Things to do at Cairns Aquarium

Cairns Aquarium sits in the city centre, a few streets back from the Esplanade and its free saltwater Lagoon, so it is easy to confuse the two despite being completely different attractions.

This is a purpose-built tropical aquarium, organized around the freshwater-to-reef journey of Far North Queensland's own waterways, and it works as an indoor option when the wet season rain (roughly November to April) closes off a day outdoors.

It is not a substitute for a real reef trip to the Great Barrier Reef, which still requires a boat, and it should not be confused with Kuranda's animal parks or with Hartley's Crocodile Adventures on the northern beaches, which are separate attractions in different directions from the city.