travel42 Port Guide: Cairns

travel42 Professional Cruise Port of Call Review

If you go to explore the Great Barrier Reef or Queensland's rain forests, chances are you'll wind up in Cairns, a tropical city on Australia's far northeastern coast 1,220 mi/1,965 km north of Sydney and 863 mi/1,390 km north of the state capital, Brisbane.

Once a sleepy fishing village, Cairns seems intent on establishing its own identity and offering visitors a reason to stay around, even though its shoreline is mostly mangrove mudflats.

Cairns (pronounced cans) has a pleasant dow...