Description of the attraction
Beautiful Green Island is part of the Great Barrier Reef, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. This ancient coral islet - more than 6 thousand years old - is located 45 minutes by catamaran from Cairns. It is also the only coral island of the Great Barrier Reef covered with rain forest. Local aborigines from the Gungandji tribe called the island "Dabuukji", which in their language meant "the place of the hole in the nose." They fished here and also used the Isle of Green to conduct sacred initiation rites for young men. It was forbidden to live here, since the island was considered inhabited by spirits.
In 1770, the famous British explorer, Captain James Cook, sailed by the island, who named the island after Charles Green, the ship's chief astronomer. Almost a hundred years later, in 1857, the colonization of the island by Europeans began, and a trepang farm was founded here. In 1937, the island was declared a national park, at the same time intensive development of tourism began: in 1948 the first glass-bottom boat was launched to better view the amazing corals, in 1954 the first underwater observatory was opened. Later, glass bottom boats were improved, and today you can enjoy the coral thickets on a unique "semi-submersible" boat, which works on the principle of a submarine. In 1970, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain visited the island.
This tropical paradise of just 12 hectares is home to 120 species of plants, 60 species of colorful birds and marine animals such as the green turtle or the bissa sea turtle. The rain forest, stunning in its pristine nature, reaches 25 meters in height.
The best way to experience Green Island is to hike the 2 km trail around the island. The whole journey takes about 50 minutes, during this time you can meet numerous representatives of the bird kingdom - egrets, pigeons, osprey, eagle, white-eyed or wood swallow.
