Every year the Cairns IRONMAN closes the entire highway from about 5.30am to 5.30pm. 

This year the Cairns IRONMAN closes the highway on 6 June 2021.

If you are flying out from Cairns on 6 June 2021 this is particularly important for you, because you cannot travel down the Captain Cook Highway between 5:30am and 5:30pm.

Every year we suggest to travellers either stay in Port until the day after, or go to Cairns the day before. 

Our travel options on 6 June 2021 are:

• Leave Port Douglas at 5:00am - we are taking bookings for this slot which is good for AM flight departures from Cairns, and will be running several buses down the highway, or
• Leave Port Douglas once the highway reopens after 5:30pm.
• Arrivals into Cairns will need to wait until the highway reopens. We have been proactively alerting bookings where possible, particularly those arrivals in the morning. As recently as yesterday  we alerted someone who had booked with their accommodation to leave Port Douglas on 6 June, however they were unaware of the closure.
• We have previously offered transfers on the inland highway via Mareeba and Kuranda, however by the Ironman organiser's own estimation travellers should allow 3.5 to 4 hours to get from Port Douglas, out through local road closures, and down to Cairns.  We will not offer that service this year. It is a long drive, and one which doubles the fuel and driver costs of the transfer.

We know there is a widespread lack of information about this significant disruption. We have recently swapped emails with Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, and annually we provide feedback to the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce via business feedback surveys about getting this information out, but to no avail. We have also contacted the organisers of Ironman in 2021 about the transport options they are promoting only to discover they are advising travellers that all shuttles will be using the inland highway when this is not the case. So we annually try to do our best and advise travellers who have booked accommodation and tours in Port Douglas, or are expecting to be able to travel between Cairns and Port Douglas on Ironman day, to please make other arrangements.

We understand Quicksilver is running a vessel transfer on 6 June 2021:

Depart Port Douglas 6:45am 2.00pm
Arrive Cairns 8:30am 3.45pm

Depart Cairns 8:45am 4.15pm
Arrive Port Douglas 10:30am 5.45pm

Reservations can only be made by phone or email:
Phone:(07) 4044 9944
​Email: [email protected]

My flight's been delayed! How will you pick us up?
We actively monitor flights for both early and late arrivals.

If your standard hours flight is delayed into our after hours time 7pm until 6am, we can still pick you up however there will be an after hours adjustment for private transfer rates.  We are readily able to move you to another shuttle within standard hours 6am to 7pm, but flights that arrive 3-4-5-6 hours late (eg 5pm flight lands at 11pm) have huge cost impacts for our drivers and shuttles.

We ask that you understand that flight delays that extend into the evening beyond 7pm are beyond our control, and we cannot offer standard hour services rates during 7pm to 6am.

If you do expect significant delays, it is important that you please contact our office on 07 3003 2083 between 9am and 5pm or the direct number for your shuttle to find out what options you have, and we can advise options for you. We will do the same and try and contact you. It is important we make contact before you arrive many hours late because midnight pick ups are not an automatic option. So please use your time while being delayed leaving Sydney or Melbourne and contact us so we can go through your options.

WE OFFER TWO OPTIONS: 

Option 1: Upgrade to after hours service delivered as a private transfer.

• Currently 1-5 pax after hours is $280 one way to Port Douglas, and
• 6-13 pax is $360 one way to Port Douglas.
• We will credit your entire standard hours transfer value to your after hours transfer.

Option 2: We will provide you 100% refund.

​Note this will be made back to the credit card you paid with or by online banking. Either way the refund is not instant as credit card refunds made take 3-4 business days to reappear on your card. That is due to the card issuer not Cairns Port Douglas Shuttle. If refund by online banking we need your BSB and account details and that will either be instant if OSKO payment (depending on your bank and you account settings) or 1 business day. We thank you for your understanding.
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