Green Island and Great Barrier Reef Sailing Day Trip Cairns

Sailing from Cairns on a classic schooner

Most reef trips from Cairns use large motor catamarans; this one is different. You board a 16-metre classic sailing schooner with a small, friendly crew and no more than 25 guests, so there is always space at the rail and time to talk with the crew. Coffee, tea, fresh fruit and pastries are served as you leave the city behind and head out across the Coral Sea, a crossing of about two hours.

Guests are welcome to take the helm for a while or help hoist the sails, or simply relax and feel the sea breeze. The real sailing comes on the way back: with the wind behind you, the engines are switched off and the schooner glides back to Cairns under canvas while the crew serves fruit, cheese, crackers and cake. It is a calm, unhurried way to end a day on the Great Barrier Reef.

An exclusive reef site in the Green Zone

The morning is spent at a coral garden inside a Green Zone of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the highest level of protection, where fishing and collecting are forbidden. The boat holds the only permit to moor at this location, so you snorkel and dive without crowds and with the reef to yourselves. After a snorkel briefing, the crew declares the pool open and you step straight off the boat into the water.

Expect hard and soft corals, giant clams and schools of colourful reef fish, as well as stingrays, sea turtles and shy black-tip reef sharks that are perfectly safe to swim near. Is a small-group Great Barrier Reef tour from Cairns worth it? For many travellers, the quiet site, personal attention and sailing experience make it the most memorable way to see the reef. Allow about four hours between snorkelling, diving and lunch.

Snorkelling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef

Top-quality snorkel gear is provided, including masks, fins, wetsuits or lycra suits and buoyancy vests, and the crew gives instruction and in-water help as needed. If you are new to snorkelling, join one of the small guided snorkel tours led by a marine naturalist, who explains what you see on the reef. Coffee and tea are available all day once the boat is moored.

For those who want to go deeper, the booking options include one or two introductory dives with no experience needed, with just two divers per instructor, or one or two dives for certified divers in a small group with a dive guide. The site is ideal for relaxed diving at ten to twelve metres, where the colours of the reef are at their best. All divers complete a medical form on board, and the minimum diving age is twelve.

Green Island National Park

After lunch, the tender takes you on a short ride to Green Island, a coral cay about 27 kilometres from Cairns and part of a national park and marine park. Unlike many cays, it is covered in genuine rainforest, with a boardwalk through the trees, and ringed by white sand beaches and seagrass shallows where turtles often feed. You have up to two hours on the island.

Walk around the island, relax on the beach, swim or snorkel from the shore, or try paid island activities such as a glass-bottom boat or semi-submarine ride, paid directly on the island. There is also a small crocodile attraction for an extra fee. Make sure you are back on the beach in time for the last transfer to the schooner. How long do you need on Green Island? Two hours is ideal for a walk and a swim before sailing back to Cairns.