{"id":5600,"date":"2026-03-04T06:34:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/?p=5600"},"modified":"2026-04-01T03:39:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T03:39:58","slug":"things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Things to Do in Cairns With a Hire Car"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Discover Cairns from the moment you arrive. Just a short drive from Cairns Airport<\/a>, you\u2019ll find yourself surrounded by coral reefs, coastal adventures and lush forests waiting to be explored. Whether you\u2019re here for a short stopover, a weekend retreat or for a longer holiday, Cairns has something to offer for every traveller. From action-packed water sports to serene island escapes, here are the top activities to do in Cairns to make the most of your visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jet Ski Adventures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kickstart your journey with a thrilling jet ski experience along Cairns\u2019 stunning coastline with Jetski Cairns Tours and Rentals<\/a>. Just a short drive from Cairns Airport, join a guided tour to zip across the Great Barrier Reef or explore Trinity Inlet, where you might spot crocodiles. Perfect for families and solo travellers alike, it\u2019s an unforgettable way to combine adrenaline with exploring the natural beauty of tropical North Queensland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Discover the Great Barrier Reef in all its glory with snorkel and dive tours from Ocean Freedom and Ocean Free<\/a>. Snorkel among vibrant coral reefs or take the plunge with an introductory scuba dive to experience the magic of this natural wonder up close. With a hire car, the marina is only a short, comfortable drive from Cairns Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Image Credit: Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Parasailing and Water Sports<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For high-energy fun, try parasailing or jet skiing with Pacific Watersports<\/a>. Soar above the coastline for breathtaking views or enjoy family-friendly bumper tube rides. Easily reached by car from Cairns Airport, these action-packed activities promise pulse-racing fun for thrill-seekers and families alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green Island Day Trips<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Escape to the idyllic Green Island with Green Island Tours<\/a>, just a short drive from Cairns Airport to the marina. This coral cay offers snorkelling, glass-bottom boat rides, and relaxing beach time in an eco-friendly setting. With a hire car, the marina is only moments away from Cairns Airport, ensuring a smooth start to your island adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Image Credit: Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit the Butterfly Sanctuary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Discover a world of colour at a tropical butterfly sanctuary in Kuranda, a scenic drive from Cairns Airport, with Australian Butterfly Sanctuary<\/a>. Stroll through an aviary filled with vibrant butterflies and learn about their life cycles in a family-friendly setting. It\u2019s the perfect activity for nature lovers seeking a day of discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outer Reef Cruises<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Explore the outer Great Barrier Reef with Sunlover Cruises<\/a>, a short drive from Cairns Airport to the marina. Enjoy snorkelling, scuba diving, or a semi-submersible coral viewing boat for an up-close look at marine life. A SIXT hire car, ensures easy access to the departure point for a full day of reef exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Credit: Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A world of adventures are just a short drive away. Rent a car with SIXT at Cairns Airport<\/a> to start your journey today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover Cairns from the moment you arrive. Just a short drive from Cairns Airport, you\u2019ll find yourself surrounded by coral reefs, coastal adventures and lush forests waiting to be explored. Whether you\u2019re here for a short stopover, a weekend retreat or for a longer holiday, Cairns has something to offer for every traveller. From action-packed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[94,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-5600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-travel","7":"tag-cairns","8":"tag-queensland","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nTop Things To Do In Cairns With A Hire Car | SIXT Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the top things to do in Cairns, all within a short drive from Cairns Airport. Enjoy tropical adventures, scenic cruises, and more. Explore today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top Things To Do In Cairns With A Hire Car | SIXT Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover the top things to do in Cairns, all within a short drive from Cairns Airport. Enjoy tropical adventures, scenic cruises, and more. Explore today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SIXT Magazine Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T06:34:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-01T03:39:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/snorkel-great-barrier-reef-cairns.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"894\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"arvinf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"arvinf\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Things To Do In Cairns With A Hire Car | SIXT Australia","description":"Discover the top things to do in Cairns, all within a short drive from Cairns Airport. Enjoy tropical adventures, scenic cruises, and more. Explore today.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top Things To Do In Cairns With A Hire Car | SIXT Australia","og_description":"Discover the top things to do in Cairns, all within a short drive from Cairns Airport. Enjoy tropical adventures, scenic cruises, and more. Explore today.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/","og_site_name":"SIXT Magazine Australia","article_published_time":"2026-03-04T06:34:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-01T03:39:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":894,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/snorkel-great-barrier-reef-cairns.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"arvinf","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"arvinf","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/"},"author":{"name":"arvinf","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d3073790687d254a0e5854cc89d35b77"},"headline":"Top Things to Do in Cairns With a Hire Car","datePublished":"2026-03-04T06:34:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-01T03:39:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/"},"wordCount":478,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/snorkel-great-barrier-reef-cairns.jpg","keywords":["Cairns","Queensland"],"articleSection":["Travel"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/","name":"Top Things To Do In Cairns With A Hire Car | SIXT Australia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/snorkel-great-barrier-reef-cairns.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-04T06:34:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-01T03:39:58+00:00","description":"Discover the top things to do in Cairns, all within a short drive from Cairns Airport. Enjoy tropical adventures, scenic cruises, and more. Explore today.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/snorkel-great-barrier-reef-cairns.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/snorkel-great-barrier-reef-cairns.jpg","width":894,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/things-to-do-in-cairns-with-a-hire-car\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Top Things to Do in Cairns With a Hire Car"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/","name":"SIXT Magazine Australia","description":"Travel Tips & News from SIXT Rent a Car","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization","name":"SIXT Australia","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/11\/sixt-logo-png_seeklogo-320002.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/11\/sixt-logo-png_seeklogo-320002.png","width":600,"height":600,"caption":"SIXT Australia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d3073790687d254a0e5854cc89d35b77","name":"arvinf","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f37a51dc0afb5637d2ac90fef7f89019adeeb1e568d663a64083ad97e578531e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f37a51dc0afb5637d2ac90fef7f89019adeeb1e568d663a64083ad97e578531e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"arvinf"},"url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/author\/arvinf\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5842,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5600\/revisions\/5842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}