Sunlover Reef Cruises runs two return ferries a day from Cairns to Fitzroy Island. The 8:45am departure arrives at 9:30am and the 10:15am departure arrives at 11:00am. Both leave Fitzroy Island at 3:30pm and arrive back at Cairns Marina at about 4:30pm. The fast catamaran takes about 45 minutes and leaves from the Reef Fleet Terminal, 1 Spence Street, Cairns.

Fitzroy Island is a rainforest-covered national park on the Great Barrier Reef. It is an ancient granite continental island, fringed by coral reef where you can snorkel straight off the beach. Your day on the island is self-guided, so you set the pace.

Things to do on Fitzroy Island: snorkel the fringing reef at Welcome Bay, where the coral starts metres from the shore. Walk 15 minutes through the rainforest to Nudey Beach, regularly ranked among the best beaches in Australia. Despite the name, it is not a nude beach. Or take one of four national park walks, from the 700 m Secret Garden track to the 4.2 km Summit Circuit, with a granite lookout over the Coral Sea.

Choose your day. Ferry Transfers Only gives you the return fast catamaran, and you can hire snorkel gear or add activities on the island. Island Essentials adds your choice of snorkel hire or a glass bottom boat tour. Island Value adds a fresh lunch box inspired by local island flavours, plus snorkel hire or a glass bottom boat tour. Best of Island includes full-day snorkel hire, a glass bottom boat tour and a lunch box. The glass bottom boat suits all ages and anyone who would rather stay dry. No fuel surcharge applies to Fitzroy Island trips.

Add-ons on the island: book a marine-biologist-guided snorkel tour or a guided rainforest walk.

Sunlover Reef Cruises has taken visitors from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef since 1991. It is Australian owned and has held Ecotourism Australia certification continuously for over 20 years. In 2025 it was one of 11 Australian tourism operators inducted into the Ecotourism Australia ECO Certification Hall of Fame.