Car hire in Cairns, QLD

To rent a car on Turo in Australia, you must create a Turo account, have a valid driver’s license, get approved to drive on Turo, and be 21 years old or older.

When you’re booking your first trip, you’ll go through a quick approval process by entering your driver’s license and some other information. In most cases, you’ll get approved immediately, and you’ll be set for all future road trips, day trips, and business trips!

Many Turo car rental vehicles are available for delivery to specific locations or popular areas in the town, like airports or hotels. Below are some popular pickup locations in Cairns:

Cairns Airport (CNS): Cairns Airport car hire on Turo skips the queue at a traditional airport car rental counter. Cairns Airport is the gateway to far North Queensland, and hosts can arrange delivery near Airport Avenue or at approved spots close to the International Airport terminal. The Turo app shares all drop off and pick up details ahead of time, including additional features like child seats or roof racks. Browse car hire deals and start your Cairns adventure the moment you land.

Cairns city and the Esplanade: If you're already in town, picking up from one location in Cairns city puts the Great Barrier Reef marina, restaurants and the Esplanade within walking distance of your hire car. Many vehicles across the CBD offer flexible meeting spots, making it easy to find the best car rental for a reef day trip or a longer east coast drive. Everything you need lives in the Turo app before your trip begins.

Northern Beaches and Palm Cove: For travellers heading straight to the northern beaches, picking up closer to Palm Cove saves the drive back from Cairns Airport and puts you right where the coastline opens up. Turo offers convenient meeting points, so you can settle in and explore at your own pace from the moment you collect your keys. Your Cairns car hire details are confirmed in the app well before you arrive.

- Holiday car rental: Tropical North Queensland is the kind of destination that fills every day with a different adventure. Reef in the morning, rainforest by afternoon, and waterfall swimming holes before sunset. Browse a diverse fleet of East Coast car rentals and pick up a spacious SUV for the family or something smaller for a solo coastal cruise, with additional features like roof racks and child seats available.

- Long term car rental: Cairns has a way of holding onto people longer than expected. A working holiday that stretches into a second season, a research placement in the tropics, or a slow drive down the east coast that keeps adding stops. Turo offers flexible booking options, including weekly and monthly rentals to fit your plans.

- Adventure car rental: Cairns is the starting point for some of Australia’s most scenic drives, from coastal highways to routes through lush rainforest. Choose from SUVs and utes that offer comfort and space for longer journeys.

You must have a valid, full, active, permanent licence to book a car in Australia. A valid licence is one that’s not expired, suspended, or revoked. 

If you have a licence issued by a country outside of Australia, Turo requires you to have a valid permanent licence issued by your home country. If your home country's licence is not written in English, you must also have an International Driving Permit or an official English translation of your home country's licence.

License requirements for booking in Australia

The minimum age to rent a vehicle on Turo in Australia is 21 years of age, with all drivers under 25 years old being subjected to an extra cost of $15/day (a.k.a the Young Driver Surcharge). Plus, if you're looking to hire certain vehicle classes, you must be 25 or older to book a Deluxe Class vehicle, and 30 or older to book a Super Deluxe Class vehicle.

You don’t need personal insurance coverage to rent a car on Turo. When renting a car in Australia, you’ll choose between the Premier (if available), Standard, and Minimum protection plans. Each plan includes varying limits on financial responsibility for damage to a host’s vehicle. All trips include up to $20,000,000 (per event) in legal liability protection. Legal liability protection protects against damage to other people’s property and death or bodily injury (where the legal liability is not covered or capable of being covered by any statutory or compulsory scheme) as a result of an accident involving the vehicle. All protection is provided by Turo Travels Mutual.*

You can get discounts and low cost car rental on Turo. On your Account page, make sure you’ve checked the box to receive email notifications, and enable push notifications from the Turo app in your phone settings — we’ll send you occasional promo codes, discounts, and deals.

Yes there is — whether you want to rent a car for three days, three months, or even longer, you can on Turo. You’ll find discounted prices on bookings lasting 3+, 7+, or 30+ days, so you can get the best deals and lowest rates possible by booking longer trips.

Some hosts offer unlimited distance for a trip; others set a daily distance limit — you’ll need to check on each rental car individually to see if this service is provided. On the vehicle pages, you’ll see the total miles or kilometres you’re allowed to drive under the heading “Distance included.” You can find cars offering unlimited mileage with every trip by using the “Unlimited distance” filter.

Yes, multiple guests can drive the car you rent on Turo, as long as they are all approved to drive. The primary driver (whoever rented the car) can add additional drivers with no fees or additional charges. Only the primary driver can request to add drivers; Turo hosts cannot do it for you. We encourage you to request to add additional drivers before your trip starts, though guests can request to add a driver while a trip is in progress.

To speed up the process, have your additional driver create a Turo account and get approved to drive before you request to add them. All drivers must have a valid driver’s license and meet the age requirements for the car you’ve booked. You can request to add drivers via the “Trips” tab in the Turo app without additional driver charges or extra costs.

On Turo, you can't rent a car on your Ps in Australia. To hire a car on Turo, you must have a valid full license - no provisional or conditional licenses are accepted.

The cost of car rental in Cairns can vary depending on car type, booking length, extras, and delivery. For cheap car rental in Cairns, look out for discounts on longer-duration bookings and early bookings.