Route · AU

Cairns to Darwin

3 operators run this water, from 264 h 00. Darwin has an airport 7 km from the quay, so this is a crossing you can make one way and fly the other.

Getting from Cairns to Darwin

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

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.

Scenic Cruises Cairns → Darwin 1680 km crossing 264 h 00 rate not held 6 km/h average

Ponant Cruises Cairns → Darwin 1680 km crossing 408 h 00 rate not held 4 km/h average

Jetstar Airways, Qantas CNS → DRW 1675 km non-stop 320 717 in the air 4 h 06 est. rate not held 646 km/h average

Other ways to reach Darwin

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

Benoa – Darwin 144 h 00 Emerald Cruises, Hapag Lloyd Cruises

Broome WA – Darwin 240 h 00 Emerald Cruises, Ponant Cruises

Fremantle – Darwin 264 h 00 Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises

Singapore – Darwin 312 h 00 Ponant Cruises, Scenic Cruises

Sydney – Darwin 312 h 00 Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Manila – Darwin 360 h 00 Ponant Cruises, Silversea Cruises

Lautoka – Darwin 408 h 00 Ponant Cruises, Scenic Cruises

Keelung – Darwin 432 h 00 Hapag Lloyd Cruises

San Antonio – Darwin 1272 h 00 Seabourn Cruises

And other ways to reach Cairns

Dunedin – Cairns 240 h 00 Ponant Cruises

Port Moresby – Cairns 240 h 00 Emerald Cruises

Sydney – Cairns 264 h 00 Azamara Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Lautoka – Cairns 312 h 00 Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Scenic Cruises

Benoa – Cairns 384 h 00 Ponant Cruises

Papeete – Cairns 624 h 00 Scenic Cruises

Fitzroy Island – Cairns not held Fitzroy Island Ferries

Green Island – Cairns not held Great Adventures

Kuranda – Cairns not held Kuranda Riverboat

Where else these quays go

Also from Cairns

Benoa · Dunedin · Fitzroy Island · Green Island · Kuranda · Lautoka · Papeete · Port Moresby · Sydney

Also from Darwin

Benoa · Broome WA · Fremantle · Keelung · Lautoka · Manila · San Antonio · Singapore · Sydney

Which months this runs

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

Our records for the Cairns–Darwin 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.