Travelling through Far North Queensland, you discover that “sustainability” is more than an idea—it’s something you do with your own hands. You take part in meaningful activities such as planting native trees, assembling “moon sick” bags for Aboriginal women in remote areas, surveying coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, and helping restore local mangroves. Each project makes a real difference for communities and the environment.
Along the way, you explore the beauty of two iconic UNESCO World Heritage areas: the Wet Tropics and the Great Barrier Reef. In the rainforest, an Aboriginal guide shows you edible and medicinal plants and shares stories and traditions from the Mbabaram people. Then, on the Reef, you glide through clear water alongside brilliant corals and tropical fish, experiencing firsthand why this vibrant underwater world is worth protecting.
for 15 or more students
for 10-14 students
Details
- Complete a service project for women in remote communities
- Spend time on country with an Indigenous guide and his family
- Contribute to ongoing efforts in reef health monitoring
- Participate in a sustainability presentation with Small World Journeys’ owner
- Plant native trees to help revitalise a degraded tropical landscape
- Plunge into a dazzling show of colour and life at the outer Great Barrier Reef and help the reef with a community service project
- Enjoy a refreshing splash down a natural rainforest waterslide
15+ students: $1834 AUD per person (inc GST)
10-14 students: $1889 AUD per person (inc GST)
Includes:
- Risk assessment
- Cairns airport transfers
- All activities as described in the itinerary
- Transportation to activities
- Small World Journeys guide for Days 1, 2, 3, and 5
- Marine biologist on Day 4
- Specialty guides and Indigenous educators
- 4 nights central Cairns 3-star hotel (2, 3 or 4-share rooms)*
- All breakfasts
- All lunches
- All dinners except on Day 4
- Mask, fins, snorkel, lycra/wet suit hire on reef trip
- 101 Marine Animals of the Great Barrier Reef field guide for each student
- National Park and Marine Park taxes and levies
- Trees for replanting, craft materials & stencil materials for service projects
- Reusable water bottle and cloth shopping bag
- Donation made to Reef Restoration Foundation to the “Care for Coral” program on behalf of your group (we give you a certificate on your trip)
- NEW: we offset the carbon emissions from your trip activities AND your flight to Cairns through Reforest
*Two teacher rooms (private twin or triple share rooms) are included in the trip price for groups of 15 students or more. For trips with low numbers (10-14), one teacher room is included. A supplement is charged if an additional private room is required for the trip. If teachers are happy to share a room, no additional costs are incurred.
Small World Journeys reserves the right to change the order of activities for logistical reasons.
Prices are valid for travel 1 April 2026 until 31 March, 2027 outside of peak travel times.
(If you wish to travel before 1 April 2026, ask us about 2025-26 pricing)
Peak times: 1-7 April | 21 June – 13 July | 19 September – 6 October 2026
- Airfare to Cairns
- 1 dinner
- Personal expenses (souvenirs, laundry, etc.)
Planning Your Trip
ACCESSIBILITY MENU: Small World Journeys’ website provides an accessibility menu. Visitors to our website can click on the “person” icon on the right side of the screen to bring up this menu. Options include increasing/decreasing font size, increasing/decreasing contrast, dyslexia-friendly fonts, and the ability to hide images, among other things.
BOOKING FORM: On our online booking form, we ask all participants to list any special needs they have, be them medical, dietary, or accessibility needs. We also offer free sensory packs to our guests who are neurodivergent, which include headphones, a timer for transitions, a squeezy fidget toy, and other treats to appeal to the senses like flavoured lip balm.
WAIVER FORMS: We understand that not all of our participants’ parents have a strong command of written English and therefore understanding and signing our on-line waiver may prove challenging. We therefore have our wavier form available in the following languages on request: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
Arrival at Cairns Airport
ACCESSIBLE TOILETS: Public toilets are located throughout the terminals. Each toilet facility includes an accessible toilet suitable for wheelchair access.
TGSI and HEARING LOOPS: The Cairns Airport makes use of Tactile Ground Service Indicators (TGSI) and Hearing Loops to assist people with vision impairments and hearing difficulties, respectively. For example, Braille is included on toilet doors/signs to assist a person with vision impairment locate the correct facility.
ASSISTANCE FOR HIDDEN DISABILITIES: If you or someone you are travelling with has a hidden disability, you can request a hidden disability lanyard through a form here. Wearing a sunflower lanyard when you are at Cairns Airport is a discreet way for you to indicate to the airport team that you may need a little extra help, guidance or time with the airport processes. The airport team has been trained to recognise the lanyard and provide the assistance and support you may need. Some of the airport staff will also be wearing a Sunflower badge on their shirts or lanyards to help you feel a little more at ease.
VISUAL AND WRITTEN STORY GUIDES: Visual Story Guides are available for Domestic Arrivals and have been designed to help you to understand how an airport works and what to expect. Written Story Guides are also available for Domestic Arrivals.
Our Safety Talks
Our arrival safety talk is done verbally but is supported by cards that illustrate the main talking points. Similarly, our snorkelling safety talk is done in the same manner, supported by cards with pictures and illustrations.
We can provide a transcript of our safety talk to any hearing-impaired guest.
Transport
Our buses have two steps up of approximately 40 cms to get inside. There is no lift for a wheelchair or mobility device. Similarly, on occasion we hire large coaches for bigger groups and those buses also have two steps up of about 40 cms to get inside. All buses are equipped with seatbelts.
Presentations & Workshops
OUR OFFICE & PRESENTATION SPACE: We use the Small World Journeys office space for presentations, workshops and some community service projects. There is a rise of approximately 2 cm to enter the presentation room. We have one accessible, gender-neutral toilet block with shower.
In the outside area of our office, planes fly overhead frequently and the noise can be startling and confronting. However, as part of the terms of construction, the entire building has sound mitigation devices (double glazed windows, etc.) which creates the opportunity for multiple breakout spaces for neuro-divergent people who desire a quiet space with reduced stimuli.
Our presentations are designed to appeal to both visual and auditory learners. We can provide a transcript of our presentations to any hearing-impaired guest.
NOVOTEL PRESENTATION SPACE: We also use Novotel Cairns Oasis Resort for presentations at dinnertime.
Overall accessible resort information:
- All entries to the hotel are wheelchair-accessible
- 2 accessible spaces in the on-site car park, near lifts
- 1 accessible toilet in hotel lobby (hand rail | grab bar)
- Most walkways within the hotel are wheelchair-accessible
- Well-lit main areas
- All meeting rooms are accessible
- Braille call buttons for lifts on each floor (external)
- On-site restaurant & breakfast buffet is mostly accessible – Please ask for assistance at hot food station.
Hotels
FLEXIBILITY WITH ACCOMMODATION: We have flexibility with the accommodation we choose; therefore if we know in advance that we have a guest with a wheelchair, mobility scooter or is short statured, we can choose hotels that cater accordingly.
PREFERRED HOTEL 1: One of our preferred Cairns hotels is centrally located and one block from the waterfront. The reception and breakfast room are widely accessible through a double automatic door as there are no steps or thresholds. Accessible guest rooms are all on the ground level. The staff are happy to move the furniture around if required, and the rooms are fitted with a zipped-together queen bed or two single beds depending on preference. The under-bed clearance is 40mm, and there’s around 1000mm of space between the side of the bed and the wall. Unfortunately, the balconies have sliding door tracks and may not be completely accessible. Light switches are all large dish-style type and located 1000mm from the floor in accessible locations. The air conditioning can be remotely controlled. Moving into the bathroom: the hotel boasts accessible showers and toilets that are hobless and fitted with a fold-down seat. Both horizontal and vertical grab rails are fitted and the shower is home to a hot and cold flick mixer tap. The lifts which provide access to the third accessible room provide ample space for wheelchairs, and also boast buttons fitted with Braille.
PREFERRED HOTEL 2: A second preferred hotel is also centrally located. With accessible rooms that boast a double bed and a single bed, the staff at Coral Tree Inn are also happy to move the room furniture around to suit guests who use a wheelchair or mobility device. With a coffee and tea making space and a small bar fridge at hand, the TV can also be controlled by the remote. It’s worth noting that at this hotel the air conditioning unit cannot be operated by a remote. There is an accessible combined toilet and shower facility fitted with grab rails and a fold-down set. The shower is also hobless for added accessibility. Unfortunately, the balconies have sliding door tracks and may not be accessible to all guests, and there are also no designated accessible parking bays. However, there is ample room for drop offs immediately in front of reception.
Entering the reception may also be a little difficult as the door is manual, but staff are always happy to assist (and man the desk 24 hours). There are wide paths that lead from the reception to every area of the resort, including the BBQ area, the pool and the adjoining dining room.
Meals & Restaurants
FLEXIBILITY WITH RESTAURANTS & CATERING: We have quite a bit of flexibility with the restaurants we choose; therefore if we know in advance that we have a guest with a wheelchair, mobility scooter or is short statured, we can choose restaurants that cater accordingly.
We offer flexible menu options for people who have food allergies or intolerances, and in many cases religious requirements relating to food.
Guests are given space on our online booking form to specify their allergy, intolerance or religious requirement. On arrival we then give them a bag containing, for example, lactose-free milk, nut-free cereal and snacks, and/or other food items that cater to this allergy or intolerance. Unfortunately, we are not able to guarantee catering for preferences like low carb meals or FODMAP.
Similarly, we inform all caterers and restaurants of our guests’ food allergies or intolerances. Breakfast is typically served at the hotel, whilst lunches are often boxed lunches as we move around quite a bit on our tours.
Activities
If we are informed in the planning phase of your trip about any participants or (potential participants) who have disabilities or special needs, we can suggest certain activities over others or suggest certain boats to the reef. For example, one boat that travels to the reef has a lift for a guest in a wheelchair to get in and out of the water which is a great choice for guests with wheelchairs or mobility devices. Conversely, we know that the facilities on the boat that travels to the Fitzroy Island reef is not well set up for those with wheelchairs or mobility devices. We also can include activities such as the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, which recognises and supports the Sunflower program for people with hidden disabilities.
On this particular trip, there are quite a few activities:
Indigenous Culture Experience
People using a wheelchair or mobility device can access the first 500m to the look-out on the Lake Barrine board walk to view the giant trees, and the on country experience is limited to a covered area with a marquee – the walking trails are not wheelchair accessible. Groups can be kept to under 10 people for guests with mild to moderate hearing impairments so guide can project their voice loud enough for guest to hear; guides like to have one on one conversations & questions if guests needed. There are many quiet spots in the park where people who are neurodivergent can rest.
Great Barrier Reef Trip
- The boat cannot accommodate persons using wheelchairs and mobility devices.
- Safety instructions are given verbally (no written instructions available).
- The captain is the first point of call for any questions or queries in regards to accessibility and/or special requirements that guests may have on the day.
- Assistance dogs are permitted, but must be confirmed with the reservations team prior to the trip.
- The boat uses pictogram signs (for example a pictogram showing feet standing on coral with a red line through it) to assist people with low literacy levels or who speak English as a second language. The company also has risk snorkel assessment forms in Japanese & Chinese for those nationalities.
- The distance from the Reef Fleet terminal to the vessel is approximately 150 metres; unfortunately no assistance is available for guests with mobility impairments.
- Lunch catering is sourced from a third party contractor who supply very detailed ingredient lists on request. Most dietary restrictions (gluten or lactose free, vegan, nut-free) can be accommodated.
- Although the boat itself does not have a specific low-stimulus quiet area, there are places on the island that could serve in this capacity.
- The island has dirt tracks and uneven terrain to get to the turtle rehab centre, and the beach front is mostly coral rubble.
Wooroonooran National Park: Josephine Falls
The toilets, picnic shelter and picnic tables in the car park area are wheelchair and mobility device-accessible. Wheelchair and mobility device access is available to the viewing platform at the top area. Stairs lead to the bottom pool where swimming takes place. People with hearing impairments can read the interpretive panels at the falls. There is a spot on site where a person who is neurodivergent could find a quiet space with reduced stimuli.
Tree Planting
There are no accessible toilets at the tree planting site and no provisions for people who use a wheelchair or mobility device. . There is a spot on site where a person who is neurodivergent could find a quiet space with reduced stimuli. People with hearing impairments can easily be shown visually how to plant the trees and those with vision impairments will also be assisted by our guides.
Drain Stencilling Project For The Reef
There are no accessible toilets at the sites where we do this project and no provisions for people who use a wheelchair or mobility device. There are not necessarily any spots on site where a person who is neurodivergent could find a quiet space with reduced stimuli. People with hearing impairments can easily be shown visually how to do this project and but there are no special accommodations for those with vision impairments.
Departure at Airport
VISUAL AND WRITTEN STORY GUIDES: Visual Story Guides are available for Domestic Departures and have been designed to help you to understand how an airport works and what to expect. Written Story Guides are also available for Domestic Departures.
Excursion Safety & Compliance Checklist
1. Check Small World Journeys Safety Record
☐ Demonstrated excellent safety record with thousands of high school students – both Australian students and international students
☐ Teacher safety references available on request
☐ Proven experience delivering school excursions and educational tours
2. Risk Management & Documentation
☐ Written risk assessment completed for every excursion
☐ Risk assessment provided to organising teacher prior to departure
☐ Activities governed by documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
☐ Crisis Management Plan in place and available to schools
☐ Daily risk review conducted by guides during the program
3. Student Safety Briefings
☐ Mandatory student safety briefing delivered during program orientation
☐ Briefing addresses local environmental hazards and regional risks
☐ Clear expectations for student behaviour and group safety
4. Transport Safety
☐ All buses fitted with seatbelts for every passenger
☐ Vehicles exceed Queensland minimum legal requirements
☐ Daily vehicle safety checks conducted by guides
☐ Buses undergo Department of Transport inspections every 12 months
5. Guide Qualifications & Child Safety
☐ All guides hold current Senior First Aid certification
☐ All guides hold current CPR certification
☐ Valid Driver’s Authority held by guides when driving
☐ Valid Working With Children Check (Blue Card)
☐ Guides have undergone thorough background screening
☐ Guides trained in duty of care, code of conduct with teenagers and risk management
6. Supervision & Duty of Care
☐ Appropriate student-to-guide supervision ratios
☐ Teachers supported by experienced trained guides
☐ Clear lines of responsibility for student wellbeing and incident response
7. Compliance Assurance
☐ Program aligns with school excursion policies and approval requirements
☐ Documentation suitable for principal approval and risk review
☐ Ongoing communication with schools before and during the excursion
Itinerary
Arrive in Cairns:
Welcome to the tropics! On arrival in Cairns, you are met by a Small World Journeys staff member and take part in a safety briefing and program orientation, setting expectations for a sustainability-focused learning experience.
Sustainability Talk:
Your first activity is an interactive sustainability presentation designed to align with high school Sustainability curriculum outcomes. Using a lively game-show format, students test their current understanding of sustainability while being introduced to key concepts such as environmental footprints, social equity, circular economies, and responsible consumption. The engaging format sparks discussion, critical thinking, and plenty of laughs—creating a positive tone for the rest of the program.
Community Service Project:
Students then participate in a hands-on service-learning project by making “Moon Sick Pads” for women and girls in need. These reusable, washable menstrual pads provide a healthier, more sustainable, and cost-effective alternative to disposable products, helping address both environmental waste and social inequality. During the activity, students develop basic sewing skills, explore the social and cultural barriers surrounding menstruation, and learn about the environmental benefits of reusable products within a sustainability framework. The finished Moon Sick Pads are donated to women in Indigenous communities or through the Queensland Health Indigenous Health Unit, where access to menstrual products can be limited and stigma still exists. This project highlights how practical action can support sustainability, wellbeing, and social justice.
(Note: Alternatives to this project are available, such as making comfort packs for Cairns’ homeless and needy people – just ask us)
Accommodation: Cairns 3-star hotel
Meals Included: Dinner
Rainforest Discovery with Indigenous Guide:
Today you explore the rainforest through the perspective of an Indigenous guide, visiting culturally significant sites of the Bundaburra Yidinji people. Beginning at a sacred tree and continuing to volcanic crater lakes, you learn how seasonal cycles shaped daily life, food systems, hunting practices, and cultural traditions. Your guide explains how Indigenous peoples navigated dense rainforest, built shelters, and sustainably used native plants for food, tools, medicine, and ceremony. A powerful creation story highlights the deep connection between culture, Country, and long-term environmental stewardship.
Indigenous Family Time on Country:
Travelling into the drier Mbabaram Country, you spend meaningful time on Native Title land with members of your guide’s family. You learn about ancestral connections, the cultural importance of land, and the role of moieties in social and ceremonial life. A guided bush walk introduces native species used for food and materials, including trees traditionally crafted into didgeridoos. The experience concludes with homemade damper and jam made from rainforest berries, reinforcing themes of sustainable living, local food systems, and intergenerational knowledge sharing.
Cuisine & Culture:
This evening you take part in a powerful cultural exchange as a refugee now living in Cairns shares her personal story and culinary traditions. Together, you prepare a traditional meal from her home country, learning how food connects culture, identity, and resilience. This hands-on experience builds empathy and global awareness, helping students understand the social dimensions of sustainability, displacement, and multicultural communities—while developing practical life skills and sharing a memorable meal together.
Accommodation: Cairns 3-star hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Mangrove Boardwalk Discovery:
Your day begins in a vital mangrove ecosystem, a key focus area within sustainability studies. Guided along a raised boardwalk, you investigate how mangroves function as highly productive coastal systems that protect shorelines, filter pollutants, and provide critical nursery habitat for fish and marine species linked to the Great Barrier Reef. You explore plant adaptations such as salt regulation and discuss why healthy mangroves are essential for both human communities and reef resilience.
Creek Cleanup:
Next, you follow a local creek as it flows through the mangroves toward the ocean, examining the pathway of land-based pollution. Equipped with gloves and rubbish bags, you take part in a hands-on waterway clean-up, removing household waste before it reaches the reef. You record and compare results as a group, reinforcing the link between individual actions, catchments, and marine ecosystem health.
Service Project for the Reef:
Your sustainability focus continues with a community awareness project. By stencilling educational messages on stormwater drains, you help highlight how urban runoff impacts waterways, oceans, and coral reefs. This creative service-learning activity demonstrates how simple behavioural change and public education can reduce pollution and support long-term reef protection.
Future of the Reef Talk:
In the evening back in Cairns, you attend an engaging presentation on the future of the Great Barrier Reef. Led by a marine naturalist, the session examines reef health, clarifies misconceptions about coral bleaching and climate change, and explores the environmental impacts of tourism. You learn about the four major threats facing the reef, emerging solutions such as assisted coral evolution, and—most importantly—practical actions students can take to support reef conservation and sustainability beyond the excursion.
Accommodation: Cairns 3-star hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
The Great Barrier Reef:
Today you depart early for the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a cornerstone case study for sustainability education. Travelling by boat to the rainforest-fringed shores of Fitzroy Island, you access a vibrant fringing reef directly from the beach. After a snorkelling safety and equipment briefing, you explore the reef firsthand, observing coral ecosystems, marine biodiversity, and the delicate balance that supports reef resilience.
CoralWatch Data Collection:
At the reef, you take part in a hands-on citizen science activity focused on climate change and coral bleaching. Working in pairs, you learn how and why coral bleaching occurs, identify different coral types, and match coral colours using waterproof CoralWatch charts. Your data is submitted to scientists at the University of Queensland’s CoralWatch program, contributing to global monitoring of reef health and long-term climate trends. Your group also receives a visual summary of your results.
Field Guide:
Each student receives 101 Animals of the Great Barrier Reef by Dr Martin Cohen, a practical field guide that supports species identification, ecosystem understanding, and ongoing learning beyond the excursion.
Microplastic Service Project:
Following your visit to the turtle rehabilitation centre, you participate in a beach microplastics clean-up, searching for tiny plastic fragments and marine debris that threaten turtles and other wildlife. This sustainability-focused service project highlights the impacts of pollution on marine food webs and helps leave the reef environment healthier than you found it.
Accommodation: Cairns 3-star hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Native Tree Planting Service Work:
This morning you explore the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss linked to land clearing, agriculture, and urban development. Working alongside your guide and local volunteers, you take part in hands-on native tree planting, helping to restore habitat, stabilise ecosystems, and improve microclimates by moderating temperature and humidity. This biodiversity hotspot forms a vital buffer to a nearby World Heritage area, making your sustainability service work a meaningful contribution to long-term environmental resilience and community conservation efforts.
National Park & Josephine Falls:
Later, you visit one of Queensland’s most iconic natural landscapes within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Accompanied by your Small World Journeys guide, you enjoy an easy rainforest walk, listening for native birdlife before reaching the spectacular cascades of Josephine Falls. Here, Josephine Creek flows over smooth granite boulders into clear swimming pools and a natural rock slide—an unforgettable highlight that allows students to connect with protected natural environments in a fun and memorable way.
Later you are transferred to the Cairns airport for your flight home.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
How Your Trip Makes The World A Better Place
We’re not talking rainbows and unicorns. We’re talking about how we have put significant thought into how to make our student tours as safe as they possibly can be while still being fun; encouraging students to learn about and contribute to the community they are travelling in; and teaching them what “sustainability” really means.
Sustainability
OUR COMMITMENT: We are determined and motivated to be the most sustainable business we can be. This is why we run our office on renewable energy, voluntarily offset our carbon emissions (AND your flights to get to us!), and fulfilling our policy to give at least 5% of our annual net profits to local environmental and community organisations and charities. Here’s what else we are doing:
HELPING THE REEF: For every group that visits the reef, we make a donation to the Reef Restoration Foundation (RRF) to support their "Care for a Coral" program. The coral propagation work led by RRF is groundbreaking and recognised as a major initiative in efforts to help restore the reef. Each group receives a "Care for a Coral" certificate from RRF as a token of our contribution and commitment to reef conservation.
ADOPTING A RAINFOREST PLOT IN YOUR NAME: For each group that visits the rainforest, we contribute to the not-for-profit organisation Reforest to support the planting and nurturing of a tree, helping to regenerate the endangered Mabi rainforest. As part of your excursion, your group will receive a certificate recognising this meaningful gift to the environment.
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Community
SUPPORTING OUR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY: It is our policy to include a talk or an activity with an Aboriginal person on every trip we offer. By taking this trip, you are supporting grassroots Indigenous tourism ventures and encouraging Aboriginal pride in culture.Additionally, our student community service project involves students in making “Moon Sick Care Bags” which supply re-usable sanitary products to Aboriginal women in remote communities — this helps both Indigenous women AND the environment! (Ask us how your group can do this on their tour)
SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES: It is our policy to use locally owned suppliers and businesses unless their standards are not up to par (for example, if they have a bad environmental record).
VOLUNTEERING IN OUR COMMUNITY: Small World staff are incentivised to volunteer in the community...
Safety
SUPERB SAFETY RECORD: Small World Journeys has safely hosted thousands of Australian high school students on educational excursions across Australia. We are proud of our excellent safety record and are happy to provide teacher references specifically addressing student safety and risk management on request.
RISK ASSESSMENT FOR EVERY TRIP: A comprehensive risk assessment is completed for every school excursion and provided to the organising teacher prior to departure. All activities operate under documented safety protocols outlined in our Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Manual, supported by a detailed Crisis Management Plan. In addition, all students receive a mandatory safety briefing during orientation, addressing regional hazards, environmental risks, and expected behaviours relevant to Far North Queensland.
SAFE BUSES: All vehicles used on our student excursions are fitted with seatbelts for every passenger, exceeding Queensland legal requirements because student safety is our priority. Our guides conduct daily vehicle safety checks, and all buses undergo Department of Transport safety inspections every 12 months, ensuring compliance with national transport standards.
We do custom trips!
Still haven’t found exactly what you are looking for? All our tours are fully customisable and can be catered to suit your time-frame, student interests and budget. A geography excursion to the Great Barrier Reef? A biology excursion to the Daintree Rainforest? An Aboriginal culture excursion? Our educational trips in Queensland and New South Wales are hand-crafted for those who cannot find exactly what they want from the inflexible set itineraries of large tour operators.
If you are looking for a science trip, ecology trip, Aboriginal culture, or just a sample of the best of Australia – we can help.
