to the centre of the island, and the vegetation changes abruptly to a dense, shady vine-thicket rainforest.

In fact, of the 300 coral cays on the Great Barrier Reef, Green Island is the only one with a rainforest. Coconut trees are not thought to be native to the island, but were introduced to the island in 1889 to provide food, drink and shelter for fishermen and stranded sailors.

View our Self Guided Eco Island Walk to gain an insight into some of the commonly seen flora and their Indigenous uses.

Bird Life On Green Island
Green Island attracts a wide range of birds, including land birds, seabirds and migratory birds that pass through the Great Barrier Reef on the way to nesting grounds. There are over 55 species of birds regularly seen on Green Island. Of these, 13 are seabirds and 38 are shore and land birds. About 15 types of birds regularly nest on the island.

Lunch & Refreshment
Whether relaxing or taking part in adventurous activities, you’ll work up quite an appetite!
Guests can choose from a range of delicious and affordable meal and snack options from Green Island’s restaurant and food outlets.
Canopy Grill - Open 10:00am – 3:00pm
Enjoy a café style lunch such as burgers,fish and chips, or wraps and rolls.

Emeralds Restaurant - Lunch from 11:30am
A la carte dining or set course menus.Breakfast is also available up to 10.30am.Lunch from 11.30am

The Café - Open 9:30am – 4:00pm
For your caffeine fix, enjoy a baristacoffee and snacks.

Optional extras
In addition to the activities included in your tour, a wide range of exciting and fun options are also available on Green Island. Our friendly crew are on hand to help you with any further information.

Snorkel
Snorkel tours are a great way to maximise your experience on Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef with many beautiful sites to capture the excitement. You’ll take a short boat trip to one of the best snorkelling sites at Green Island. With a snorkelling safety officer on hand to supervise, explore colourful marine life and coral gardens.

Marine Biologist Guided Snorkel Tour
Join a knowledgeable Reef Biosearch marine biologist for this fun and engaging Boat Trip and Guided Snorkel Tour at Green Island. After a short boat trip, you’ll be snorkelling a beautiful offshore reef site. Catering to your experience and ability, you’ll be part of a small group while the marine biologist reveals so much more about the island reef environment and marine life before your eyes. The tour takes up to 45 minutes and includes a briefing before entering the water.

Glass Bottom Boat Tour
View the Great Barrier Reef off Green Island with it’s beautiful coral gardens and amazing marine life while keeping dry in one of our modern Coral Explorer glass bottom boats.

Green Island Diving Adventure
Introductory Diving
Scuba diving is the best way to see the reef and no experience is necessary to take a fully supervised introductory dive. Our professional and experienced PADI instructors will guide you through every aspect of your dive, allowing you to have a relaxed, enjoyable experience.
Certified Diving
If you already have a dive certification, we will provide you with all your scuba gear, and an experienced dive guide to ensure maximum enjoyment, safety and to guide you to the best sites.

Helicopter Scenic Flights
Enjoy spectacular views of Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef. Sit back, relax and enjoy an exhilarating bird’s eye view of the reef.

Parasailing
Take to the sky and see Green Island and the reef from a whole new perspective with an exciting parasailing adventure. It’s safe fun and an exhilarating experience!

Parasailing can be booked through Great Adventures reservations or see the crew at the Beach Hire Hut on Green Island to book your aerial adventure!

Boat Snorkel trip
The boat snorkel trip gives you the opportunity to experience much more of Green Island’s amazing marine life. After a short 5-7 minutes trip offshore, you will be at one of our four beautiful dive and snorkel sites, about 1.5km from Green Island. Be ready to snorkel amongst colourful marine life and coral gardens, as our lifeguard supervises and directs you to the best areas of the site.

Green Island Beach Hire Activities
Relax with a cold drink on your personal sun lounge chair and umbrella on the beach.
Enjoy activities such as kayaking.

Seawalker
An amazing underwater walking experience on the sea floor at Green Island! There’s no equipment to operate, non-swimmers welcome and you don’t even have to get your hair wet!

Marineland Melanesia
Marineland Melanesia Is home to over 15 crocodiles representing different species, as well as being home to one of the largest private collections of exotic Melanesian tribal artefacts and aquariums. With twice-daily crocodile shows and the chance to hold a baby croc, it’s definitely a family favourite, especially with the children