Food & drink · Cairns

Prawn Star, Cairns Marlin Marina

Prawn Star is one of those places that sounds too good to be true: a working prawn trawler moored at Cairns Marlin Marina where you climb aboard, pull up a stool, and eat just-cooked prawns, oysters, and sashimi directly from the sea. It is entirely real, entirely delicious, and entirely Cairns.

What to order and how it works

The menu is built around whatever the trawlers brought in — tiger prawns, coral trout, mud crab, and freshly shucked oysters are the constants. You order at the counter, grab a cold drink from the esky, and eat at communal tables on the deck with the marina spread out around you. There is no dress code, no pretension, and no better value seafood in the city.

The prawn platter is the move for first-timers: a generous heap of chilled cooked prawns served with dipping sauces, eaten with your hands over newspaper in the tropical breeze. Add a half-dozen oysters and a serve of sashimi and you have one of the great casual lunches in Queensland.

The marina setting

Cairns Marlin Marina is the departure point for most reef and fishing charters, so the atmosphere is authentically nautical — working boats, salt air, and the distant hum of outboard motors. Eating on the trawler itself gives the meal a theatricality that no landlocked restaurant can replicate.

Sunset is a particularly good time to visit: the sky turns amber over Trinity Inlet, pelicans patrol the pontoons, and the day's catch is at its freshest. Arrive by 5 pm on busy evenings to secure a good spot on the deck.

Pairing it with the Esplanade

The marina sits at the southern end of the Cairns Esplanade, making it easy to combine a Prawn Star feast with a sunset walk along the boardwalk. The 4,800-square-metre saltwater Esplanade Lagoon is a five-minute stroll north — a stinger-free, year-round swimming pool that is free to use and perfect for a post-dinner dip.

For a more formal waterfront dinner, Salt House restaurant sits within the marina precinct and offers a broader modern Australian menu with the same spectacular water views.

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