Staying Home Sucks, home
Cairns Esplanade walkway near the Lagoon - panoramio
Cairns. Photo: Alex Monckton, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Cairns

Kitesurf spot · Australia

Is it worth the trip?

0Poor out of 100 for your dates

Stay home

Every day scores the same

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 0 out of 100

Wind
NNE 5 kn
Gusts
12kn
Shore
on
Water
flat
Air
29°C

Tue 3 · 0 out of 100

Wind
NE 5 kn
Gusts
13kn
Shore
side-on
Water
flat
Air
28°C

Wed 4 · 0 out of 100

Wind
NNE 4 kn
Gusts
12kn
Shore
on
Water
flat
Air
29°C

Thu 5 · 0 out of 100

Wind
NNE 4 kn
Gusts
12kn
Shore
on
Water
flat
Air
30°C

Fri 6 · 0 out of 100

Wind
ENE 3 kn
Gusts
10kn
Shore
side-on
Water
flat
Air
31°C

Sat 7 · 0 out of 100

Wind
E 4 kn
Gusts
13kn
Shore
side-on
Water
flat
Air
30°C

Sun 8 · 0 out of 100

Wind
ENE 4 kn
Gusts
12kn
Shore
side-on
Water
flat
Air
30°C

Tap a day for wind, gusts, shore and air. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 10, poor
  2. Mon 20, poor
  3. Tue 30, poor
  4. Wed 40, poor
  5. Thu 50, poor
  6. Fri 60, poor
  7. Sat 70, poor
  8. Sun 80, poor
  9. Mon 90, poor
  10. Tue 100, poor

The spot in five facts

  • Faces Nopen to the N
  • Best wind: E or Walong the shore
  • Avoid: Sblows out to sea
  • Shelteredto the swell
  • Water 28 °Cno wetsuit

Full forecast

every day, every number
Wind forecast and score for each day at Cairns
DayScoreWindGustsShoreWaterAir
Sun 1Nov0, poorwind from the east-south-east, 5 knots13knsideflat30°C
Mon 2Nov0, poorwind from the north-north-east, 5 knots12knonflat29°C
Tue 3Nov0, poorwind from the north-east, 5 knots13knside-onflat28°C
Wed 4Nov0, poorwind from the north-north-east, 4 knots12knonflat29°C
Thu 5Nov0, poorwind from the north-north-east, 4 knots12knonflat30°C
Fri 6Nov0, poorwind from the east-north-east, 3 knots10knside-onflat31°C
Sat 7Nov0, poorwind from the east, 4 knots13knside-onflat30°C
Sun 8Nov0, poorwind from the east-north-east, 4 knots12knside-onflat30°C
Mon 9Nov0, poorwind from the east-north-east, 5 knots14knside-onflat30°C
Tue 10Nov0, poorwind from the east-south-east, 7 knots17knsideflat30°C

Wind is the day's best reading, mean and gusts, in knots; the arrow points where it blows to. Shore "off" blows out to sea. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovHigh 02:07 −0.1 mLow 07:58 −0.7 mHigh 15:30 +1.0 mLow 22:39 −0.6 m
  • Mon 2 NovHigh 03:57 +0.1 mLow 09:30 −0.7 mHigh 16:28 +1.1 mLow 23:19 −0.8 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 05:01 +0.3 mLow 10:38 −0.8 mHigh 17:15 +1.2 mLow 23:54 −0.9 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Map

the spot, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Photos of Cairns

Lagoon, Esplanade, Cairns, 2015 (06)
Photo: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Esplanade Lagoon, Cairns, 2025, 03
Photo: Chris Olszewski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cairns Esplanade Lagoon Pool, Esplanade, Cairns, Queensland, Australia - panoramio (2)
Photo: Alex Monckton, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Cairns

Known for kitesurfing and windsurfing, by the OpenStreetMap map of the area. The shore faces N, so wind from the S blows out to sea (our estimate from the coastline).

Water about 28°C: no wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

A spot for kitesurfing and windsurfing, as OpenStreetMap maps it, on a shore facing N. Wind from the N blows onshore, wind from the S blows out to sea, and wind from the E or W runs along the shore. It is sheltered to the open sea. The sea floor shelves very gently: 10 m deep about 1.0 km out (1 in 103). The sea is about 24°C in July, its coldest month (no wetsuit), and 30°C in February, its warmest (no wetsuit). The town to stay in is Cairns.

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,580–US$3,070 each

about US$1,580–US$3,070 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to CNS, estimated from distance and season, changing at LAX and BNE, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$884–US$1,840
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$20–US$33
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$355–US$596
Food7 days eating outabout US$322–US$596
Totalabout US$1,580–US$3,070

Kit hire is not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Cairns

Closest

Cairns

1 min by car · 189 places to stay

about US$134/nightcountry average

See 189 places to stay in Cairns · Booking.com

About Cairns its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$134 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 31h 45m

About 31h 45m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → CNS, changing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Brisbane International Airport (BNE), then 25 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.