For a lot of travelers when they think of Australia, the first thing that pops into their mind is Sydney, but if visiting the Great Barrier Reef is on your bucket list you’ll be hard pressed to find it in Sydney. As a matter of fact, it is impossible, because the Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland Australia, approximately 1098 miles away from Sydney!
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How to get there
Because the coral reef stretches over 1400 miles, there are different locations to access it. Cairns happens to be the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, so it was at the top of our list! We flew into Australia from Indonesia, on an inexpensive Jetstar flight, and opted to rent a car from Avis to allow us to get around Cairns freely. Remember this means driving on the wrong or left side of the road so if you’re uncomfortable with that Uber or a shuttle may be a better option. Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort is a short 20-minute drive from the airport, and the lush scenery from the airport to the resort makes the drive worth it.
The Space
The Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort is a vast 28-acre resort that feels like a summer camp for the entire family! There are accommodation options for every taste and budget, from luxury villas to basic campsites. We stayed in the family ensuite cabin, which features an open floor plan cabin, complete with a Queen sized bed, a bunk bed, and a sleeper sofa, making it perfect for families!
Don’t let its seemingly small size fool you, the cabin is spacious and not only features a front porch with patio furniture, living room and dining area inside, but also has an en-suite bathroom with shower, toilet, and vanity.
The cabin comes complete with all the linens, towels, and basic kitchen utensils that you may need during your stay, as well as air conditioning and digital t.v.
Amenities
While I could go on and on about how adorable the cabin is, the true stars of the Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort are its amenities and activities for the entire family. The resort offers a huge playground with jumping pillows, mini golf, a beach volleyball court, pedal kart rentals, barbecue grills, and a variety of lessons such as snorkeling to get you ready for your Great Barrier Reef adventure!
The Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort also features its own water park and two additional pools complete with waterslides to help keep you cool. Roo’s hands down favorite amenity was the movies under the stars, where we watched Captain Underpants, and even though she had seen it before, she thought it was cool to get to sit outside, watch a movie, and have some snacks. *Be sure to bring bug repellent because mosquitoes may eat you as a snack if you don’t!
Proximity to the Great Barrier Reef
Like many other travelers, my priority when visiting a destination for a specific attraction is to have my accommodations as close to the attraction as possible. In this case, the Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort is about a 10-15 minute drive to the Marina. While, it is not the closest accommodation option to the Marina, because of the robust amenities, the drive wasn’t a concern or an issue for us. It allowed us to feel like we were away from it all but close enough to access the Marina and downtown Cairns.
The Verdict
As I have mentioned over and over my biggest regret about Cairns was underestimating the number of days that we needed to stay there. My primary focus when planning was visiting the Great Barrier Reef, and we didn’t get the opportunity to access all of the amenities and activities that the Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort had to offer. If I had to do it all over again, I would be sure to block out at a minimum a week so that we can take our time and experience the Great Barrier Reef, but also have the opportunity to explore the resort and participate in the robust experiences they have to offer!
