There are a tonne of day trips to head off on in Australia – one of the many reasons why Aussie is the number 1 travel location! Most of the top spots are along the East Coast, the most popular backpacker route in the country.
From sky diving to diving in the ocean, to some incredible coastlines and islands, you’re in for a treat.
We’ll be sharing with you all about:
- Skydiving at some epic locations on the coast…
- Day trips you can do from Sydney and Melbourne
- Can you see the Whitsundays in a day?
- The ultimate Great Barrier Reef day adventure
As you travel up or down the East Coast, you’re gonna want to be stopping off at all of these epic adventure spots we’re about to tell you about.
And don’t forget, when it comes to booking these trips, we can get you a load of fab deals so you don’t have to break the bank to see these beaut places.
You can book most of these trips with us around a week or two in advance, so you can be super spontaneous and flexible.
Click images to see more.
Day trips
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef 100% has to be on your Aussie bucket list – if it’s not, what are you playing at! It’s an epic spot, it’s one of the seven wanders of the world and it’s incredibly easy to access for a sick day trip…
- Scuba dive/snorkel day trip
- Scenic helicopter ride over the reef (cool huh?!)
Cape Tribulation / Daintree Rainforest
Cape Tribulation is just above Cairns. It is a coastal area within Daintree Rainforest and it is beaut! Just imagine it, stepping out of the rainforest straight onto the beach! Best of both worlds!!
Daintree Rainforest is a huge tropical rainforest and thought to be one of the oldest in the world.
Click here to check out the EPIC rainforest experiences
Cairns – Atherton Tablelands
A trip around the Atherton Tablelands is an epic roadie if you’ve got a camper, oooooorrr you can hop on a tour and see the sites that way.
This park is waterfall paradise – the whole environment is so beautiful and untouched. The top spots are:
- Millaa Millaa Falls – the home of Peter Andre’s Mysterious Girl vid.
- Lake Echam – a huge volcanic lake.
- Josepine Falls – natual waterslide and plunge pool.
- Babinda Boulders – this is a goooood view point.
Skydive
Feeling brave and up for an adrenaline rush like no other?? Experience the sky high activity thats on every backpackers aussie bucketlist and get your heart pumping for a crazy experience of falling out of a plane that you will never forget!
Where to skydive?
- Cairns
- Mission beach
- Airlie Beach
- Byron Bay
Need some more location inspo? Check out our locations here
Whitsundays day trip
Ever wanted to visit one of the worlds best beaches? Well here in the Whitsundays you can!
You can head off on a sailing trip around the islands for a couple of days or if you’re short for time, why not zoom around in a speed boat and see it that way?
Ocean Rafting is the ULTIMATE day tour of the Whitsundays, these legends from Ocean Rafting are at the top of the Whitsundays game and produce awesome memorable trips day in day out.
Thinking about a longer tour for the Whitsundays? Check out the overnight sailing trips here.
Byron Bay
We always have a lot to say about Byron as it’s the home to RatPack yeeeewwww. So, we have not 1, but 3 activities to head off on for a wicked day trip.
- Sea kayaking with dolphins – You’ll be able to get up close and personal with the locals and see the many pods of dolphins that live in the waters of Byron Bay.
- Nimbin day tour – Join the legends from the Happy Coach for the day to visit Australia’s most iconic hippie destination and alternative lifestyle capital, Nimbin!
- Surfing – When you hit up the bay come and hang with us and Blackdog surf school for a true ozzie experience of learning to surf.
In need of some more inspiration of things to do whilst you are in the bay? Click here to find out our TOP tips…
Sydney – Blue Mountains
Just outside of the hustle of Sydney city life is the incredible Blue Mountains National Park, if you are into unreal views and a bit of nature – this is a bit of YOU.
The Blue Mountain range offers one million hectares of tall forests, sandstone cliffs, canyons, caves, walking tracks and waterfalls! It’s here that you’ll find the famous three sisters rock formation – which is an EPIC site to see.
The legends over at Coast Warriors are the ultimate day trip to see the beauty of the Blue Mountains (and have some bants in the process).. click here to read more about this unreal experience..
Melbourne – St Kilda
St Kilda is a beachy suburb of Melbourne. You can get to it if you hop on the city tram.
This beachside spot makes for an epic day trip. After a day soaking up the sun on the beach or checking out Luna Park, head to the breakwater at the end of St Kilda pier at sunset for the chance to spot some wild penguins.
Let the adventure begin...
Are you planning your trip and wondering HOW to put it all together? It can feel pretty overwhelming right? We have been there and felt exactly the same and now the RatPack crew are here to help YOU!
We can help you by:
- Planning you an EPIC route that works perfectly with your timeframe and budget
- Hook you up with discounted campervan rentals
- Sharing with you REAL advice from our crew that have all backpacked Australia
- Get you EPIC discounts on every trip and tour and method of transport.
- AND we’ll be there for you every step of the way…
About the Author: Sammy
with RatPack Travel?
5-Star Google Rated
From our RatPackers
Ben was amazing and went above and beyond to find us amazing deals and exactly what we were looking for. He did it all in record time too! We were very close to our travel date and Ben was doing so much for us so quickly! Definitely recommend
Mikey was fantastic from start to finish. He was so efficient and easy to talk to. 10/10 for him, would highly recommend the service. So happy I chose to go with RatPack Travel.
Friendly helpful and accommodating. Thanks Ryan. You made it all very easy.
Great service from Ben, came back with answers within minutes and walked us through the process, great experience, thanks Ben
George was fantastic, I came in very vague and he gave me the time and examples to lock in what we were looking for. He found great deals and was easy to talk to - he was able to give tips about the process without putting any pressure. Would recommend using Ratpack.
Ben made it so fast and easy for us to reserve our camper van for our trip in the fall! Excellent service!’n
I had a call with Ryan who was super nice, knowledgable and made me feel really at ease with making my decision. He asked me all about what I want to do and achieve on my trip, although I didn’t really want to pack too much in… nor gave much detail on what I want to do, he gave options and ideas for me to look into. He used his own experience as an example which was really helpful to hear and made me feel like I’m right at home with RatPack, I knew then I was making the right choice by talking to him. He answered any questions I had, even if they seemed like silly questions to ask. The booking process is really easy and straight forward, they do all the hard parts for you. Once Ryan talked me through my options, I made my selection and all I had to do was enter my card details for the deposit and I was done! Thanks to Ryan’s detailed and calm approach I knew I was booking with the right company/team. I can’t wait for the next step!!
George has been amazing. He put together the costings for our trip, and then I changed the dates completely and he redid everything and said it wasn’t a problem. I felt that he worked hard to get me the best deal, advised me which pickup town was the best deal, when was the best time to travel, and how I could save money by adding a day to our trip (yes, it was cheaper to go for 21 days than go for 20!). George sent through mountains of advice on travel destinations, camping sites etc. I would definitely recommend RatPack Travel and George.
The Ratpack team and specifically Ryan f were great for booking our dream New Zealand campervan trip. Ryan worked hard over several days trying to find the best possible deals for us and the communication was great with updates regularly. He was able to get us 2 vans that out did any other quotes that we received and we are really looking forward to our trip with Ratpack being by our side. Thanks a lot Ryan F!
Lovely people, more than helpful.
I am so stoked with the service I received from Ryan at RatPack Travel. He was so proactive and on the ball to help me with all my questions and variations. He gave me several options and gave me other things to look at to make sure I had all that I needed. Ryan did all the legwork in following up the availability of the type of van I wanted. If you are wanting to go on a Campervan holiday no matter how long or short, I would recommend RatPack Travel! They will be you support in every step of the process, in the lead up and while on the road. Thanks Ryan! You're a legend! They are a one stop shop when it comes to sourcing campervans and motorhomes from different providers! I nearly forgot to say - he got me a great deal on a newer model. ;)
Thijs and Gemma were just so lovely to communicate with and explained everything so well. Booked us our campervan seamlessly, and with a great deal too 😊 10/10 service from them both!! Couldn’t recommend more! 😊
Ben was super helpful, easy to deal with and always got back to all my questions nice and quickly, with all the campervan options out there we really didn’t know what one to go with but Ben did all the searching for us and made the whole process really simple.
Amazing and outstanding customer service, Ryan exceeded all expectations, he and his team found the perfect deal for us, if you are looking for renting a campervan in NZ or Oz, don’t look for more! Go straight to them and you’ll see you are in the best hands! 🙌
Greg was superb! We told him what we wanted in a camper van. Even with less than two weeks notice, he didn’t disappoint. We loved our camper van and it was perfect for the two of us!
