Bestseller1,046 reviews
10 hCairns: Waterfall Tour with Lunch
★ 4.7 · 1,046 reviews
- 10h
- Hotel pickup included
- Bestseller
- Free cancellation
$118$11.80 / hour
Check availability→ The waterfall day
Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour: the full day
An Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour here means one listing: ten hours on the plateau at $118, with lunch in its own title and 1,046 reviews behind it at 4.7. Two other days work the same rainforest differently — an eight-hour evening that stays out after dark, and five and a half hours in the water of a gorge.
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An Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour, at a glance
- The waterfall day
- $11810 hours · 1,046 reviews at 4.7
- The rainforest evening
- $1538 hours · 201 reviews at 4.8
- The gorge day
- $1845.5 hours · 229 reviews at 4.9
- Cost per hour, waterfall day
- $11.80the lowest hourly figure of the three
- What the listing names
- Waterfallsthe waterfalls and rainforests of North Queensland, across a full day, with lunch
- Reviews across the three
- 1,476added up from the three listings compared here
- Same country from the air
- $310the from-price on this site: a five-hour balloon morning above the same plateau
- Cancellation
- Free cancellationcarried by all three listings on this page, as the booking pages state
Quick answer
The short answer. There is one full Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour sold here and it is $118 for ten hours, rated 4.7 on 1,046 reviews — the most of any single listing on this site, where the next has 886. If you would rather be in the water than beside it, the gorge day at $184 is five and a half hours of slides, jumps and an abseil, rated 4.9 on 229. For the same forest after dark, the eight-hour evening at $153 is rated 4.8 on 201.
The day itself
What a ten-hour day on the plateau buys
Ten hours, one plateau, and the most reviewed listing on this site.
The waterfalls sit where the plateau drops away: creeks that run quietly across farmed country and then fall off the edge of it into rainforest. That is why an Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour is published as a ten-hour day rather than an afternoon. The falls are spread out, the plateau is a drive inland and uphill from the coast, and the listing has to collect you, take you up, work its way round and bring you back. Its own description does not overreach: the waterfalls and rainforests of North Queensland, on a full day up there.
Ten hours at $118 works out at $11.80 an hour, the cheapest hour on this site, and lunch is written into the title. What the listing does not publish is a stop list, so we are not going to name falls it has not named — those are on the operator’s page you check out through. The number worth holding on to is 1,046: that is how many people have reviewed this Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour at 4.7, the most of any single listing on this site, where the next has 886.
The listings
Three days on the same plateau, one by one
One waterfall day and two listings that work the same rainforest differently. Lengths and ratings are the operators’ published figures.
- The waterfall day, $118, 10 hours
Rated 4.7 on 1,046 reviews. The full Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour: waterfalls and rainforests of North Queensland across a whole day, lunch in the title. Lowest road fare on the site and the lowest cost per hour at $11.80.
- The rainforest evening, $153, 8 hours
Rated 4.8 on 201 reviews. An uncrowded, small-group day that goes looking for platypus, tree kangaroos, musky rat-kangaroos and forest dragons, then stays out while the rainforest comes alive at night. The listing describes looking, not finding. Eight hours finishing after dark, so it takes your evening too.
- The gorge day, $184, 5.5 hours
Rated 4.9 on 229 reviews — the highest rating of the three, on a fifth of the feedback. Rainforest canyoning: slides, cliff jumps and an abseil through Behana Gorge, small groups, gear supplied, ages 8 to 80 stated on the listing. The shortest day here and the one that asks something physical of you.
- The same plateau from the air, $310, 5 hours
Rated 4.9 on 95 reviews and the from-price for this site. The balloon morning flies above the same rainforest-covered hills the waterfall day drives through, at sunrise. Five hours is the published outing, not the flight: how long the balloon stays up is not a figure the operator publishes.
Every trip, current fare
The three days and the two flights, priced by the hour
Cost per hour uses the full published length. A dash means the listing publishes no single duration to divide by, which is the case for both balloon mornings.
| Flight | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns: Waterfall Tour with LunchCairns: Waterfall Tour with Lunch | 10 h | $118 | $11.80 | 4.7 · 1,046 | |
| From Cairns: Rainforest, Platypus & Nocturnal Wildlife TourFrom Cairns: Rainforest, Platypus & Nocturnal Wildlife Tour | 8 h | $153 | $19.12 | 4.8 · 201 | |
| Cairns: Behana Gorge Rainforest Canyoning TourCairns: Behana Gorge Rainforest Canyoning Tour | 5.5 h | $184 | $33.45 | 4.9 · 229 | |
| Cairns: Hot Air Balloon Flight with TransfersCairns: Hot Air Balloon Flight with Transfers | 5 h | $310 | — | 4.9 · 95 | |
| Port Douglas: Scenic Hot Air Balloon RidePort Douglas: Scenic Hot Air Balloon Ride | 4 h | $313 | — | 5 · 23 |
After dark
What the evening adds, and what it cannot promise
Looking for animals is what the listing describes. Finding them is not promised.
The eight-hour evening at $153 is the other half of the same forest. It goes out in daylight looking for platypus in the creeks and tree kangaroos in the canopy, then waits for the rainforest to wake up at night and looks again for the animals that only move after dark. Its own words are “spot rare wildlife” and “uncrowded, personal tour”, and rare is the operative word. Nothing in the listing says a platypus will be there, and nothing here says so either.
One honest note on the numbers. The evening carries 201 reviews at 4.8 and the gorge day 229 at 4.9, against 1,046 at 4.7 for the Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour. The higher-rated listings are rated on far less evidence — a reason to read the counts next to the stars, not to avoid them.
Best time
Wet half, dry half, and what each does to the water
Two halves to the year, and both of them are sold.
North Queensland runs a dry half, roughly May to October, and a wet half, roughly November to April. That is the region’s geography, not a claim by any operator, and it is the only seasonal frame worth putting on an Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour. More rain means more water over the falls and a louder, greener forest; less rain means easier walking. Both halves are sold, and all three listings here carry free cancellation — the line to check if you are booking ahead against weather nobody can know yet.
Before you book
Four things people get wrong about the waterfall day
All four come from reading three quite different listings as one product.
- Treating ten hours as flexible
It is not. An Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour at ten hours takes the whole date, including the drive up and back. Nothing else on this site fits beside it, least of all a balloon morning that starts before dawn.
- Expecting a named list of falls
The listing does not publish one. It describes the waterfalls and rainforests of North Queensland and leaves it there. Any stop list you plan around should come off the operator’s own booking page.
- Reading 4.9 as better than 4.7
The gorge day is 4.9 on 229 reviews and the waterfall day 4.7 on 1,046 — four and a half times as much evidence behind the lower number. Both are strong; they are not the same kind of strong.
- Booking the gorge day as a gentle walk
It is not one. The listing describes slides, cliff jumps and an abseil, gear supplied, ages 8 to 80. Five and a half hours in a creek is a different purchase from ten hours of lookouts and lunch.
Verdict
Which of the three to book
With one date for the plateau, spend it on the waterfall day at $118. Ten hours, lunch in the title, $11.80 an hour, and 1,046 reviews at 4.7 — the most of any single listing on this site, where the next has 886. It is also the cheapest road day here, so the decision is rarely about money.
Verdict. Book the Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour at $118 first. Add the evening at $153 on a separate date if the forest after dark is what you came for, the gorge day at $184 if you would rather swim than look, and the balloon morning at $310 on a third date for the same plateau from above.
Want the plateau from the air, and the other inland days?
The plateau→
Book direct
Book the plateau day
All four are bookable through the booking platform, from $118 for the ten-hour waterfall day. Fares on this site start at $310 for the balloon morning above the same plateau. The number under each rating is how many people are behind it. Check the date and the pick-up point at checkout.
Likely to sell out201 reviews
8 hFrom Cairns: Rainforest, Platypus & Nocturnal Wildlife Tour
★ 4.8 · 201 reviews
- 8h, like the platypus
- Hotel pickup included
- Likely to sell out
- Free cancellation
$153$19.12 / hour
Check availability→ 
Rated 4.9229 reviews
5.5 hCairns: Behana Gorge Rainforest Canyoning Tour
★ 4.9 · 229 reviews
- 5.5h, through Behana Gorge
- Hotel pickup included
- Slides and cliff jumps
- Free cancellation
$184$33.45 / hour
Check availability→ 
Our top pick5 h
5 hCairns: Hot Air Balloon Flight with Transfers
★ 4.9 · 95 reviews
- 5h, above the Atherton Tablelands
- Hotel pickup included
- Bestseller
- Free cancellation
$310
Check availability→ Common questions
The waterfall day, answered
What does an Atherton Tablelands waterfall tour cost?
$118 for the ten-hour day with lunch, which is $11.80 an hour and the lowest road fare on this site. The gorge day is $184 and the rainforest evening $153.
How long does the waterfall day take?
Ten hours, as the operator publishes it. That is the whole date once you count the drive inland and back, so do not book anything else against it.
Which falls does it visit?
The listing does not publish a stop list. Its own description is the waterfalls and rainforests of North Queensland across a full day on the plateau. The stops are on the operator’s booking page, which is where to read them before you pay.
How many reviews does it have?
1,046 at 4.7 — the most of any single listing here; the next has 886. The gorge day has 229 at 4.9, the rainforest evening 201 at 4.8 and the balloon morning from Cairns 95 at 4.9.
Can I swim on the waterfall day?
The listing does not say, so neither will we. The day that is explicitly in the water is the gorge listing at $184, which describes slides, cliff jumps and an abseil with gear supplied.
Can I combine it with a balloon morning?
Not on the same date. The balloon listing is published at five hours from a pre-dawn pick-up and the waterfall day at ten. Book them on separate dates; both carry free cancellation if plans move.
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