Page 72 - AlertDiver_Spring2013

70 | SPRING 2013
A s you would expect of a scuba enthusiast, my primary motivation
for traveling to Australia over the past decades has been the
attractions below the surface. But I’ve learned that Cairns and
Tropical Queensland are quite special topside as well. In fact, as
a resident of a dive town myself (Key Largo, Fla.), I’ve always felt
Cairns may be the planet’s perfect dive portal.
First, it’s relatively easy to get to. It involves a fair bit of time on an airplane
from anywhere in North America, of course, but compared to other Coral
Triangle destinations that require similarly long flights just to get to gateway hubs
in Bali or Singapore and three more regional hops thereafter, travel to Cairns
feels very civilized. Most itineraries require a connection in Sydney, Melbourne
or Brisbane, but at 21 hours from the Los Angeles airport, Cairns qualifies as one
of the most accessible “exotic” destinations for North Americans.
Topside Cairns
Once there you’ll find a vibrant and cosmopolitan city of more than 150,000
with most hotels, restaurants and tour operators located around the seafront
and the famed esplanade. The diverse tour options include day trips to nearby
reefs for diving or snorkeling, but be aware that Cairns’ near-shore waters are
fairly murky due to runoff from the area’s rivers.
For North Americans who travel that far specifically for the diving, day trips
cannot deliver the quality available farther afield. To sample the best requires
the extended range of a liveaboard dive boat. World-class liveaboard tours
such as those offered by Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball Expeditions and ProDive
provide three-, four- and seven-day
itineraries out of Cairns in addition to
less-frequently scheduled 11-day trips
to the Far Northern Great Barrier Reef,
Coral Sea and Great Detached Reef.
More about these options later, but at
the beginning or end of such a trip, the
Cairns region is compelling enough that
a few days of exploration should be scheduled.
I’ve never tried the whitewater rafting, which is rumored to be exceptional, but
I have enjoyed many tours of the nearby Daintree Rainforest National Park. You
can easily take a train into the forest, do a walkabout and, at your leisure, hop
on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to get back to town. Check out the Cairns
Tropical Zoo to get a sense of the local wildlife, which includes huge saltwater
crocodiles and, of course, highly photogenic koalas and kangaroos. While not
Tropical
Dive Adventures to Cairns and Beyond
b y S t e p h e n F r i n k
Queensland
From top: Cairns at dusk;
a liveaboard dive boat at anchor
at Osprey Reef, Coral Sea;
balloon tour at sunrise;
koala at the Cairns Zoo
Opposite: Clownfish and
anemone, Great Barrier Reef
STEPHEN FRINK
STEPHEN FRINK
Courtesy Spirit of Freedom
Courtesy
TOURISM QUEENSLAND