Hours: 8:30AM - 5:30PM
Book Online 24 Hrs
Hours: 8:30AM - 5:30PM
Book Online 24 Hrs
Cairns is a compact city with a very spread-out set of destinations. The airport sits about seven kilometres north of the CBD, the reef boats leave from the waterfront, the rainforest is up a range road, and the best-known beaches are a half-hour drive further north again. Almost nothing worth doing is walkable from anything else, which is why group travel here lives or dies on the transport.
Cairns Bus Lines runs charter vehicles across that whole footprint — the city and Esplanade, the Northern Beaches, the Kuranda and Gillies ranges, the Atherton Tablelands, and north along the Captain Cook Highway to Palm Cove, Port Douglas and Mossman.
Our fleet runs from 3-seater VIP sedans through to 80-seater coaches, so a couple transferring from a late flight and a 200-person conference shuttle are both the same conversation. Vehicles carry air conditioning, reclining seats, USB charging, free Wi-Fi, panoramic tinted windows, onboard restrooms on the larger coaches, and disability access.
Cairns Airport is roughly ten to fifteen minutes from most CBD hotels and the Reef Fleet Terminal, twenty to thirty minutes to the Northern Beaches, and about an hour to Port Douglas. For a group arriving together, a single pre-booked vehicle removes the taxi queue and the problem of splitting a party across four cars that arrive twenty minutes apart.
Reef boats leave the waterfront early — generally between 8am and 9am — and come back mid to late afternoon. That's a narrow window, and a group spread across several hotels needs collecting in one coordinated run rather than hoping everyone finds their own way to the marina.
We handle multi-hotel pickups on a single manifest, shore-excursion coaches for cruise arrivals, and the return leg back to accommodation or straight to the airport for anyone flying out that evening.
Approximate road distances and normal-condition drive times from Cairns. Wet-season rain, roadworks and school-holiday traffic all add to these.
Wedding Transport
Corporate & Conference
Mining & FIFO
School Excursions
Sporting Groups
Private Functions
Concerts & Events
Medical Transport
Weddings at Palm Cove and Port Douglas, conference shuttles to the Cairns Convention Centre, school excursions up to the Tablelands, and crew runs out to sites west of the range are the four we're asked for most often.
Coach Hire & Bus Charter
Range roads and the tighter streets around Port Douglas and Kuranda put a real ceiling on vehicle size. A 57-seater that's ideal for an airport-to-CBD conference shuttle is the wrong choice for a Tablelands waterfall circuit. Tell us the route and we'll tell you what actually fits it.
View Fleet
Yes. Palm Cove is 20 to 30 minutes north of the airport and Port Douglas about an hour along the Captain Cook Highway, and both are routine runs for us. Wedding parties and resort transfers along that corridor are among our most common Cairns bookings.
Yes. Drivers track arriving flights, so a late landing doesn't forfeit the booking. Give us the flight number when you book rather than just the scheduled time.
From 3-seater VIP sedans through to 80-seater coaches. For range roads to Kuranda or the Atherton Tablelands, vehicle size is limited by the road rather than by the group, so tell us the route as well as the head count.
Yes. We run coaches for cruise arrivals, including multi-vehicle movements where a single coach won't cover the party, and return legs timed to the ship's all-aboard.
Yes. Crew runs west of the range and to sites across Far North Queensland are handled through our mining transport service.
As early as you can for the June to September dry season, school holidays, and anything tied to a flight, a ship or a wedding. Short-notice work is often possible but depends on what's uncommitted.
Acknowledgement of Country. Cairns Bus Lines acknowledges the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we operate, and pays respect to Elders past and present. We extend that respect to the Djabugay people of Kuranda; the Bar-Barrum, Yidinji, Ngadjon-Jii and Jirrbal peoples of the Atherton Tablelands; and the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people of the Daintree, whose Country we travel through.
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We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters upon which we work and pay our respects to their past, present and emerging Elders. We celebrate the stories, culture, and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise their continuing cultural connection and the importance of caring for the country.
