Population:

Cairns 145 000
Holloways Beach 2 460
Yorkeys Knob 2 695
Trinity Beach 3 940
Kewarra Beach 3 224
Palm Cove 1 984
Clifton Beach 2 269

Cairns is a vibrant modern city, the beautiful palm fringed outlook over the waterfront and the long stretch of parkland along the Esplanade make the city itself a beautiful place to visit with plenty of things to keep kids happy too. Cairns is also the gateway to the world's most amazing coral reef.

Yorkeys Knob and Holloways Beach are the closest beaches to Cairns. Holloways has activities such as canoeing, horseriding and sailing available. Yorkeys Knob has a 200 berth International Marina.

Trinity Beach is a vibrant increasingly popular holiday destination with a range of great restaurants and water sports available. Trinity Beach Foreshore has community facilities as well as a small convenience shopping centre.

Palm Cove is a glamourous seaside village with a long sandy beach, there are a host of great shops, boutiques and restaurants here as well as watersports and a children's playground too, the beach also has a stinger net enclosure and a jetty.

Kewarra Beach has a small shopping centre and a stinger net on its main beach.

Clifton Beach is a more easygoing place, a great choice for those wanting to relax. Clifton Beach has a number of neighbourhood parks, and beach facilities, including a stinger net enclosure. There is a small convenience store and fuel station.

Local events

The Cairns Esplanade markets are held every Saturday morning form 8am – noon, these markets have a great selection of locally made art, crafts, clothing and jewellery and are located right next to the beautiful Cairns lagoon. Rusty’s fresh fruit and vegetable markets are on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and are worth taking a stroll through if you like tropical fruit. Markets are also held at Smithfield Shopping Centre on the 3rd Sunday of each month and Holloways Beach on every 2nd Sunday.

Festival Cairns

Cairns major event each year is Festival Cairns. The festival runs from 30 August – 20 September and includes a number of great family events and activities such as the colourful ‘Carnival on Collins’ street markets, the 'Parade of Lights’, the super kids circus show, the great rubber duck race, and the exciting fireworks.

History

Captain James Cook was the first known European to visit the site where the city of Cairns is now located in June 1770. However the treacherous reef, persistent wet season, dense vegetation, dangerous wildlife and severe cyclones deterred European settlement of the region for almost 100 years. The discovery of gold by early explorers in the 1870’s lured many fortune hunters to the region.

Starting as no more than a tent city, the first structures to be built were the wharves and sheds. There were many Chinese and Malaysian people living in the region who had come to work in the goldfields and went on to develop their own businesses. The building of the railway from the Cairns Highlands changed the nature of Cairns; travel became easier for people and in time farming began. The fishing industry was the next to develop.

A growing awareness of the beauty of the region, particularly the spectacular Great Barrier Reef, in the 1970’s saw North Queensland become a popular holiday destination for other Australians. The building of the International airport in 1984 sparked the major tourism boom that transformed Cairns into the thriving and successful city it is today.

Cairns Habitat Cruises

Cairns Reef fleet terminal

Explore the mangrove habitat and visit Australia's largest commercial crocodile farm. Watch out for a range of native birds including ospreys, brahminy kites and herons as you travel through beautiful Trinity Inlet.