Don’t Get Fooled! 10 Common Cairns Tourist Traps and Where to Go Instead!

The Humidity is the First Thing That Hits You

I’ve been sitting in the same plastic chair at a nameless corner shop for three months now, watching the tropical rain turn the bitumen of Cairns into a steaming mirror. When I first landed here, I was like every other wide-eyed backpacker or retiree. I thought “The Esplanade” was the center of the universe. I thought a $150 day trip on a boat with 400 other people was the only way to see the Reef. I was wrong. I was being “fooled” by the gloss.

Cairns is a strange beast. It’s a transit hub masquerading as a destination. Most people use it as a base camp for the Great Barrier Reef or the Daintree, and because of that, the city center is an absolute minefield of overpriced mediocre schnitzels and shops selling boomerangs made in factories thousands of miles away. If you want to disappear here—to actually live like the people who call this humid, chaotic, beautiful fringe of the world home—you have to look past the neon signs.

Here is the reality of the Far North. Here is how you avoid the traps and actually find the soul of the place.

The 10 Traps You’re Probably Falling For

1. The Cairns Lagoon (The Giant Bathtub)

Everyone goes to the Lagoon. It’s the postcard image of the city. But it’s essentially a giant, chlorinated pool filled with screaming toddlers and tourists who don’t realize there’s an ocean ten feet away.

Go Instead: Behana Gorge. It’s a 30-minute drive south. You have to hike for about 45 minutes up a steep paved road, but at the end, you get pristine, ice-cold volcanic swimming holes and granite slides. No chlorine, no crowds, just the sound of the rainforest.