Green Island

As opposed to Fitzroy Island, it is a real coral cay.

Coral cay islands are smaller than continental islands such as Fitzroy.

Also they are not hilly like Fitzroy is.


They just look like little round buttons sticking out of water, exactly like Green Island does.


They are so small you can easily walk around it in half an hour.


The best way to visit Green island is like we did - by buying a whole day trip.

Half day trips cost just as much so you may as well buy a whole day trip and get more out of your money ;-)

There are other ways such as sailing, two day combo trips (reef and rainforest - Kuranda included), three day cruise passes and three day Green Island trips, but I haven't tried them.

All I tried was the one day tour and I was extremely happy with it. It was just long enough to see and experience it all, and it wasn't too long either. But of course it depends on what you like.


In the day trip that I did, we left Cairns about 8am and were on the island roughly an hour later.


We had the choice of a glass bottom boat tour or use of snorkelling gear (included in the price).


I have done a lot of snorkelling so this time we did the glass bottom boat tour instead and it was great.


But snorkelling looked excellent too - the corals are right on the beach.


Tip - if you have the snorkelling gear, bring it along and do both snorkelling (with your own gear) and glass bottom boat (included in the price)!


We did the glass bottom boat tour straight away so we didn't have to watch the time for the rest of the day and could just relax.


There is a very nice resort on the island with places to eat and drink as well as a swimming pool (of course, you can stay at the resort over the night).


We had a lunch at the buffet restaurant at the resort but there are also cafes which would be cheaper.


Next to the resort is the Marineland Melanesia, famous for Cassus - the largest captive crocodile in the world.


Marineland Melanesia is in the island's tropical rainforest, which you can discover walking on a boardwalk.


The walk takes you to the other end of the island,


... where there is more coral reef right on the beach, you can walk to it and discover it at low tide.


From there, we walked around the island which is a beautiful walk. 


Back near the jetty, there is a flagged beach (you should always swim between the flags on Australian beaches).


The rest of the day, we just lazed on the beaches, had a drink at the resort, went for swims, watched the beautifully colourful coral reef fish in the water - until it was time to leave.
 
It had been a beautiful day well worth every cent!

Plan Your Trip... the FREE Cape York Travel Pocket Guide

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.

Bring to the Trip... the full Visit Cape York Destination Guide

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 partner Mark who is the recovery guy on northern Cape York and the Old Telegraph Track). Not to mention locals' tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)

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