Every year we encourage travellers to either stay in Port Douglas until the day after, or go to Cairns the day before. We can provide limited services only during the closure.
Every year the Cairns IRONMAN closes the entire Captain Cook highway from about 5.30am to 5.30pm.
In 2024 the Cairns IRONMAN closes the highway on 16 June.
If you are flying in or out of Cairns on 16 June 2024 this is particularly important for you, because you cannot easily travel down the Captain Cook Highway between 5:30am and 5:30pm.
Our travel options on 16 June 2024 will be:
- Leave Port Douglas – we will announce available shuttle in April 2024 but every year we generally run an early shuttle direct down the highway at 4:00am which is good for AM flight departures from Cairns. In 2023 we also ran a 10:00am shuttle from Port Douglas via Mareeba which takes 2.5 hours,
- Leave Port Douglas once the highway reopens after 5:30pm.
- Arrivals at Cairns Airport: In 2023 we ran a 1:00pm bus from Cairns Airport via Mareeba which takes 2.5 hours. All other flights will need to wait at Cairns Airport until the highway reopens at 5:30pm. Access into Cairns is possible but restricted as the Ironman event restricts access all the way to Cairns Lagoon on the Esplanade.
- The primary purpose of this post is to encourage anyone travelling on 16 June 2024 to ideally avoid travel on the day and make arrangements to minimise the impact of the road closure, and maximise your holiday time 🌴😎
