Cairns Aquarium By Twilight Tour

Awesome visit. Our guide Jade was awesome and very entertaining! As a marine biologist she was exceptional in her knowledge and I learnt so much from her, and I'm married to a marine biologist. As good as the night tour is, I would probably go through the day, so you can take your time more and revisit the tank, without worrying about close time.

Great value small-group after hours tour - Jayde was exceptional, introducing us by name to key of the key celebrity sea creatures, clearly very knowledgeable and knew the Reef.

Cairns Aquarium offers a unique exposition of Great Barrier Reef marine life and I was eager to observe it and sum up my real experience of the Reef this way. Well, it offers lots of colorful corals carefully selected for the exposition. You will not see such a colorful palette in the ocean. For a visit I’ve picked up Aquarium by twilight with dinner, I was delighted with this option. First, the facilities that time are not open for general public, you will explore the Aquarium in a small group with a very knowledgeable and passionate guide. The guide took us to a two hours fascinating marine life journey, sharing lots of stories and important facts. I really loved it! The dinner was also great, but unfortunately we couldn’t get good seats, since guests who booked the restaurant direct were prioritized. It was a bit disappointing, cause I really loved the seats right next to aquarium tank. However, no matter the seat, the food was of greatest quality! It was just right way to sum up my Great Barrier Reef adventure!

This is a must in Cairns. You can see so much life inside the Aquarium, and the explanations by the guide (Brett, in our case) are super educational and valuable. In general, the setting of the Aquarium is much more enjoyable in this small tour with such expertise. Very recommended!

Great, staff were friendly and knowledgeable! I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The aquarium had a great variety of sealift to see.

It was a very informative tour plus the aquarium is brilliant

Would highly recommend this tour, was a great experience and the guide was super knowledgeable. It was great to go round as a group of 8 with no one else around.

My husband and I did the 3pm tour on Thursday 20th Nov. We were in a group of 7 people and had the most lovely young educator, who was not only full of enthusiasm for her job and the environment she lives in but told it in a fun way. I can’t remember her name- but I will post a photo as she was really fantastic and anyone who gets her is lucky! The meal afterwards was delicious and they accommodated me well with my fruit allergies- with one slip up when the chef wanted to decorate my chocolate pudding with strawberry slices, but that was quickly sorted and a new one made from scratch. A great way to spend an evening as a couple/ family or with friends!

Thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Lisa, she is very passionate about environmental issues and the Barrier Reef wildlife. On the tour was only 8 couples, so very private st seeing the exhibits and taking videos/photos. The lights inside the aquarium exhibits are turn down so the fish etc are more active. I would highly recommend this tour and felt it was worth the extra cost.

Loved this tour. Our guide Lisa was fantastic! Friendly, engaging, passionate and so knowledgeable. The tour itself was also great, having two hours and the guide meant we really were able to take our time and take in all the information and exhibits, which maybe we might have rushed if not on a guided tour. 10/10 would recommend!

Having a marine biologist as our tour guide was amazing. Lots of knowledge and I learnt a lot. Well worth it. Great to experience the aquarium after hours.

Fin-tastic! Our family loved the aquarium-after-dark tour. A great way to beat the crowds and see the aquarium and its inhabitants in a different light. Very informative host and a good pace - interesting but fast enough for our easily distracted five year old. Highly recommend this tour.

First time joining a twilight tour and it was definitely worth the money. Very informative guided tour, less crowds and you can ask as many questions as you want!! Learning so much regarding the marine environment and how as a human can try to protect them. The sharks are friendly and the reptiles look really cute.

My two children (9 & 11) and I went on the Twilight tour with Lisa as our guide. We cannot recommend it enough! The information we were given about the exhibitions was delivered in an interesting and passionate way while being friendly and accessible for all of us. The tour is structured but you are allowed some flexibility within each area which is great for kids as they can look around while learning & seeing things we never would have if we’d come during the day (however I’d imagine wandering around self guided is also very good). We loved it and also dinner afterwards was enjoyable too.

Great tour. Very knowledgeable and passionate Guides. Learnt a lot. We went on the one that included the two course mead at Dundees. The meal was excellent and service spot-on. Prices of alcohol were very high. We stuck to drinking water.

We did a tour with Jordan as our Guide, she was nothing short of brilliant!! she gave us so much information and answered all of our questions (we had a lot of questions) The Aquarium was fantastic and really showcased FNQ

The aquarium is amazing! Our guide, Christine, was knowledgeable and friendly. She did a great job wrangling the group and answering questions. I would have preferred a smaller group size, but otherwise it was well worth the time and money.

We did the Twilight Tour on a Saturday evening and were able to buy tickets for 2 adults earlier on the same day. The tour guides are highly knowledgeable and entertaining adding their own personal touch to an amazing tour. The aquarium is awesome and a must see for all visitors and locals in Cairns. We also included the 3 course dinner at Dundee's. The menu choices available and food were divine, top class. I'd recommend the restaurant and as a bonus you get to dine in splendor watching the marine animals in the floor to ceiling aquarium.

What an amazing experience this was. The level of knowledge of the staff, the information shared on the tour and the exhibits and displays were all first class. We could not fault any of it and were so impressed that we returned 2 days later for a second tour and added the Turtle Hospital on. A definite must-do when you visit Cairns.

Tour was brilliant, so good to have the place to a small group, very special and dinner was delicious. Highly recommend.

Such an amazing place and our guide definitely knew her stuff. The dinner at Dundee's restaurant after the tour was also amazing.

We visited the aquarium for the Aquarium By Twilight event - this was a must do when in the area! The aquarium itself is just fabulous, but getting to see it without the crowds and the guided tour was fantastic!! And the dinner included had plenty of options (even for my vegetarian daughter), and was one of the best meals we had on our holiday! The whole event is worth every penny of the ticket! Laura was a fantastic and super friendly guide!

Absolutely fantastic. Our guide Mikayla was very knowledgeable and knew her stuff. All area of the tour were brilliant. We were able to get up close to most creatures which was breathtaking in its self. Would thoroughly recommend this tour to people of all ages and abilities as there are lifts and escalators for people to gain access between floors.

There isn't a choice for family with adult children. So I chose family with teens! My daughter is very much interested in marine biology, so this was right up her street! The two jrs, after hours group tour was very informative. The young lady who did the tour was fantastic. I've learned so much about the marine life from her explanation. And... the big bonus, you get to see these marine animals up close, without having to bump into other people. My favourite part was when we saw the whales & stingrays at the end and seeing the reefs coming alive after the lights turned off . Loved the experience! Thank you for giving us such an insight onto these animals.

Really great tour. The guide was knowledgeable and communicated well with people of varying knowledge levels. The aquarium is very well set up with a good flow to the exhibits.

What a great, engaging and intimate experience! We did the night tour with our guide, Jack. He was very knowledgeable and engaging. The evening experience also set a different tone we highly recommend. WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE!

I thoroughly enjoyed this tour for the quality of the exhibits, the information provided and the enthusiasm of our guide. It was a fairly long tour but there is such a wide range of local fauna originating in this area that the time is needed to do justice to the unique environment nearby Cairns. Revealing facts and well presented settings of the creatures was impressive on this fairly new aquarium.

This is a great aquarium - the displays are really well presented and the variety of fish and other life is excellent. We enjoyed the tour - it meant that it was not busy and we had easy viewing. The information was entertaining and enjoyable - quite basic for the wide range of people on the tour (I would have preferred some more detailed info at times but was able to ask questions if needed)

Thoroughly enjoyed this small group tour. The guides were very knowledgeable and full of very interesting information. A fantastic range of sea life on display. I recommend this tour for ages young to old.

It was amazing! No annoying kids, just other interested guests. Sharlee was a perfect tour guide - I will definitely be back! Thank you for making our trip extra special!

The kids insisted on going here since all their friends raved about it. Turns out it was just as enjoyable for the adults as it was for them. No regrets ..

We did the after-hours twilight tour, and Cameron was a fantastic guide! The most I’ve ever learned at an aquarium. So much better than just walking through and looking at the exhibits.

Awesome experience and very informative tour. I had a great time and seeing the exhibits after hours was a new experience that I totally enjoyed. Will definitely do it again when I return.

Brilliant few hours spent on the twilight tour at the aquarium. Rowan was our guide on our exclusive access to the aquarium and she made this both an informative and fun few hours. Rowan was very knowledgeable and could field questions from us all. There were 20 of us on the tour which was a good number. Plenty of time was given to spend time just gazing at the beautiful displays/tanks. Thanks again

Absolutely amazing experience after crowds have gone. Daniel our guide had amazing knowledge and showed us some amazing exhibits.

Our family booked into the Twilight Tour at Cairns Aquarium and we had an amazing experience! Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and has a great sense of humour. What he doesn’t know, isn’t worth knowing! I highly recommend this tour, and a thorough walk through the aquarium. Great for all ages!

The night at the aquarium tour was absolutely amazing! Daniel did a great job and it was Christmas night. He was so joyful, informative, nice, and overall great person. Seriously one of the best tours and tour guides I've had!

This was my first time doing a tour around an aquarium. Its a bit pricey, but I loved it and it was worth every penny. The lady who gave the the tour was a marine biologist I believe, and she was great !! She had me engaged and wanting to know more. It was way better than going to the aquarium by yourself and not knowing alot. We spent around 1.5hrs going to every section and we were really able to dive in and understand what these land / sea creatures were and what their purpose was. It was really informative and great at keeping the people engaged and wanting to know more! Absolutely loved it.

We took our 5 year old granddaughter on this tour and I learned so much in the process. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and the small group made it so much easier to ask questions and hear what was being said. I would really recommend this tour if there is anyone who is interested in seeing the aquarium in a quieter environment.

Very informative two hour journey through the aquarium from the estuary to deep into the Coral Sea. Well worth it. Dinner at the restaurant afterwards was delicious. A lovely cool Cairns evening

This is a fabulous aquarium, and the twilight tour is a really great chance to explore it in depth without the crowds. However if like me, you are looking for a tranquil experience, or have individuals win your group. I would suggest that you bring your noise cancelling headphones, as the guide is extremely loud. It’s such a shame, as she has much knowledge to impart, albeit with content and explanations aimed more at a younger audience, but since we were seeking a tranquil evening experience our best bet was to either lag behind or move ahead of the guide to avoid being shouted at. There were at least 6 of us doing the same thing on our tour. Depending which area of the aquarium you are in, a distance of 50-100m keeps the noise down a bit, but of course if I’d known to bring my noise cancelling headphones that would have given me a lot more flexibility. Perhaps at some point the aquarium might decide to run a mix of evening tours at some point, with some tours (tranquility Tuesdays?!) using a quieter guide and perhaps with the information aimed more at an adult audience. Until then, bring headphones, read the panels around the tanks for the information, and enjoy!

A wonderful tour with a brilliant guide. The tour guide was passionate & informative. Enjoyed it so much & would certainly return again. Recommend twilight tour. Well worth it. Made our trip.

This is a really beautiful and quite new aquarium and definitely well worth visiting! We took the Aquarium by Twilight guided after-hours tour which was excellent - all other visitors have left the Aquarium, the lights have been dimmed, and the behaviour of the aquatic creatures changes now that they sense dusk. Our wonderful tour guide was Alyssa who is so knowledgeable, clearly passionate about the GBR and all it's wildlife, and who has a good strong voice that easily carries so we could all hear well. Highly recommend!

What a lovely and relaxed way to experience the aquarium! Highly recommend for those who want a more laidback and intimate tour. Very informative and well set out. The dinner at Dundees afterwards was lovely and the service was very good.

We booked the twilight tour to beat the crowds and we were not able to get to the aquarium during there opening hours (which are limited, so I suggest planning carefully). We had plenty of time to see the exhibits and we were the last tour group of the day so very quiet when we visited. The corals were great.

The guide was informative and the 2 hour tour gave us enough time to see all the wonderful exhibits of local marine animals and live coral. The weather turned out to be bad during our stay with no visibility in the water so we were so glad we had started the trip at the aquarium and had seen the wonders of the reef,

Blown away by this experience, from the very knowledgeable Cameron, our aquarium guide to the delicious three course meal, with an extensive menu to choose from, at Dundee restaurant. Thumbs up to the two guys whose vision created the aquarium, it’s well set out, user friendly, a new experience around every corner for kids and adults alike. Do yourself a favour and put it on your must do list for Cairns.

Aquarium was bigger than I thought. Guide was great! It's easy to understand for tourists/ non native speakers as well. I had a wonderful experience. If you don’t have a plan afternoon, have fun on a rainy day, this is the tour make your day!

Excellent tour, highly recommend. This tour far exceeded all our expectations. We learnt so much about FNQ marine life.