Green Island accommodation from AU$61

At just 12 hectares in size, you can walk around Green Island in 45 minutes. But this tiny island has a big history! A whopping 6,000 years in the making, it was formed from sand sediments and remains of animals and coral that built up over time. For Indigenous tribes, it was a place to fish, hunt and hold manhood initiation ceremonies. In 1770, Captain Cook named it after Charles Green, his ship’s astronomer. Although pleasure cruises to the island have been happening since 1890, it wasn’t until 1942 that the first hotel appeared. Out of the Great Barrier Reef’s 300 sand cays, Green Island is the only one with a rainforest, which makes it truly one of a kind.

Of course, the main reason to stay on Green Island is to check out the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system, which has coral of all shapes and colours as well as marine life from whales to porpoises and dugongs. Take a short boat trip from the peaceful long white shores of the Green Island beach, across the glistening water, to a spot that’s perfect for floating along and seeing the sights. If you want to dive a little deeper (literally) into the underwater wonderland, take a no-experience-necessary introductory scuba dive. Green Island also has helmet diving, the quickest and easiest way to see beneath the sea. Just slip on a helmet and you can walk around the sea floor, finding Nemo and getting chummy with your scaly new friends. If you love the sea but feel like staying dry, a glass-bottom boat tour might be more your style. Of course, you can also take a swim or just kick back on Green Island’s glorious beaches, or explore the island’s lush rainforest, which is home to 126 different plant species and heaps of native birdlife.

Hungry? Have lunch by the beach at one of Green Island’s restaurants or pack a picnic and watch the sun go down while sipping on your favourite vino, then pay a visit to the ice cream parlour afterwards.

Ferries to Green Island depart from Cairns each day and the trip takes about 45 minutes. And while you’re on your summer holiday, why not check out the sights in Cairns and the rest of the wonderful Whitsundays. With awesome restaurants, shops and nightclubs as well as a cool saltwater lagoon, Cairns is a vibrant holiday destination, while the rest of the Whitsundays is an archipelago of 75 islands with heaps of reef activities and great beaches. Book your Green Island accommodation and a flight to Cairns with us and green will soon be your favourite colour.