cairns sailing tours

• DIRECTORY: cairns sailing tours
• tips for cairns sailing tours

The Cairns region has a number of great options to get visitors onto the water and out to the Great Barrier Reef. For those who enjoy a quiet, relaxing experience, sailing is the perfect option.

Yachts, sailing catamarans, a Chinese junk and large sailing vessels all are available for cruises in the Cairns region and Port Douglas, an hour north of Cairns.

Each ship has a particular itinerary to its designated part of the Great Barrier Reef, going to popular reefs like Agincourt, Moore and Hastings reefs. Other sailing tours will take visitors out for days a time to areas near Lizard Island and the Ribbon reefs.

Some sailing vessels include diving on the reef while others are more about great food and a relaxing snorkel … the choice is down to the visitor.

If money is no object, particularly luxurious yachts can be chartered for days, weeks or even months. Many a movie star on a flying visit to the Cairns region has jumped aboard a private yacht for a trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

tips for cairns sailing tours

Most tours take all day leaving quite early in the morning and returning around 6pm.

Don’t forget your waterproof sunscreen and a hat. Even overcast days will see you badly burnt from the water reflection.

Most cruises will provide lunch and afternoon tea but things like professional photos and diving trips will cost extra so take your credit card.

While the larger boats happily take children, some of the more exclusive tours prefer not to … check in advance.

Remember all trips out onto the water can be cancelled at the last minute due to the weather, however most tours will continue even if it’s raining on land, the weather is often better out on the reef.