Castaways is a family run hostel which is 15 minutes walk to town, which we found a bonus as we could leave the hussle and bussle of cairns behind and get a good nights sleep. It really is a great CLEAN hostel, we stayed here during the second week of January and loved our stay, the staff were so friendly and helpful. Always smiling even at 7 o'clock int he morning, and they helped me plan our entire trip down the coast. You get loads of free stuff aswel, which is always great when your on a budget. Such as free eveing meal, tea and coffee, internet, bike hire, wine and cheese nights and shuttle buses into town if u dont want to walk. We would recomend this hostel to everyone! :grin:

Its been just over a year now since i graced this hostel with one's presence, nice and relaxed, not a big partying hostel but thats what their aiming for(i think). It was a lot cleaner than a lot of hostels i stayed in and i did get around, i stayed here for about a month out of sheer laziness and waiting for friends to arrive(mofo's never did!!). I enjoyed it and had some great nights here and in Cairns in general. Obviously Leslie, Katri, Brenda & Louise and really all the ladies were shattered when i had to leave but life goes on, they will get over it someday. Will be back in OZ later this year and will probably stay here if i make it back to Cairns. ***To the posters saying nobody talked in there, all you have to do is make the first move and i'm sure they will talk back, they did for me although probably regretted it!!!! Anyway, one must get back to work now!

Pretty laid back, smallish hostel. Relaxed vibe, with a good wine and cheese night. Busy, but not too busy, and great friendly staff

hey, guys! thanks for the hospitality! whats the surname of brett and leslie. tnx!!! :p

we stayed at this hostel for 3 nights. the bedrooms were clean and tidy. we had to change bedrooms because the bed was sooooo squeaky and noisy, didnt get a good first night sleep at all. beware of room 13! The kitchen was clean but basic. there was a fab cheese and wine night. but no one spoke to one another. we did not speak to another backpacker in 3 days! not much of a backpackers hostel.

Great Place!! Reviewer: susie1979 (st1979_181@hotmail.com) from Scotland December 28, 2004 I stayed in the great castaways in May 2003. It is not only fun but is also friendly and homely. The staff were great and very helpful, especially the manager Leslie and Ally the bus driver (who was also hot!). It is a well priced hostel, has free meals every night and does very generous wine and cheese nights.

This is a very nice and friendly hostel - but wach out for bedbugs.... We had some in our room and what do you know, the staff isn't friendley no more.... we didn't get our money back though we couldnt sleep in our room and had to check in to a hotel in the middle of the night... So check your pillows before you go to bed!

After travelling for about 7 months I landed in Cairns and to Castaways Backpackers. What a place !! The staff could not do enough for you, they were so friendly and helpful. The rooms including the bathrooms were clean - which was a nice change. Free cheese and wine nights which are great fun, then off to the Woolshed for the traditional partying. The tours that they recommended were terrific. Definately a great place to stay.

Castaways Backpackers was the first Hostel I've been in Australia and if everywhere is as friendly and helpful as Castaways it shall be great. Myself and my boyfriend were quite apprehensive about staying in hostels, but after our stay in Cairns we could recommend Castaways as a great hostel and place to stay. The friendly staff helped us book all our tours which took a lot of stress out of our stay in Cairns, they also helped us book our travel down the coast. With a free evening meal ever night,it is a home from home.

If travelling to Cairns, this is the place to stay. Friendly and extremely helpful staff that know whats good as well as a very clean hostel in general. Thanks for the free cheese and wine and the dinner every night at the Woolshed - BARGAIN MATE!!! P.S. Didn't find the Nazi-like Canadian Manager, only Foxy!!

I stayed here for 2 months and ended up working there for a while. If you can put up with the nazi-like Canadian manageress then you'll have a great stay. Very clean and friendly place to stay. No bunks and staff are always accommodating! During peak they'll only let you stay for 10 days unless you hook up with one of the staff like I did. Castaways and the Woolshed are a great combination. We ended up getting thrown out for no apparent reason - again the stupid Canadian manager was behind that one!