Compiled and fact-checked by Tommo, Verus founder · Last verified August 2026 · Spot an error?
Triathlon · Full Distance (140.6)
Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns 2027
- Race day
- Sunday, 13 June 2027
- Location
- Cairns and Palm Cove, Queensland
- Distance
- 226 km total
3.8km swim 180km bike 42.2km run
IRONMAN Cairns: 13 June 2027. The Palm Cove swim, the Captain Cook Highway bike past Rex Lookout, a four-lap Esplanade run — cut-offs and entry.
276 days to go
Key Race Metrics & Overview
- Date
- Sunday, 13 June 2027
- Venue
- Swim and T1 at Palm Cove; T2 and finish at Fogarty Park, Cairns Esplanade
- Distance
- Full Distance (140.6) — 226km total
- Start Time
- A self-seeded rolling start at Palm Cove, with four start zones chosen by estimated swim time. Exact times are confirmed during race week.
- Draft-Legal Bike
- No — non-drafting
- Cut-Off
- Measured from your individual start: 2 hours 20 minutes for the swim, 10 hours for the bike, and 16 hours 30 minutes overall — half an hour tighter than the standard IRONMAN limit.
Also this weekend
IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns runs on the same day, alongside an aquabike, a relay and 1.5km and 3km fun runs. IRONKIDS Cairns runs the day before.
Leg 1 of 3
Swim — 3.8km
Two laps off Williams Esplanade at Palm Cove, pulled close to shore to reduce the effect of wind, with extra buoys added for sighting. Athletes turn right at the first white buoy and keep every buoy after that on the left; pink buoys mark the turns, red and orange are for sighting. The second lap begins at the third pink buoy.
- Venue
- Palm Cove, Tropical North Queensland
- Elevation gain
- No official figure published — see notes above
- Surface
- Tropical ocean — sheltered, warm.
Wetsuit: Decided against the measured water temperature on the day. The organiser publishes an average water temperature of 23°C, which in most years puts this above the wetsuit-legal threshold — plan for a non-wetsuit swim.
Leg 2 of 3
Bike — 180km
Point to point, and one of the most scenic 180km rides in the sport. From T1 at Palm Cove the course heads north on the Captain Cook Highway towards Port Douglas, climbing to the Rex Lookout above the Pacific Ocean and the seaside rainforest, then turning inland at Craiglie onto Trezise Road and Spring Creek Road before the Beor Street northern turn. A second lap returns to Palm Cove, then the course heads south past Yorkeys Knob and down the Captain Cook Highway into Cairns and T2 at Fogarty Park.
- Venue
- Captain Cook Highway, Palm Cove to Port Douglas
- Elevation gain
- No official figure published — see notes above
- Surface
- Sealed road — undulating and winding, with real climbing at Rex Lookout.
Non-drafting
Leg 3 of 3
Run — 42.2km
Four anti-clockwise laps of the Cairns Esplanade, through the TriClub Village and the new Esplanade developments. Aid stations roughly every 2km. The organiser describes the crowd here as rarely matched at other IRONMAN events, and the lapped format is why.
- Venue
- Cairns Esplanade
- Elevation gain
- No official figure published — see notes above
- Surface
- Sealed path — flat.
Wetsuit outlook
Will you need a wetsuit at Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns?
Water temperature at open sea in June has typically been 25°C, ranging from 23.8°C to 25.7°C in eight of every ten years. Against IRONMAN / 70.3's thresholds for this race's 3800m swim, that means:
Permitted — but you forfeit age-group awards
Between 24.5°C and 28.8°C (76.1-83.8°F) a wetsuit is allowed, but wearing one makes you ineligible for age-group awards and Kona/70.3 World Championship slots.
What would have happened in each of the last 16 years
- Optional (recommended)5 of 16
- Allowed, no awards11 of 16
What the organiser says
Decided against the measured water temperature on the day. The organiser publishes an average water temperature of 23°C, which in most years puts this above the wetsuit-legal threshold — plan for a non-wetsuit swim.
Calibrated against measured sea-surface data, to within about 0.8°C. The official temperature is taken an hour before the start, and only that reading decides the rule on the day.
Transitions
T1 sits at Palm Cove; T2 is roughly 30km south at Fogarty Park in central Cairns, where bike catchers take your bike on the Esplanade. The change tent is split into male, female and privacy sections, and everything from the bike — helmet and shoes included — goes back into the red run bag before you leave.
Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns Split Calculator
Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns Split-Time Calculator
Enter your own swim, bike and run pace to project a real finish time.
Projected Finish Time
11:12:06
Racing a different distance? Try the generic split calculator or the swim pace calculator.
Where Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns starts and finishes
Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns starts at Swim and T1 at Palm Cove; T2 and finish at Fogarty Park, Cairns Esplanade and finishes at Palm Cove, Tropical North Queensland. We haven't been able to place those on a map accurately enough to show one — a pin in the wrong place is worse than no pin.
These are the start and finish points, not the route. Verus doesn't hold course files for this race, and drawing a line between two pins would be a guess you might end up training on. The official course map is the one to use: view it on the organiser's site .
What you can qualify for
Full-distance IRONMAN races award age-group qualifying slots for the IRONMAN World Championship. Slot allocations are published per race and per age group before race day.
Entry & Ballot
Direct entry summary
General registration for the 2026 edition sold out. Entry for 2027 is direct through IRONMAN at tiered pricing.
Ballot policy
No ballot — entry is direct and tier-priced, and it has sold out in recent years.
Age requirement
Not published for this event — check the official race website.
Charity Places
Not published for this event — check the official race website.
Race Day Info & Checklist
On the day
- Held in June, inside the tropical dry season — the only sensible time of year to race in far north Queensland.
- The overall cut-off is 16 hours 30 minutes rather than the usual 17. That half hour matters, and it is worth planning around.
- A point-to-point bike course: T1 at Palm Cove, T2 about 30km south at Fogarty Park in Cairns.
- A self-seeded rolling swim start with four zones chosen by estimated swim time.
- Aid stations roughly every 2km on the four-lap Esplanade run.
- On-course fuel, per the official 2024 Athlete Information Guide, is PURE Sports Nutrition Electrolyte and Maurten Energy Gels/Bars.
- The organiser publishes an average water temperature of 23°C — usually too warm for a wetsuit.
Checklist
- A non-wetsuit swim plan, and a skinsuit if you use one — 23°C water is usually above the legal threshold
- The 16:30 overall cut-off factored into your pacing, since it is tighter than most IRONMAN races
- Bags packed for a point-to-point bike: what you need at Palm Cove and what you need 30km away in Cairns
- Sun protection for a tropical June day, which is mild by Cairns standards and still stronger than anywhere in the south
- Accommodation planned around a Palm Cove start and a Cairns finish
- A pacing plan for Rex Lookout, which comes twice
Transport, Spectating & Where to Stay
Transport
Cairns Airport sits a few minutes from the Esplanade with direct flights from every Australian capital. Palm Cove is about 30km north by road; the event and local operators run race-morning transport.
Not published for this event — check the official race website.
Closures along the Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas and around the Cairns Esplanade. The event publishes a traffic impact page.
Spectator guide
Palm Cove for the swim, Rex Lookout for the bike, and the Cairns Esplanade for the whole marathon and the finish — the four-lap run means repeated sightings from one place.
The 30km between Palm Cove and Cairns is the only real logistical problem for supporters, and it has to be done before the roads close.
Where to stay
Cairns Esplanade
+ On the run course and at the finish, with the airport minutes away. The obvious base if you are only booking one place.
– You need to get to Palm Cove before the swim start, 30km north.
Palm Cove
+ Walk to the swim start and T1, and a genuinely lovely place to spend race week.
– You finish 30km away in Cairns, and getting back at midnight is a problem to solve in advance.
Port Douglas
+ On the bike course, beautiful, and the base for the Daintree and the reef either side of the race.
– An hour from the finish and further from the start.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is IRONMAN Cairns?
Sunday 13 June 2027, with the swim at Palm Cove and the finish on the Cairns Esplanade. It sits inside the tropical dry season, which is the only sensible time to race in far north Queensland.
What is the IRONMAN Cairns cut-off?
16 hours 30 minutes overall from your individual start — half an hour tighter than the standard IRONMAN limit — with 2 hours 20 minutes for the swim and 10 hours for the bike.
Is the IRONMAN Cairns swim wetsuit legal?
Usually not. The organiser publishes an average water temperature of 23°C, which in most years sits above the wetsuit-legal threshold. Plan for a non-wetsuit swim.
Where does IRONMAN Cairns start and finish?
The swim and T1 are at Palm Cove, about 30km north of Cairns. The bike is point to point, and T2 and the finish are at Fogarty Park on the Cairns Esplanade.
How hard is the IRONMAN Cairns bike course?
Undulating and winding rather than flat, with the Rex Lookout climb on the Captain Cook Highway covered twice. It is widely described as one of the most scenic IRONMAN bike courses anywhere.
Can you race IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns on the same day?
Yes — the 70.3 runs alongside the full distance, together with an aquabike, a relay and 1.5km and 3km fun runs. IRONKIDS Cairns runs the day before.