Visitors sometimes arrive in Cairns expecting a tropical beach outside their hotel. The better discovery is that an entire chain of beaches begins just beyond the city.

Cairns presents visitors with an interesting geographical surprise.

It is one of Australia's great tropical tourism cities.

There are palm trees, warm weather, islands offshore and the Great Barrier Reef beyond.

So where is the city beach?

The Cairns waterfront is dominated by the Esplanade and tidal environment rather than the conventional strip of swimming sand some first-time visitors expect.

The answer is not to be disappointed.

It is to head north.

Cairns has a string of beaches

The Northern Beaches extend along the coast between Cairns and the road towards Port Douglas.

Rather than one enormous resort strip, they are a sequence of communities.

Holloways Beach.

Yorkeys Knob.

Trinity Beach.

Kewarra Beach.

Clifton Beach.

Palm Cove.

Ellis Beach.

Each has a slightly different personality.

Together they turn “finding a beach in Cairns” into a very enjoyable day of exploration.

Trinity Beach — an excellent introduction

Trinity Beach is a good starting point for visitors wanting the recognisable tropical-beach experience.

There is sand, an esplanade and a beachside community rather than simply an isolated shoreline.

It works particularly well for visitors who want to spend several hours near the water without feeling cut off from everything else.

Have a walk.

Find somewhere for something to eat.

Look across the Coral Sea.

Then continue north.

Kewarra Beach — slow things down

Kewarra feels quieter.

That is the point.

Not every tropical beach needs an extensive restaurant strip or procession of visitors.

For people who enjoy walking and space, the quieter northern beaches can be every bit as appealing as the better-known destinations.

This is one of the pleasures of exploring by car: ten or fifteen minutes can substantially change the atmosphere.

Clifton Beach — understated Cairns

Clifton Beach is another place where the appeal is partly what isn't there.

It is a relaxed residential beach community rather than a major tourism precinct.

That makes it useful for visitors wanting a slower experience.

Walk.

Sit under the trees.

Look towards the islands.

Do very little.

Holidays occasionally benefit from an absence of scheduled activity.

Palm Cove — the polished tropical village

Then comes Palm Cove.

If you have seen photographs of a Cairns-region beach lined with melaleucas and palms, restaurants and accommodation nearby, there is a good chance you were looking at Palm Cove.

It has developed into a destination in its own right.

The beach, jetty, esplanade, accommodation and dining make it easy to spend much of a day here.

Palm Cove is therefore not simply somewhere to stop while driving north.

For many visitors it is the objective.

Ellis Beach — where the road trip begins

Continue beyond Palm Cove and the geography changes again.

At Ellis Beach the mountains, highway and Coral Sea draw close together.

This is where a beach day begins blending into one of Australia's great coastal drives.

Continue north and the road winds towards Port Douglas with rainforest-clad mountains on one side and sea on the other.

Or stop.

Walk the beach.

Look back south.

Sometimes the best road-trip decision is deciding not to drive for a while.

Can you swim?

This requires a tropical answer rather than a simple yes.

Cairns Regional Council provides lifeguard services at a number of beaches including Trinity, Kewarra, Clifton, Palm Cove and Ellis.

Marine stingers are a seasonal consideration, generally from November to May, and swimming enclosures provide a degree of protection but are not completely stinger-proof.

Visitors should check current beach conditions, use patrolled areas, swim between the flags and follow lifeguard and warning-sign advice.

Conditions can change.

Yesterday's advice isn't necessarily today's advice.

Don't choose just one

If you have a car, make the Northern Beaches themselves an outing.

Stop at Trinity.

Explore Clifton.

Have lunch or coffee around Palm Cove.

Continue to Ellis Beach.

Turn around whenever you feel like it.

The distances are modest enough that there is no need to turn beach exploration into an endurance event.

And because each community is different, the journey doesn't feel repetitive.

Cairns is more than a gateway

Cairns is frequently described as a gateway.

Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

Gateway to the Wet Tropics.

Gateway to Cape York.

All true.

But a city constantly described as the way to somewhere else risks having its own surroundings overlooked.

The Northern Beaches solve that problem beautifully.

You don't have to board a boat or drive for hours.

The Cairns View

Cairns may not have the conventional city-centre beach some visitors expect.

It has something arguably more interesting.

A chain of tropical beach communities stretches north from the city, each offering a different combination of sand, shade, local life and Coral Sea views.

Don't ask where the beach is in Cairns. Take the coastal road and discover how many answers there are.