Minibus Hire Across Australia

Cairns Minibus Hire for the Reef, Rainforest and Tablelands

Cairns is where the reef and the rainforest meet, and most of what your group has come to see is within an hour or two of town. A minibus with a driver links hotels spread from the Esplanade to Palm Cove and Port Douglas with boats, cableways and gorges.

Kuranda, up one way and down the other

A popular way to do Kuranda combines the Scenic Railway with Skyrail. Ride the train up from Cairns or Freshwater station through the Barron Gorge, then glide down on the cableway, or the other way round. Your minibus drops you at one end and is waiting at the other.

Skyrail's Smithfield terminal, a quarter of an hour north of town, can take oversized vehicles in its car park, and the ride takes about an hour and a half with its two stops along the way. If you'd rather keep it simple, Kuranda is about 30 minutes by road.

Minibus interior with individual seats
Minibus interior with individual seats

North to the Daintree

Port Douglas is about an hour up the coast, and Mossman Gorge around an hour and a quarter. Vehicles stop at the Mossman Gorge Centre, and from there a shuttle bus carries visitors the last stretch in.

Further on, the Daintree River ferry is about an hour and a half from Cairns and takes around 15 minutes including loading. Queues build in school holidays; tourism buses can use a priority lane at the busiest times of day in peak season, and river and tide conditions can affect the service. Cape Tribulation is about two and a half hours from town, ferry included.

Commercial tours in Queensland's national parks, including the Daintree and Barron Gorge, need a parks permit, so mention any guided walks when you ask for a quote.

Flying into Cairns

Places your group will want to see

  • Cairns Botanic Gardens — Edge Hill
  • Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation — North of the Daintree River ferry
  • Mossman Gorge Centre — Gateway to Mossman Gorge, Kuku Yalanji country
  • Cairns Aquarium — City centre
  • Kuranda village — Markets and wildlife attractions in the rainforest
  • Skyrail Rainforest Cableway — 7.5 km cableway from Smithfield to Kuranda
  • Kuranda Scenic Railway — From Cairns or Freshwater station to Kuranda through the Barron Gorge
  • Reef Fleet Terminal — Departure point for Great Barrier Reef, Green Island and Fitzroy Island trips
  • Cairns Esplanade and Lagoon — City waterfront

Where groups usually stay

  • Port Douglas
  • Trinity Beach / Northern Beaches
  • Palm Cove
  • Cairns City / Esplanade

Reef days and the Tablelands

Every reef trip, and the boats to Green and Fitzroy islands, departs from the Reef Fleet Terminal, so a morning shuttle from the northern beaches hotels gets everyone to check-in together. For a change of scenery, Atherton and the Tablelands are about an hour and a half inland.

Touching down in Cairns

Cairns Airport is a short hop from the centre, roughly 7 km or 10 to 15 minutes to City Place, and the international and domestic terminals each have their own zones for commercial pickups. There are no toll roads anywhere in Far North Queensland.

Your questions

Can we do Skyrail and the Kuranda train on the same day?

Yes, one each way is the classic combination. The minibus meets you at whichever end you finish.

How long is the drive to Port Douglas?

About an hour from Cairns. Mossman Gorge is only a little further on.

Will we wait long at the Daintree ferry?

Queues are most common in school holidays. At the busiest times, tour buses may be able to use the priority lane.

More trips we can arrange

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