Frequently Asked Questions

Green Island is situated 27km offshore from Cairns, a 45 minute fast catamaran trip. We are located on one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the Great Barrier Reef.

As a national park located within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Green Island has been a popular day visitor destination for generations with guests from around the world experiencing this unique World Heritage area every year. By night, experience the pure serenity of your own tropical island retreat.

We have just 46 rooms and two room types; Island Suites and Reef Suites. Island Suites consist of either two double beds or one Kind size bed. The Island Suite offers a view of the pool or the rainforest.

The maximum amount of people in an Island Suite is two adults and two small children, or three adults. Some Island Suites are interconnecting and are ideal for families. Reef Suites have a King size bed.
With just 10 Reef Suites, these rooms offer a limited view of the ocean as there is a strip of rainforest between the room and the beach. The maximum amount of people in a Reef Suite is two adults.

Return fast catamaran transfers aboard Great Adventures from Cairns are included in your room rates. It is necessary for these transfers to be pre-booked to ensure seating availability and to confirm travel with you prior to arrival. You can choose from the following departure methods.

Cairns Airport is about a 10 minute taxi ride to the CBD but will depend on traffic and time of day. It’s very important that you give yourself enough time to get from the Airport to the Terminal to check-in for your scheduled vessel departure as the boats will not be able to wait. Check-in time is at least 30 minutes prior to your vessel departure time. If you have any questions or concerns about getting to the Terminal on time please let our reservations team know.

Our reservations team can also arrange airport transfers to the Reef Fleet Terminal for you, including limousine transfers. Please advise at time of booking if airport transfers are required.

For approximate taxi costs and more information about getting from the Airport to the Reef Fleet Terminal, check out the Cairns Airports website

In addition to your room accommodation and return catamaran transfers from Cairns, a host of complimentary inclusions and activities are available to Green Island Resort guests. These include sunset drinks, snorkelling, glass bototm boat tours, fish feeding, presentation, nature walks and a marine biologist guided activities program, in addition to all non-motorised beach activities such as kayaking, beach volleyball, and beach chairs with umbrellas. Eco-friendly toiletries and personal grooming items are also provided complimentary in your suite's bathroom.

Emeralds Restaurant is our signature restaurant which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Chef’s menu is sure to tempt with seasonal and exotic local tropical produce. A la carte or set course menus are available for both lunch and dinner. Other lunch options include the Canopy Grill (great for a burger and takeaway) or the Lite Bites Café for a snack and refreshment. For a truly unique dining option, there is romantic private beach dining (weather dependent). Or grab a hamper and find your own spot on the island for a beach or rainforest picnic.

‍Discover your dining options here

Green Island is an adventure island for children! There’s a wide range of child and adult friendly activities. Complimentary activities for house guests that the kids will enjoy include glass bottom boat coral viewing tours (say G’day to a turtle and find Nemo!), fish feeding presentations and rainforest walks. The kids will love the engaging Marine Biologist guided activities too!
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Snorkelling is included and ideal for families to enjoy together. Kids can wade and snorkel in the shallow protected waters from the safety of the lifeguard patrolled beach. From the Beach Hire Hut, there’s also kayaking and for the older kids there’s beach volleyball to try, or just enjoy relaxing on the lounge chairs under a beach umbrella.  This is all complimentary for Green Island Resort’s guests.
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Marineland Melanesia located on Green Island is home to a crocodile habitat, aquarium, coral nursery and museum. It’s also home to a life size exhibit of Cassius, formerly the world’s largest crocodile in captivity who lived on Green Island for nearly 40 years! The kids will love the daily croc shows and you can even have your photo taken holding a baby croc. Additional costs apply for this activity.

Resort Guest Rooms: No smoking is permitted in guest rooms, however there are designated smoking area.

Green Island: As a National Park, restrictions apply to smoking while on Green Island. Smoking is confined to the designated outdoor smoking area located near the Information Desk. This included electronic cigarettes. Please ensure cigarette butts are are disposed of responsibly in the receptacles provided. Please note smoking is not allowed on the jetty, the patrolled beach or at picnic tables.

Vessels: Due to government regulations and comfort of all passengers, smoking is not permitted on board any of Great Adventures vessels during your transfer to and from Green Island. Please ask staff for further information if required.

With its close proximity to Cairns, Green Island has been a popular day visitor for many decades and is renowned as one of the jewels in the Great Barrier Reef. Day visitors are on the island from approximately 09:30 to 16:00 daily. Outside these house, the island is exclusive to resort guests with the resort secluded from day visitor facilities.

As a popular day visitor island, this means many optional activities are available to resort guests which include Great Barrier Reef day tours, scuba diving, snorkel excursions, helmet diving, parasailing and scenic helicopter flights.

The Reef Fleet Terminal for catamaran transfer check-in is located at 1 Spence Street Cairns, which is just next to the Shangri-La Hotel at the Pier Marketplace.If you are staying overnight at the Resort and have a vehicle that requires overnight secure parking, we would recommend either parking undercover at the Pier or at the nearby Casino or Hilton.

If travelling to Green Island as a “day tripper”, Council parking is available outside the Pier or you can park undercover at the Casino or the Pier. There is also all day parking at the outdoor carparks near Trinity Wharf on Wharf Street, about two blocks away.

The vessels and island are pram friendly. The island’s beach has quite soft sand and therefore not practical for prams to be taken onto the beach area. There are wooden boardwalks that do take you through the middle of the island through the rainforest, and these boardwalks are also suitable for prams.

Green Island Resort is suitable for people of all ages, including families with infants and children. However, we do recommend they are supervised and are accompanied by a responsible adult at all times. For anyone wishing to take their children into the water, we recommend that a buoyancy device is used and they are available for resort guests.

Hopefully not. Our Great Adventures transfer vessels are catamarans offering a wide stable platform for seakeeping in all weather conditions. Where there is motion whether a car, bus, plane or boat, some people will suffer from motion sickness. We offer ginger tablets as a natural alternative motion sickness medication on a complimentary basis. Specially packaged pharmaceutical tablets are available on board for purchase. To be effective, motion sickness medications should be taken immediately on boarding. Once you’re on the island though you should be fine.

There is a bit of a walk down the jetty into the Resort area, and many pathways where you can walk through the rainforest. There are a few steps onto the Glass Bottom boats at the island.

Yes. Green Island Resort has an Island Suite configured for wheelchair access to the room and bathroom facilities, with the room located in easy access to central facilities and boardwalks.

The island’s day visitor area also has disabled toilet facilities, and paved or wooden boardwalk pathways that are easy for wheelchairs to access. There is a boardwalk that takes you directly through the rainforest into the centre of the Island which is easily accessible. To board the Glass Bottom Boats however, there are some steps into this vessel which may not be suitable.

Great Adventures catamarans for island transfers: The boarding ramp gangways are able to accommodate standard sized wheelchairs, however larger motorised wheelchairs may not be able to be accommodated. Depending on tides and weather conditions, gangways from the vessel to the jetty are sometimes too small for a wheelchair and will at times have a few steps from the end of the gangway to the jetty.

We recommend you contact us to discuss your special requirements at time of booking.

Drones are not permitted.

Due to the sensitive environment and safety, drones are not permitted on Green Island. This is strictly managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. In addition, a helicopter service operates from Green Island and Great Adventures Outer Reef tour.

No. As Green Island is a National Park, no private beaches are permitted.