Scenic Drives

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The Great Barrier Reef Drive from Cairns to Cape Tribulation is the ultimate coastal drive in northern Australia, this 140 km. scenic drive will take you from the city to the jungle in 2.5 hours, or a few days, or a week or more, showing you two World Heritage areas, remote beaches, stunning views, resorts, crocodiles, rain forest and cassowaries.

Duration: More than 3 hours

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Top ways to experience Great Barrier Reef Drive and nearby attractions

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Restaurants

2 within 5 kms

Ellis Beach Bar & Grill

501

1.5 km₹₹ - ₹₹₹ • Quick Bites • Bar • Cafe

Maybell Florist & Cafe'

4.8 km

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Attractions

12 within 10 kms

Hartley's Crocodile Adventures

4,737

Nature & Wildlife Areas

Captain Cook Highway Rock Stacks

159

4.6 kmPoints of Interest & Landmarks

Macalister Range National Park

1

1.8 kmNational Parks • Nature & Wildlife Areas

Palm Cove Jetty

18

4.8 kmPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Piers & Boardwalks

The Gatz Balancing Rocks

14

4.6 kmGeologic Formations

Kuranda National Park

55

National Parks • Nature & Wildlife Areas

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

4.0

4 reviews

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1

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2

Average

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Terrible

0

simply-peregrinating

Waddington, UK2,723 contributions

Great drive north of Cairns

Jan 2020

We drove along the highway as far as the Daintree River which took about 90 minutes from Cairns without stopping. The scenery was good all the way, not just of the coastline but also inland too, once the towns had been cleared. We went to see the ferry crossing on the Daintree river, before a trip along the river. We took our time on the return journey stopping at Wonga to see some birds, Port Douglas and Palm Cove. We also stopped at any lookout points on our return, there aren't many places to stop safely so when it was ok we always stopped to take in the views and have a break. By not stopping on the way up we knew what to expect on our return and where to stop.

Written 13 October 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jane And Peter

Darwin, Australia1 contribution

Flyns Reef

Mar 2021 • Couples

After visiting the reef about 20 years ago and taking a tour out to Flynn’s reef from cairns recently I was both shocked and saddened by how much deterioration has occurred

Gone are the endless gardens of colour and the abundance of marine life

What I witnessed on this recent tour was splashes of colour here and there, a reasonable but in no way abundant level of marine life

Sadly to me the reef is but a poor shadow of its former self

Written 7 March 2021

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.