Cheap flights to Great Barrier Reef from $289

If you want to fly to Great Barrier Reef, Australia, a nearby city you’ll land at is Cairns, in Far North Queensland. The city is known as the gateway to the reef. You can reach Cairns from Auckland in about 5h 30min, which is a quick way to get there from New Zealand. There are plenty of other routes, which can take up to 29h, depending on the layovers. You can also leave from Wellington, and these flights can take from about 8h 45min to up to 29h. If you prefer to leave from Christchurch, the routes can take from roughly 10h to just over 28h.

You can usually find direct flights from New Zealand to Cairns Airport (CNS), Cairns, a few days a week, leaving from Auckland Airport (AKL). These flights are one of the fastest ways to travel there. Unfortunately, they’re also the only direct flights from New Zealand, so if you want to leave from Wellington Airport (WLG) or Christchurch Airport (CHC), you’ll have to make at least one stop on the way. The time difference between the quicker one-stop flights out of Wellington and the direct flights from Auckland is around 3h, so it doesn’t make sense to drive the 8h or so from the south of North Island up to the top to catch a direct flight; this naturally applies even more to Christchurch.

If you book Great Barrier Reef flight deals and land at Cairns Airport, it will obviously take you some time to get to the reef itself, given that it’s about 260 km out to sea. You can do this by taking the Line 110 bus from the airport and then one of the many ferry trips offered in the city. To simply get from the airport to the Cairns town centre will take only about 7min to make the roughly 7 km trip if you catch the Jayride airport shuttle.

The Great Barrier Reef is itself the main attraction here, drawing thousands of visitors from around the globe. It’s one of the world’s most famous natural wonders. It’s part of Great Barrier Marine Park, which holds other attractions for tourists. The Whitsunday Islands are great places for snorkelling and scuba diving and offer accommodation from luxury resorts to small eco-retreats. It’s also where you’ll find one of the most acclaimed beaches in the world, Whitehaven Beach, which is over 7 km long. Reef cruises and sailing trips are also on offer, or you can take a helicopter or seaplane flight to view the sheer scale of the reef. Green Island Resort has Marineland Crocodile Park, and to explore WWII forts and lots of koalas, head to Magnetic Island National Park.

Holders of New Zealand citizenship don’t need anything more than a passport to visit Australia. As soon as you land, you’ll pass through passport control and automatically receive a special category visa for New Zealanders. All you’ll need to do is show your passport; you might be asked to prove that you have a return ticket, but this is unlikely.

Yes, flights with stopovers are often cheaper than direct flights. Keep an eye out for flight deals to Great Barrier Reef on Cheapflights that require 1 or 2 stops for potential cost savings.

Based on reviews from Cheapflights users, Jetstar is rated the highest out of the airlines that fly to Great Barrier Reef.

null is currently the cheapest airport to fly to in Great Barrier Reef. One-way flights to null typically cost null, while return flights cost around null.

A return flight to Great Barrier Reef will typically cost around $188, however they can be found for as little as $140.

For those looking to save time traveling to Great Barrier Reef, Auckland offers the quickest one-way flight (5 hours 40 minutes).

Yes. Those touching down at Cairns Airport can take advantage of the car hire services offered upon their arrival.

Yes. Cairns Airport has hotels nearby for those requiring accommodations. Homestay - Butterfly Haven is the closest property to Cairns Airport (0.0 km away from Cairns Airport).