Route · NZ

Auckland to Cairns

1 operator run this water, from 5 h 01.

Getting from Auckland to Cairns

Somewhere to stay in Cairns partner Left luggage in Cairns Everywhere from Auckland Everywhere from Cairns

Every way across

One row per operator and speed. Where a service is sold as fast and its average does not clear 45 km/h, the word appears in quotation marks — the boat is fast craft, the crossing is not.

Air New Zealand, US Airways AKL → CNS 3619 km non-stop 320 in the air 6 h 31 est. rate not held 720 km/h average

Other ways to reach Cairns

If this crossing does not suit, these quays also reach Cairns without a change. It is the question a single-route page cannot answer about itself and an atlas can.

Townsville – Cairns 51 min Qantas

Coen – Cairns 1 h 04 Aero Condor Peru

Kowanyama – Cairns 1 h 04 Aero Condor Peru

Pormpuraaw – Cairns 1 h 07 Aero Condor Peru

Normanton – Cairns 1 h 08 Aero Condor Peru

Lockhart River – Cairns 1 h 09 Aero Condor Peru

Aurukun – Cairns 1 h 14 Aero Condor Peru

Weipa – Cairns 1 h 17 Aero Condor Peru

Bamaga – Cairns 1 h 26 Aero Condor Peru

Mount Isa – Cairns 1 h 29 Aero Condor Peru

And other ways to reach Auckland

Rangitoto – Auckland 25 min Fullers 360, Fullers Ferry

Waiheke – Auckland 40 min Fullers 360, Fullers 360 Waiheke Reserve

Tauranga – Auckland 41 min Air New Zealand

Whangarei – Auckland 41 min Air New Zealand

Rotorua – Auckland 44 min Air New Zealand

Kerikeri – Auckland 46 min Air New Zealand

Whakatāne – Auckland 46 min Air New Zealand

New Plymouth – Auckland 47 min Air New Zealand

Taupo – Auckland 47 min Air New Zealand

Gisborne – Auckland 55 min Air New Zealand

Where else these quays go

Also from Auckland

Adelaide · Alofi · Apia · Avarua · Benoa · Blenheim · Brisbane · Callao-Lima · Cape Town · Christchurch · Civitavecchia-Rome · Coromandel · Dunedin · Fremantle

Also from Cairns

Adelaide · Alice Springs · Aurukun · Bamaga · Benoa · Brisbane · Coen · Darwin · Dunedin · Fitzroy Island · Gold Coast · Green Island · Horn · Kowanyama

Which months this runs

Season not heldwe can say when we looked, not which months run

Our records for the Auckland–Cairns crossing were read on 11 August 2026 and describe the network as it ran that week. We hold no month-by-month variation, so this page cannot tell you whether a crossing runs in February.

If you are travelling well outside August 2026, confirm with the operator before you plan around it.

What we do not know

No fares. Not for this crossing, not for any crossing, not for any mode.

No departure times. No rate is held for this pair either, so we cannot say how often it runs.