Green Island Day Trip From Cairns

A memorable trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We took an hour ride on the large catamaran from Cairs waterfront to the Green Island. Immediately after we arrived at the sock, we got on a glass bottom boat, saw incredible amount of coral reefs, fishes, turtles and rays

If you’re going to snorkel do it straight away when you get there otherwise the tide goes out and it’s nearly impossible to swim around the big coral

I was bored silly in an hour. There are waaayyyy too many boats and helicopters circling the island to hope to see anything bigger than a parrot fish. Other than the crocodile sanctuary, which is actually pretty nice, there’s nothing on that island worth seeing. I can’t imagine spending the night there. Bring a deck of cards.

Beautiful reef, fantastic beaches and family friendly 5 stars from us

I loved this trip- friendly crew, lunch much better than expected, excellent additional excursions if required and Green Island simply amazing. I would 100% do it all again

Unfortunately, the weather was abysmal! (Cold, windy and heavy rain).. We ended up sitting on the boat the whole day, reading (thankfully we bought our books with us). Unfortunately, there is no where to shelter for long on the island for undercover protection out of the weather all day! Thankfully the boat did not return to the main land to return later in the day to pick us up, ... because I don't know what we would have done. I can't blame Big Cat Green Island Tours for the weather, but they should have contacted us earlier in the day, about the weather, and offered an alternate day should we have wanted it. As the next day, the sun came out! Such a disappointment.

We really enjoyed green island it was a nice sunny day that helped too, we did the glass boat, snorkeled a little went to the croc show on the island, had nice hamburger from restaurant $35 a little pricey., as cafe had run out of food by 2pm. The time went quick, only got a little sunbaking done, full day is still short eg 830 to330 approx. We didn't know you could stay on this island. Lovely day trip

What an amazing experience. The trip to green island was good but the amazing opportunity to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef was just that amazing. Totally safe for every level of swimmer this is something to put on a bucket list.

The crew are exceptionally professional and courteous. The boat is clean and modern with free Wi-Fi. The snorkeling experience was good, but the water level was very shallow, and it was difficult not to make physical contact with the corals. The food on the island took 45 to 60 minutes to receive so many people were frustrated by this wait. The food was good though.

Our family couldn’t have been happier on this tour. Ranked #1 for us. We like to snorkel and saw large stingrays, a black tip and a white tip reef shark. We saw turtles. There are starfish and an abundance of other sea creatures. It was a nice sunny day, which really helped. The ship also had the best lunch yet of any of our tours. We would definitely return. There are restrooms on the island.

We had a wonderful experience on this trip! The highlight was the semi-submersible trip. Our guide was very informative, engaging and funny. Everyone was lovely and super helpful, and the food provided on board was also great! 10/10 recommend!

Wasn’t enough time on the island to take it all in would have love to stayed on the island, everyone was so happy to assist others, staff super friendly and well knowledgeable. Highly recommend

This tour group was not the best for first-time snorkelers or non-swimmers. They didn't give any instructions on how to use the equipment or direct to where one could watch an instructional video during the cruise.

It was great!! Handy to have dive shoes so you can neatly walk out far enough to snorkel during low tide (not a problem during high tide).

The day we went the island was smelly not pram friendly and not warned of blue/green algae in the water where snorkeling was it looked like a horrible oil slick and no one from the boat ,no signs warning people of this

Green Island itself was amazing. We saw turtles by the pier, got to snorkel right off the beach, and there's a log of amenities. I could easily spend days hear, much less the 6 hours we had. It looked quite busy when we arrived, but it didn't feel overcrowded at any point. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful. There is a fee to hire wetsuits/life vests if needed. Also, if you get sea sick, take tablets before the boat ride over. it's 45-55 minutes of the most insane bouncing ever 😭 but it was worth it!

My friends and I were originally booked for another tour and so they rebooked us with this one! This was a pretty good tour! The island is fun to explore and we were able to swim with sea turtles and see lots of colorful fish. The coral itself isn’t that vibrant but it’s still pretty cool. The food and drink accommodations were very good as well.

Bring a towel, check out the crocodile feeding at 1:30, there is a limited selection of food for sale on the island but they have showers and restrooms and a path thru the island that’s paved. The boat ride is bumpy so consider Dramamine. Loved the snorkeling but the coral by the island is pretty dead although the fish are beautiful and abundant. Don’t see a sea turtle but others did. The walk around the island took about 30 minutes. Nice safe beach for kids with a lifeguard. If you pay more you can get a guided tour away from the island where it’s probably more pristine. Felt we got our moneys worth.

We had a lovely day on Green Island. The boat ride over was a bit choppy and my daughter became sea sick but the lovely crew went out of their way to help her by taking her outside for fresh air and giving her ice cubes.

The Big Cat tour is smooth and pretty organized. The marine biologist explained and shared about the reef and reef creatures well and we saw the cute sea turtles and other fishes like Trevally readily. It is a relaxed and beautiful time in Green Island, no wonder it is a popular spot for tourists and locals.

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing the services provided by BiG CAT and I am thoroughly impressed. From start to finish, their team demonstrated professionalism, friendliness, and a genuine commitment to customer satisfaction. The itinerary was well-organized, informative, and tailored to our interests, making the entire trip seamless and enjoyable. The guides were knowledgeable, engaging, and attentive to our needs. Overall, their exceptional service exceeded my expectations, and I highly recommend BIG CAT to anyone looking for a memorable travel experience. I look forward to booking with them again in the future.

The lunch location is very crowded. Better announcement about Green island as a place to go after lunch.

Fabulous day ..staff were excellent food was great .. Throughly enjoyed it would highly recommend this to everyone

Day long cruise to a beautiful island. Well staffed. Friendly and helpful staff. Many options once you reach the island. We saw many fish and marine life. Walk around the island is very beautiful.

The trip from cairns to green island and back was fantastic you get a coffee or tea when you bored the cruise over to green island it takes about 50 minutes and back again they have two sailing 8:30am or 10:30 from cairns and coming back to cairns 2:30pm or 4:30pm but the trip was great the staff was amazing

Great and professional service. Friendly staff. Green island is amazing. Well worth it. This is a ‘self guided’ product, but with plenty of options to personalize and get more assistance to enjoy the reef.

We really enjoyed our trip to Green Island. We loved the glass bottom boat and semi-submersible trip around the reef. The staff was engaging and pleasant.

Didn’t think we’d get to see as much as we did given the fact we were snorkling just off the beach but OMG 4 sting rays, 3 turtles, 2 sharks, 1 moray eel and hundreds of fish, sea cucumbers and star fish a vibrant royal blue. All this made possible by the lovely crew. Also lunch was pretty good too :)

its amazing, green island is cool!!!!!!! therea a crocodile park too, yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

We had terrible weather, terrible coffee, but a magical experience observing Green Sea Turtles from the Jetty! Thank you Green Island, I will be back!

Such a fantastic day! Most relaxed I have been in a long time. Thanks to the crew for being so accommodating and informative.

The Big Cat Green Island Tour was fantastic. We were looking for a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef, but a more intimate, day-long experience with the option to snorkel from the beach. This tour really delivered and made my day memorable. A special shout out to the Marine Biologist on the tour on Oct 23rd, Aaron ( I think). He was thoughtful, patient and knowledgeable and offered a comfortable introduction to guided snorkelling. The cruise was very well organized, emphasized safety, and the staff were very available and friendly. Highly recommended!

This was a good experience for first timers up in Cairns. The tour company staff are really friendly people and look out for you if you get like sea sick etc. It was also really nice exploring green island, going in the water etc

Great tour! Got to see everything listed and the service was good! The snorkeling was safe and the glass bottom boat tour was fun

Had a fantastic outer reef snorkel with Aly. Learnt so much. We had an amazing time. It was a shame other tourists lacked basic manners and respect as that was the most disappointing thing about the trip, especially on the boat.

A fun day on the waters of Green Island. Warm water swimming with the turtles. Snorkel equipment available to hire. Glass bottom boat was interesting & informative. Very busy boat trip with tourists. Worth a look.

Amazing place, the tour staff was excellent and very caring, I highly recommend to stay in the most controlled area near the life guards and also recommend to listen and to follow the instructions suggested by the tour guide. The reef can be deceiving because the current can be very strong at times

A great day out - delicious lunch, I chose the glass bottomed boat and semi-submarine. The boat was good but the semi-sub was excellent - so much better perspective I would highly recommend this element. Be sure to sit on the wharf and watch for turtles coming up for air. A really good day out.

Walk around the island was very pleasant and the snorkeling was a great experience. Crew was very helpful and courteous

Great place to see great barrier reef. Nice beaches and there is food and drinks available if needed.

We arrived in Cairns and took a trip to Green Island to do some snorkeling. We booked our snorkeling on the Green Rocket ship/boat. The guide who took us out was named Anzac, he was from New Zealand, a great guy who took us through so many shoals of fish, giant clams and turtles it was unbelievable. We also had a bonus while walking along the pier, two eagle rays leapt out water right in front of us. Definitely worth the trip.

Had a fantastic time with Steve and his offsider when parasailing on the green island. Steve made it fun and made sure we were at ease. He had a very friendly and cheerful personality. Would highly recommend participating in this experience with Steve. Photos were brilliant and nothing was too much trouble. Thank you Steve.

Dont expect 5 star resort. It is very eco friendly. Do expect pristine beach with crystal clear ocean swimming with fish and snorkling. Definitely recommemd a glass bottom boat ride. The reef and what swims below was amazing. Spotted whales on the trip back to cairns. A perfect day.

we took our own snorkelling and goggles, and went on the glass bottom boat which was very good, we got see a lot of fish.

I’m a wheelchair user and found getting on to a boat easy but you can’t go inside nor access bathroom but it’s short trip. Tides make huge difference so see a travel agent to book right times. Glass bottom boat isn’t accessible, I had hubby carry me on n off which was totally feasible. Pathways on islands boardwalked so was fab as was accessible to food and bathrooms. Beach isn’t accessible, they do offer a beach chair for use I’ve heard. Sitting on a beach chair under umbrella doesn’t cost but hubby carried me the few metres to those easily. There is a pool bit again in lift etc. was lovely day trip but unsure without my helper to carry I would have enjoyed

Excellent journey out to Green Island. The staff on board were very helpful. I completed the glass bottom boat ride which had two staff members who were willing to share their knowledge. The only downside was I could have spent all the trip on board this boat instead of the short time the ride is. Lovely island.

We went on this day trip with kids of various ages and interests and got it all covered. Relaxed cruise to the island and back with plenty of useful information including pointing out a whale that happened to pass by. Plenty of time on the island for snorkeling with the opportunity to get back to the crew with any question that might occur. Thanks for a beautiful day and great customer service.

Fantastic island, some facilities wish I'd come on the early morning trip. Meeting the darling lady on the boat made the day for me

Obviously the sea can be rough and therefore not particularly pleasant. However the boat ride was rough and yet at Green Island it wasn’t bad. It did rain but it wasn’t a problem. I saw some beautiful fish just off the beach. My husband went out further and swam with 3 turtles. Despite the weather the day was wonderful.