Australia Travel Forum

I have booked my first trip to Australia for my 18 year old son & I mid-July this year. I only have one week and want to hit nice Caribbean type waters. Is the only way to do that to go all the way up to Cairns? Do people go to the beach and snorkel around Sydney in July? Thank you so much for your help...am desperate!

You don't say where you are coming from. Sydney in July is cold. For Caribbean type waters I think you would be better off thinking of Bali or somewhere much further north than Sydney - Whitsundays perhaps or Cairns. Here in southern Queensland we have had very cold weather this winter - down below zero a couple of times already.

that's helpful. Where I am from it is 65F today.

65F is 18.3C. If where you are it's summer you'll find Sydney is very warm in winter (July).

Snorkelling in Sydney in July?.....brass monkeys.

Snorkelling in Sydney in July?.....brass monkeys.

Ooops, me fingers were shivering on the keyboard, sorry about the duplicate post. Longest day over here today, thankfully.

You will see so many more beautiful things snorkelling in Far North Queensland, on the Great Barrier Reef. Keep an eye on flight specials:

www.jetstar.com.au
www.virginblue.com.au

July as above have said is winter in Sydney and if the rain of the last week continues much longer we will be snorkeling instead of driving everywhere.
It has been so wet I am sick of it and my husband took me out to buy a second car today He is fed up with the rain and riding his motorbike .So I would not waste any of your week coming to Sydney if you want warm waters go elsewhere .

Thank you to everyone for your help! Not the answers I wanted to hear but exactly what I suspected! Let me know if you are ever coming to the U.S.!

Due to extreme climatic changes the World is experiencing at the moment, trying to predict the weather can be difficult because of local, on the day variations.
Most places now are seeing weather conditions well outside the norm.
The information below should be used as a guide only.

Here is the average weather for Sydney & Cairns for this time of year.
Enjoy your holiday.

Sydney
July.
High 63f / 17c
Low 46f / 8c
Rain 3.00in / 77.0mm
Rain days 9
Hours of sun 7
Daylight hours 10
UV level 3 = Moderate
Humidity = None
Sea temp 65f / 19c

Cairns
July.
High 78f / 26c
Low 62f / 17c
Rain 1.70in / 44.0mm
Rain days 9
Hours of sun 7
Daylight hours 11
UV level 7 = High
Humidity = None
Sea temp 76f / 24c

Yep, Cairns is the place to be.
This is the time of the year that the southern folk head here as you can lay in the sun and swim at the beaches.
Cairns city doesn't have a beach, but the Northern Beaches, Palm Cove being a popular one are wonderful.
Loads to do in this area, 1 week will be filled very easily.

As the others said, you'd have to fly up north for great snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. Try these sites for the best airfare -
www.flightcentre.com.au
www.jetstar.com.au
Choose either Hamilton Island or the Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine for Airlie Beach) as your destination.

I just checked them out and seems virgin blue to Hamilton Island on the 15th is the cheapest.

Have a great holiday!

Cheers, Ann.