Best time to visit Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef
Our pick for sun: May to October.
The best months
- SunMay to October
- BeachMay, August to October
…
The twelve months at a glance
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Fair, 45/100, Heavy rain, Cyclone season | Fair, 45/100, Heavy rain, Cyclone season | Fair, 58/100, Cyclone season | Good, 75/100, Cyclone season | Ideal, 100/100 | Ideal, 96/100 | Ideal, 94/100 | Ideal, 97/100 | Ideal, 100/100 | Ideal, 97/100 | Good, 73/100, Cyclone season | Fair, 58/100, Cyclone season |
| Beach | Fair, 50/100, Heavy rain, Cyclone season | Fair, 50/100, Heavy rain, Cyclone season | Good, 62/100, Cyclone season | Good, 77/100, Cyclone season | Ideal, 95/100 | Good, 76/100 | Good, 69/100 | Ideal, 81/100 | Ideal, 98/100 | Ideal, 98/100 | Good, 75/100, Cyclone season | Good, 62/100, Cyclone season |
- Ideal
- Good
- Fair
- Best avoided
- Risk flagged
Temperatures and rain
See the month-by-month values
| Month | High | Low | Sea | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°C | 22°C | 29°C | 214 mm |
| February | 29°C | 22°C | 29°C | 220 mm |
| March | 28°C | 21°C | 28°C | 151 mm |
| April | 27°C | 19°C | 27°C | 56 mm |
| May | 25°C | 17°C | 26°C | 21 mm |
| June | 24°C | 15°C | 24°C | 16 mm |
| July | 23°C | 14°C | 24°C | 14 mm |
| August | 24°C | 14°C | 24°C | 14 mm |
| September | 26°C | 16°C | 25°C | 9 mm |
| October | 28°C | 18°C | 26°C | 22 mm |
| November | 29°C | 20°C | 27°C | 50 mm |
| December | 30°C | 21°C | 29°C | 124 mm |
Estimated flight time
- From YUL : about 18 h 35 min
- From YYZ : about 18 h 10 min
- From YVR : about 14 h 10 min
Estimate of a nonstop flight computed from the distance: not a schedule. Connections lengthen the trip.
Getting to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef with points
Keep going
Where this data comes from
Temperatures, sunshine and rain: monthly normals we computed over 1991-2020. These are estimates from a climate reanalysis, not station readings.
- ERA5 reanalysis-era5-single-levels-timeseries (C3S, CC-BY)
- NOAA OISST v2.1
Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (ERA5, 2026, CC BY 4.0 licence). Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains. Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 (Huang et al., 2021, J. Climate 34, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0166.1).