Cairns is a beautiful tropical city and Queensland is famously the "sunshine state" of Australia; and if you
come from overseas you think of Australia as a sunny country, surrounded by lots of long, sandy beaches.
So your expectations are up and when you get to Cairns there first seem to be no good beaches.
The city beach is muddy and
there is a walkway but that's all. No sandy stretch of beach where to lay down and get your tan (not in the city end of it
anyway).
Well
so it was - until 2003 when they built the Lagoon - now at least there is a place to swim!
The
Northern Beaches
But what you may not know about is the northern beaches :-)
Ok, they are not perfect blue-water beaches every day, as some days the
the currents stir up mud and make the
water look brown. But - there is plenty of sand and places
to swim on the northern Cairns beaches!
Machans
Beach
The first one is Machans Beach, only about ten minutes drive from the
city.
It is a beautiful beach, and you would expect concrete
highrisers, but instead it is a beautiful sleepy residential suburb.
It's a great place to fish - the river, two creek mouths, or from the
beachfront at high tide.
Holloways
Beach
The next one is Holloways, and while it's still mostly a quiet suburb
with family houses, a few big concrete resorts are already
here.
It is a fairly long beach though if you are into exercise, and
you can walk at low tide to Machans. Another great one to fish, and there
is also a boat ramp.
Yorkeys
Knob
The next one is Yorkeys Knob and it is a little more commercial. Mostly
known for its popular boat club, it is also the place for many cruise
ships to stop.
The beach is nice and fairly long, and behind the casuarinas the concrete resorts are
there, although not so visible.
Trinity
Beach
The next one north is Trinity Beach - and that's almost as commercial as it
can get on the Cairns northern beaches - with lots of concrete not only
on the beachfront but also along the other streets.
The beach is short but popular, obviously with tourists from all the accommodation around.
Kewarra
Beach The next
beach north is Kewarra. In a great contrast to Trinity, it is a sleepy
residential suburb with only one beach access and the rest of the time
you cannot even see the beach. You cannot walk it either, not for long
anyway, as a creek mouth cuts it off Clifton Beach and Palm Cove.
Clifton
Beach
North
of Kewarra is Clifton Beach, with many beach accesses and good views
over the beach even from a street back from the beachfront. You really
know you are on a beach, as opposed to Kewarra.
Another great thing is you can walk all the way to Palm Cove, and almost to Kewarra.
Palm
Cove
North of Clifton is Palm Cove - the biggest concrete jungle of all
Cairns beaches.
It is so touristy it is marketed almost like a
destination on its own. Although it's like any other
one of Cairns beaches - except it has more choice
of places to stay.
Machans
Beach
Machans
Beach is the southernmost one of Cairns Northern Beaches.
So you
would
expect it to be an expensive concrete jungle.
Well
while it's not cheap to
buy a place here, the good thing is there
are NO concrete highrisers (not yet, anyway).
It
is laid back and
beautiful, and even the beach front houses are not
millionaires' palaces but totally normal looking homes. There is
a restaurant,
... a small shop and
fuel station,
... and Machans Beach post
office is super cute.
In the
northern end of the beach
you can walk to Holloways
at low tide (on the high tide you may be cut off by a creek mouth).
And in the southern end
you can walk along the beach to another creek mouth.
Both
mouths are good for
fishing at
high tide.
Some streets back from the beach is also a boat ramp.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
If
you liked the books or
this website, let others know about it!
Link to it from your website, your blog, your forum post... Share it on Facebook, Tweet
about it...
Every link helps other travellers!
Thank you for doing the
right thing and letting others know :-)
This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.