How Much Does a Green Island Tour from Cairns Cost?
4 min read
A Green Island trip costs €75.24 per person at the entry level, and that one price covers three different outings: the 8-hour full-day Green Island cruise, the 4-hour morning cruise and the 4-hour afternoon cruise all list the same starting fare. The 9-hour sailing tour is €178.71 for a 16-metre boat, 25 guests at most, an exclusive reef site and lunch. For most visitors the full-day cruise is the one to book.
Green Island prices compared
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | What the listing describes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-day Green Island cruise | 8 hours | €75.24 | 4.5 (1,737) | catamaran, beaches, snorkelling |
| Half-day morning Green Island cruise | 4 hours | €67.84 | 4.1 (471) | a snorkelling outing to coral gardens and reef fish |
| Half-day afternoon cruise to Green Island | 4 hours | €68.47 | 4.4 (483) | rainforest, snorkelling or a glass-bottom boat |
| Green Island and Great Barrier Reef sailing tour | 9 hours | €178.24 | 4.8 (421) | sailing boat, reef site, island time, lunch |
Same fare, twice the length
Look at the first three rows: eight hours costs exactly as much as four. The half-day cruises are therefore not the budget option; they are the option for a day that has other plans in it. Four hours is also the length of the whole outing, so time at the island is shorter than that. If the day is free, the full-day cruise is the better use of the same money, and it is also the one most travellers have rated, with far more reviews than the other three.
See dates and prices for the full-day Green Island cruise
Morning or afternoon: what each one is built around
The morning listing is a snorkelling trip: coral gardens and reef fish are what it promises. The afternoon listing is looser. It lists rainforest on the island, snorkelling, or the reef from a glass-bottom boat, which makes it the sensible half day for anyone in the party who would rather stay dry. The two share a price, so choose by what you want to do in the water, not by what you want to pay.
What the extra €110.69 buys
The sailing tour costs €110.69 more than the cruises and takes nine hours. In return the boat is a 16-metre sailing vessel, the group is capped at 25, you snorkel an exclusive reef site and also spend time on Green Island, and lunch and refreshments are on board. The description of the full-day cruise does not mention lunch, so check what is included on its booking page before assuming the two compare like for like. If a beach day is what you want, the extra money buys the wrong thing; if the reef is what you came for, it is the only listing here built around it.
See the Green Island and reef sailing tour
Recommendation
Book the full-day Green Island cruise if you have the day: it carries the lowest fare and the longest stay. Take the sailing tour only if a small group and a dedicated reef site are what you want.
