Sports Clubs Cairns: Reef League, Basketball & More

Cairns's sporting culture is shaped by the city's extraordinary natural environment: the Great Barrier Reef creates Australia's finest snorkelling, scuba diving, and freediving conditions; the Trinity Inlet and the Coral Sea provide excellent sailing, kayaking, and game fishing; the rainforest-clad mountains to the west provide outstanding mountain biking (Atherton Tablelands mountain biking trails are ranked among Australia's finest) and trail running; and the tropical climate (year-round warmth and the dry season's perfect conditions May-October) makes outdoor sport possible and enjoyable virtually every day of the year. Rugby league (the Cairns Flames in the Far North Queensland Rugby League) and the North Queensland Cowboys (Townsville) as the regional NRL support, basketball (the Cairns Taipans NBL team is the city's most prominent professional sporting club), and touch football (one of Australia's fastest-growing community sports, with Cairns having some of Australia's most active touch football competitions) are the dominant team sports.

Cairns Taipans — the Cairns Taipans (Cairns Convention Centre court, Spence Street) are the NBL's far north Queensland basketball club and one of the competition's most distinctive teams, playing in what is regularly described as one of the NBL's most passionate and electric home environments. The Taipans' playing group has historically included a significant number of American and Pacific Islander players alongside Australian talent, creating a team that reflects the multicultural character of Cairns itself. NBL games at the Cairns Convention Centre are among the most atmospheric sporting events on the far north Queensland calendar.

Great Barrier Reef Water Sports — Cairns is Australia's scuba diving capital, with the extraordinary access to the Great Barrier Reef (the Outer Reef dive sites are 90 minutes by fast catamaran from the Cairns City Marina) creating conditions that attract divers from across Australia and the world. The Cairns dive industry (with operators including Reef Magic, Calypso, and the Poseidon Outer Reef) provides outstanding learn-to-dive programs and guided reef dive experiences for beginners and experienced divers alike.

Mountain Biking and Trail Running — the Atherton Tablelands mountain biking network (accessible from Cairns in approximately 90 minutes) provides some of Australia's finest trail riding, with the Atherton and Lake Barrine trail networks offering everything from beginner-friendly green trails to expert red and black descents through the tropical rainforest.

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