Swimming Hole Heaven in Cairns

Your guide to the best swimming holes

Here is the guide to my swims within 5 km, 20 km, and 100 km of the Cairns city centre. The best swimming in Cairns is during the dry season (roughly April to October), but in the wet tropics around Cairns, it can rain heavily at any time of the year. I have personally tested all of these swims by getting into the water, where it was legal to do so. Above: Discover swimming holes such as Cyrstal Cascades on swimmingholeheaven.com (Order this image) Click or tap on the heading of each location to find your next swimming day trip. Swim safe, have fun and remember that no matter how cold the water is (even in the tropics, some of these swims have very cold water), it's alright once you're in! Cairns is located next to the Pacific Ocean, but you cannot swim in the ocean here because of the crocs, the mud, the mangroves, and the poisonous jellyfish. Saltwater crocs also inhabit the tidal rivers and creeks running through Cairns, so there really are no natural swimming options this close to the city. A 5 km radius from the centre of Cairns includes the city, the foreshore, and the surrounding suburbs. Here are three options to cool down in the water in the city, one for all ages and two for kids.

Cairns Esplanade Swimming Lagoon

On the foreshore right in the heart of Cairns, this croc-free lagoon is actually just a really well designed swimming pool. Access is free to all. The lagoon has a beach entry, decks where you can dangle your feet in the water, an iconic water feature, and a parade of overheated passers-by watching you jealously in the water…

Centenary Lakes Nature Play

OK, now I am getting desperate to find somewhere to cool down, because this is a sprinkle rather than a swim. This little park for young kids in the Cairns Botanic Gardens precinct has a constructed meandering stream that runs through a well-shaded nature play area with sandpits, boulders, fallen logs, cables and nets…

Muddys Playground

Still not a swim, but you are definitely going to get wet here with a long line of more than twenty water jets in a playground on the Cairns Esplanade. The water play areas are well shaded, with views of the ocean. The cafe in the playground can even cater for kids birthday parties… This area includes the hills behind Cairns which have some amazing, super cool mountain streams with water deep enough for swimming. This is where the locals go to escape the heat, only a short drive from town.

Crystal Cascades, Cairns

Probably the most popular natural swimming spot in Cairns, at only 20 km from the city centre, there are steps down to fast flowing, crystal clear water in two spots along the creek, but with swimming now officially prohibited in the main pool and along the narrower section of the creek…

Fairy Falls, Cairns

This elevated, fairy-sized pool has a touch of the mystical about it, with steep rock walls in a tight space that feels like it could be part of another realm. The clamber up to the pool requires good balance and a cool head to avoid slipping down the cascade…

Freshwater Creek at The Rocks, Cairns

A giant boulder plonked in the middle of an otherwise fast flowing, shallow stream in Redlynch creates two deep channels for swimming as water is pushed around the rock, with a calm eddy at the back. This swim has crystal clear water and a pebbled beach …

You can also swim at Stoney Creek Falls, but a croc was reported at the falls the last time I was in the area, so I have not reported on this spot. This area includes swims up on the Atherton Tablelands, over the Great Dividing Range, and swims further down the coast heading towards Innisfail. All of these can be a day trip or a long half-day trip from Cairns.

Babinda Boulders

A swim in the rainforest with its own submerged sandy beach and riverside platform, with steps for entering the water in the designated swimming area. Wonderfully clear water in an open area with a surrounding lush natural environment…

Clamshell Falls, Behana Gorge

After a 45 minute walk up and down some steep, buckled hills along a paved, pipeline access road, this long tiered set of falls has several pools for swimming beside open rock shelves, but is only suitable for swimming when conditions are dry…

Davies Creek Falls, Mareeba

Not the typical kind of swim that you would expect at a waterfall, the designated swimming area here has a coarse sandy beach surrounded by granite shelves and boulders leading down into clear water. The number of visitors is limited by the available parking…

Harvey Creek Scenic Reserve, Bellenden Ker

A short detour that runs parallel to the Bruce Hwy leads to this swimming hole, flanked by two bridges across Harvey Creek that provide some welcome shade in the water, with a small grassy area one one side of the road and a little sandy beach leading into the water on the other…

Josephine Falls, Bartle Frere

One of best natural rock slides you will find, with a wide rock slope leading into a small pool, but on a fickle stream that has its own flood warning system for swimmers. Read further to find out what happens when the water level starts rising…

Lake Barrine, Crater Lakes National Park

Perhaps better suited to canoeing and a trip on the commercial boat cruise than swimming, due to the limited space on the shore to access the water. For the adventurous swimmer, there is however an abundance of aquatic life in the shallow fringes of this otherwise deep crater lake…

Lake Eacham, Crater Lakes National Park

This groundwater fed crater lake is well set up for swimming, with entry steps into clear water from the shore or from a small pier. With high visibility and plenty of resident fish and turtles, I was encouraged to get into the water by the sight of a commercial scuba diving tour exploring the lake at the same time…

Lake Tinaroo at Tinaburra Drive, Yungaburra

Perhaps better suited to waterskiing than swimming, this somewhat barren part of this huge irrigation storage offers the possibility of a longer distance swim, or a picnic, barbecue and splash around in front of the lawns on the shore…

Little Mulgrave River at Mountain View Hotel

A clear, fast flowing stream, with its own rope swing in the narrow strip of deeper water on the opposite bank. This swim has the optional reward of a counter meal next door at the local pub, overlooking the river, after your swim…

Lower Davies Creek Campground, Mareeba

This day visitor area and campground close to the water, with a limited number of camp sites, provides shallow bathing in a fast flowing creek along most of its length, with occasional deeper sections. A wide granite shelf runs alongside the creek, with some well positioned picnic tables overlooking the water…

Malanda Falls, Malanda

An Olympic sized swimming pool on the river with its own waterfall that spreads across the pool at the upstream end, with a concrete concourse providing clean entry into the water and elevated lawn terraces overlooking the water…

There are also swimming spots in Mossman Gorge, north of Cairns, but I have not had a chance to visit that area. Before you head out, make sure to read the swimming safety information.

The Golden Hole, Bartle Frere

This former swimming hole on the Russell River has rounded boulders protruding out of vibrant blue water, but unfortunately swimming is no longer permitted here because the crocs have moved in, so it is now just a dry picnic spot on the lawn set back from the river…

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