Green Island
Green Island is one of the most popular destinations for tourists visiting Cairns. Most travel to this tiny island of coral for a day trip but there is also a luxury resort for people who want to experience a longer time on this lovely destination.
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| Green Island’s warm turquoise water is an amazing place to snorkel. |
The island is about 27km and a 50 minute catamaran ride from the Cairns Harbour, there are regular trips from morning to late afternoon. Once on the island there is a multitude of activities to join.
On of the favorites is snorkeling in the warm clear water, here you can see a amazing array of sealife, including corals, fish, crustaceans and even turtles which are regally sighted in the shallow waters. For those who don’t want to get wet but see all the underwater wonders, special glass bottom boat and submarine tours operate which get you up close to the majesty under the sea.
As the island is not very big, about 1.5 km around, walking is very popular, it takes about 20 minutes to circle the island’ white sandy shoreline. The centre of the island has a rainforest where you can explore ancient timbers and see some interesting birdlife reptiles and sometimes small mammals like fruit bats. There are several display boards and sign posts to inform you of sights and let you know what to look out for.
The Island has had an interesting history, the first European sighting was Captain Cook when he discovered the East coast of Australia, He named the island after his chief observer and astronomer on the Endeavor, Charles Green. The local Gungganyii people claimed the island was haunted by spirits and took their young men to the island for initiations.
Around 1857 a man called Mein settled on the island he was a fisherman in search of sea cucumbers and other sealife for the Asian market and found that the waters around the island were in plentiful supply. He left about 20 years later after nearly fishing the area out. Then in 1899 the Queensland Government decided to plant coconut palms in a effort to grow food for shipwrecked sailors then in 1905 George Lawson or Yorkey as he was better know settled on Green Island to also fish for sea cucumbers.
The tourism potential of the island was seen in the 1920’s and since then the visitor numbers and the facilities have increased.
Another attraction not to miss on your visit is the small aquarium and crocodile habitat. here you will see some of the more interesting sea creatures to the area, which are a little hard to see in the water. The centre also has some of the largest Estuarine Crocodiles in captivity. Be sure to catch the feeding show.