Fitzroy Island Day Tour from Cairns

Posted By : bullas51
We spent 3 nights on Fitzroy Island
(3/01/2024 to 6/01/2024). This place is an absolute disgrace. It would not pass an OH&S test, a Building Standards exam would shut this place down & Health regulations would also close the place immediately. How they can justify the cost of everything they offer is plane robbery. Every price is way above reasonable. There is no customer service and no interest in visitor welfare. I would definitely not recommend staying here & I will definitely never wast my time & money even to consider returning. As I said above, Fitzroy Island Resort is an absolute disgrace & I cannot give it a low enough number on the rating scale. It is not worth itemising the the various troubles they are too numerous to mention.
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Posted On : 2024-01-07 00:04:16

Posted By : Hayley S
Fitzroy is a beautiful island with plenty to do an see. Wether it’s going on a hike or snorkelling or just enjoying sitting on the beach. We saw a baby reef shark and spotted sting ray. The fish and the reef was amazing to see.
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Posted On : 2023-12-18 05:44:03

Posted By : mogadoh
For me this was a 3.5-4 experience. Overall i'm glad i did it, but not without one or two qualms. Though some may be more of a personal preference than anything, you can be the judge.
I booked the full day tour at $114aud, including snorkel equipment hire. There is a half day option, but half day and full day are the same price. To be honest i think the half day would have been enough for me, but yeah personal preference.

Overall it was very nice, very much the tropical island, great beaches with wonderful scenery. It was nice to walk around and take a swim for a while on the beach near the jetty and attend a talk at the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. Unfortunately, i didn't get to do any snorkeling as i think the mask i was given was faulty. To be fair i'm not sure if it was actually faulty, or if i wasn't using it right. But i did what they demonstrated on the boat on the way there (to tighten the mask) but the tightening strips would come out whenever i tried. Still though, i'm not sure if it would have mattered much as the water was cloudy. Perhaps there were better spots for it.

As i mentioned earlier, i didn't really need the full day and the last couple of hours i was killing time. However, i was getting annoyed because the one area with seating, Foxy's Bar & Cafe was rammed with people and there are no seating elsewhere. I had left it later in the day to get some lunch from Foxy's figuring most people would have eaten by then, but i was dead wrong and ended up getting something to eat once we got back to Cairns.
Something else i didn't really like was once you reach the end of the jetty you're welcomed by a sign outside the resort/hotel area saying 'private property'. I don't know, just doesn't seem much in the spirit of a tropical paradise to me. I don't know the layout, but i would have thought that the outside seating area you see by the sign would be accompanied by an additional restaurant for day visitors (who can use the extra seating).

Not to moan too much, but the last hour was a bit of a balls up. It was raining, which gradually resulted in a tropical downpour (not so surprising given it's tropical, but only a little rain had been forecast). The jetty was full of people and there was a single marquee set up that sheltered about 10 people out of at least 250. A different company was trying to load their customers onto their boat, who were getting stressed out and quite testy towards us waiting. The company i traveled with (Fitzroy Island Adventures) turned up but we understandably had to wait. We eventually got the go ahead to board our boat after 20mins or so and it was all a bit chaotic, reason for that being it was an open top boat and whoever didn't get inside would have to ride in the downpour on a pretty rough sea.
I understand these things happen, but I'd suggest a cover the whole way down the jetty would be a good idea. And the staff should try to refrain from sarcastic comments, i understand it was probably stressful for them, but i didn't think it was necessary to say to us waiting that we need to suck it up.

Overall it was fine, i'd definitely recommended people visit, but it might be an idea to bring along a fold-able chair and a lunch (and umbrella).


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Posted On : 2023-12-16 06:32:06

Posted By : skumarsamy54
The snorkeling tour by Nicole was great. Ended up seeing the common green sea turtle during this tour. The snorkeling equipment supplied was below par. The strap on one side kept slipping up constantly interrupting my snorkeling on Nudey beach and the other. Beach. The flippers too kept slipping that I eventually swam without them.

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Posted On : 2023-11-30 17:38:18

Posted By : Misskridzz
Unfortunately for us the weather wasn’t great. The boat trip was rough and the water was murky so was hard to see the fish and coral when snorkeling but I can see if it was a good day, it would have been amazing
Such a beautiful little Island, the food and drinks at the cafe were good too
Would definitely do it again!
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Posted On : 2023-11-28 04:00:40

Posted By : Shruti_K
The trip was essentially a ferry service to the Fitzroy Island and nothing much. There could be other ferries you could consider rather than going on this tour. The most expensive ferry ticket I have ever bought! You have to pay additionally for snorkeling kit and glass bottomed boat trip. I took a half day trip and will not recommend it to anyone.
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Posted On : 2023-11-24 01:39:53

Posted By : jrt77ma
We went on the full day trip with family. Nudey Beach is worth the 15-20 minute walk. The other beach to the left of the hotel and pier were subpar and not worth the trip.

As far as the tour company goes, the boat and ride were good. The rental equipment is cheap and of poor quality which isn’t shocking for this type of thing. If you can bring your own mask and snorkel, do so. Their masks and snorkels leaked. The stinger suits are a total pain to get on and should be two pieces plus they get awkward and an inconvenient to lug around. More than half the people went without and had no issues but you never know. Carrying all the equipment around without a pack is a chore but there are lockers there near the restaurant. Bring footwear that is comfortable on a trail to get to Nudey Beach. Not a horrible walk but won’t be easy for the elderly and out of shape. Once on the beaches, you’ll need surf shoes or something similar since there is broken dead coral everywhere. It isn’t sharp but it’s not pleasant to walk on.
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Posted On : 2023-11-19 18:15:16

Posted By : Tony_C
Everyone ssys you have to see the great barrier reef, and visiting Fitzroy island is part of that. Beautiful island. Relaxed boat trip to and from the island.
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Posted On : 2023-11-19 05:15:21

Posted By : Roam728673
I chose this trip exclusively to snorkel. The ferry from the wharf was located right behind my hotel, but not too well marked. My many thanks to the pleasant locals who assisted me in directions. A 45 minute sunny water ride brought us to the island which is nice for just spending the day. There is also a resort located on the island should anyone want to stay awhile. My snorkel trip was fantastic. A short 1 hour, I could have stayed out all day. Jake took care to watch us, educate us and keep both the reef and the swimmers safe. After returning to shore, I snorkeled for another half hour.
I signed up for a full day but took the earlier ferry back to Cairns, as the beach was steep and consisted of brittle coral bones, making it slippery and impossible to sit on. There is another section where I sat on a fuzzy flat rock shaped like a sandbag and watched a few people going in or walking along the shore.
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Posted On : 2023-11-12 17:38:08

Posted By : Yukinari_K
There’s amazing island. I went hiking n go snorkeling. Also under the sea is colorful coral reefs. Nice cafe at the beach side.
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Posted On : 2023-11-12 13:02:32