But Costa Rica is so diverse in scenery and activities, you'd probably want to also stay
inland (like we did), maybe the Arenal Volcano
area for hotsprings and
rainforest or the Monteverde Cloud Forest.
Outside of diving Cairns is a reasonably sized town of about 150,000 people who service mainly the tourism industry associated not just with the Reef, but also the
areas inland of Cairns including the Daintree
Rainforest and the Atherton Tablelands.