Earliest flight out of Cairns?

[v0max]

My wife and I have booked a 7-day trip on the Spirit of Freedom for December. We're looking to head to Melbourne right after this, and to maximize our time there, we found a [relatively] cheap flight that departs at 9:20am. How long does it take to get to the airport? The website claims the boat gets back at 7:30am, so looking at Google Maps, this seems feasible (assuming we skip the last dive of the previous day, etc.). Is this a terrible terrible idea?

The main issue is how much variance there is with the 7:30am arrival time, how long it takes to de-board, get to the airport, etc.

 

[clownfishsydney]

It is only 15 to 20 minutes at that time of the day from the port to the airport. However, if you are using someone like JetStar, then you must be there 60 minutes before the flight. A minute later, you will not get on board. My view is that it is too close, if you are even 30 minutes late back in port, then you have problems. Are you sure that it arrives back in the morning and not during the night? It may come back during the night and you get off in the morning.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

The boat actually gets in about 06:30 and then you have breakfast on board before disembarking. Don't set your watch by the times as sea conditions etc can speed up or delay the travel time, but this is the general times to plan for. So you could miss breakfast and get a cab from Trinity Wharf to go straight to the airport. Call a cab as you pull into the wharf. 20mins is correct to allow travel time to the airport.

 

[bracko]

does 9:20 am give you 18 hours surface interval from the last SoF dive? while I think they do offer Nitrox the diving is pretty intensive around Cod Hole if you're coming back down the coast that way. we did (on Mike Ball) I think 9 dives in the final two days of the trip.