Cairns Taipans v Melbourne United, Saturday 31 October 2026: 6:30pm Tip-Off, Doors 5pm, No Parking at the Convention Centre, 50c Bus Fare (Cairns, QLD)

The Cairns Taipans host Melbourne United at the Cairns Convention Centre on Saturday 31 October 2026, with tip-off at 6:30pm, and the club’s game-day guide says there is no parking available at the venue. If you are driving, plan to park in the CBD and walk; if you are not, a single Cairns bus ticket costs $0.50. Cairns is in Queensland and runs on Brisbane time all year, so every time below is Australian Eastern Standard Time with no daylight saving.

This guide is built from the Taipans’ game-day guide, the club’s schedule page, the Cairns Convention Centre car park page, the Cairns Regional Council’s parking pages and Translink’s Cairns fares page, all read on 26 October 2026.

Can I park at the Cairns Convention Centre for the Taipans game?

The Taipans’ game-day guide says it plainly: “There is no parking available at the Cairns Convention Centre.” The guide points drivers to car parks around the CBD and to the council’s website, and points everyone else to Translink.

The Convention Centre’s own car park page explains the other half. The car park has 219 undercover spaces, including 9 designated disabled bays, and the entry is from Sheridan Street. The centre says the car park may be closed during Cairns Taipans basketball games and certain events, with no access, although disabled access remains available. The page also says the car park runs from 6am to 8pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays, and that for other events its hours follow the event schedule, with Taipans games listed as the exception. This game is on a Saturday, so do not plan around using that car park.

Convention Centre car park	What the centre says
Spaces	219 undercover, including 9 disabled bays
Entry	Via Sheridan Street
Height limit	2,200mm at the entrance, with two low points of 2,000mm marked by a height bar
Normal hours	6am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays
Taipans games	May be closed, with no access; disabled access remains
Fees when open	$5 for up to 4 hours, $10 daily rate (as of October 2026)
Overnight	Not permitted; $30 penalty per night

Where can I park nearby, and what does it cost on a Saturday night?

The Taipans’ guide says parking is available throughout the CBD and is free after 6pm in most areas. The council’s parking page gives the rules behind that statement. Time limits, and fees where they apply, run between 8:30am and 6pm on weekdays and between 8:30am and 2pm on Saturdays, except at the Southern Esplanade and Grafton Street car parks. Outside those hours, and on public holidays, the council says parking is free and time limits do not apply. A Saturday game with a 6:30pm tip-off falls after the 2pm Saturday cut-off.

Two cautions come from the council’s own pages. First, the council’s on-street page says that outside the limited hours, and if no time limit is posted, parking is restricted to 8 hours, while the main parking page says time limits do not apply, so read the sign at the kerb. Second, the council says drivers must keep following the rules for disability parking, loading zones, bus zones and taxi zones at all times. Where the council charges, its on-street rate is $2.40 per hour as of October 2026.

Council parking rule	What the council says
Time limits and fees apply	8:30am to 6pm weekdays; 8:30am to 2pm Saturdays
Outside those hours	Free, and time limits do not apply (main parking page); 8-hour limit where no limit is posted (on-street page)
Exceptions to the hours	Southern Esplanade and Grafton Street car parks
On-street rate where charged	$2.40 per hour
Pay by phone	EasyPark at council off-street car parks, except Lake Street and CPAC
Meters	Pay by plate: park, enter your licence plate and pay; no ticket to display

The council publishes an on-street parking guide map and an off-street car parks guide map from its parking page; open the map before you leave home, because neither the club nor the council names a recommended car park for the game. The council also says parking times and hours at other locations in Cairns vary, so check the signs wherever you stop.

What time do the doors open, and when should I be in my seat?

The club’s guide sets the timing from the tip-off time. The concourse of the Cairns Convention Centre opens 1 hour 30 minutes before tip-off, and the door to the court opens 45 minutes before. The club recommends being in your seat half an hour before tip-off so you do not miss the pre-game entertainment.

Event	Time on Saturday 31 October
Concourse opens	5:00pm
Court doors open	5:45pm
Be in your seat (club’s recommendation)	6:00pm
Tip-off	6:30pm

The 5pm and 5:45pm times are worked out from the club’s rule and the 6:30pm tip-off on the Taipans’ schedule; the club’s page for this fixture does not list them separately. Bag checks are done by Convention Centre security at the entry, so allow time for the queue.

How do I get there by bus?

The council says Translink’s public bus service, which it calls Sunbus, runs through the city from the northern beaches to the southern suburbs via the Lake Street bus terminal, between Shields and Aplin Streets. Translink’s Cairns fares page lists the local delivery partner as Kinetic Cairns and gives these paper ticket prices:

Ticket	Fare	What it covers
Single	$0.50	One-way, with a two-hour transfer time
Daily	$1.00	Unlimited travel until the last service that day
Weekly	$5.00	Unlimited travel for seven days from the issue date

You can pay on board with a credit or debit card or with cash; if you use cash, Translink asks you to have the correct fare or small change ready. For routes, times and service updates, the council points to the Translink Cairns website, the free MyTransLink app, or 13 12 30. None of the pages read for this guide lists extra buses or special post-game services for the Taipans, and none gives Saturday evening bus times, so check the timetable for your route before you rely on a late bus home.

The Taipans’ guide asks everyone to look at Translink for public transport options. The venue’s address is the corner of Wharf and Sheridan Streets, which is the destination to enter in the journey planner.

Can I get a ticket at the door?

No. The Taipans’ guide says tickets are available to purchase online only and that no tickets are sold at the Cairns Convention Centre. Buy through tickets.taipans.com. If something goes wrong with your ticket before tip-off, the guide says to see the staff at the Box Office. The Convention Centre’s own notice adds a warning to buy tickets only from authorised sellers, to avoid fraud. Its conditions of entry say a person who buys from an unauthorised source, including a ticket scalper, or who presents an invalid ticket, can be refused entry.

Under the Convention Centre’s conditions of entry, events are all ages unless the hirer says otherwise, and anyone under 16 must be supervised by an adult at all times.

What can I bring in, and what is not allowed?

The club asks supporters to avoid bringing a bag larger than 30cm x 30cm, to make entry quicker. The Convention Centre’s conditions of entry list the items it may refuse, and several of them apply to a basketball night:

Item	What the rules say
Bags	Taipans: no larger than 30cm x 30cm. Convention Centre: may refuse bags larger than 30cm x 30cm in seated areas, and backpacks of any size
Water	One sealed 600ml PET bottle of water per person
Umbrellas	Large umbrellas, longer than 30cm when closed, are prohibited
Food and drink	External commercial food and drink are not permitted; cans, bottles and containers may be refused
Alcohol and e-cigarettes	May be refused entry; the centre is a licensed premises
Cameras and gear	Professional cameras, selfie sticks, monopods, tripods and drones may be refused
Smoking and vaping	Not permitted inside the centre
Cloakroom	No cloaking service is available to hold items

Because there is no cloakroom, the simplest plan is to leave anything large in the car or at home. Security staff can search bags at their discretion, and the conditions of entry say drinks may need to be decanted into approved plastic cups for some events.

What is there to do inside before and after the game?

The Taipans’ guide lists these game-night features:

• Merchandise is sold outside Doors 22 and 24.
• Food and drink outlets are spread through the venue, and all of them are card only, with no cash accepted.
• The mascot, Joe Blake, roams the stadium before the game.
• The IFYS Taipans Cheer Squad and the Annees Mini Squad perform.
• Half-time entertainment includes crowd competitions and performances, and the big screen shows crowd cameras.
• A post-game function is held upstairs at the Reef Hotel Casino in the Sports Arena after select home games. The club says the dates for the 2026-27 season will be released closer to the season, and the page read for this guide does not say whether 31 October is one of them.

The free cheeseburger offer is also in the guide: if the away team misses two consecutive free throws in a single penalty, fans in attendance win one free cheeseburger at Hungry Jack’s. You need to enter the codeword shown on the big screen and broadcast in the NBL app by 11:59pm on the day the final game of that round is played, and the offer is limited to one cheeseburger per account per round. The club’s schedule announcement lists the Hungry Jack’s Rookie Round as 29 October to 2 November, which includes this game.

When are the next Taipans home games in Cairns?

The Taipans’ schedule page lists these home games at the Cairns Convention Centre after this one:

Date	Opponent	Tip-off
Thursday 5 November	Illawarra Hawks	6:30pm
Friday 13 November	Sydney Kings	6:30pm
Friday 20 November	Perth Wildcats	6:30pm
Saturday 5 December	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	4:30pm

The club’s announcement of the 2026-27 schedule also lists an Indigenous Round from 19 to 22 November, which covers the 20 November game, and a New Year’s Eve game against the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday 31 December at the Cairns Convention Centre. It marks two games, on 9 December and 27 January, as Ignite Cup fixtures with venue to be confirmed, so check the club’s schedule for those.

Who do I contact if something changes?

The Taipans list (07) 4041 3000 and info@taipans.com, at 127 Anderson Street, Cairns. The Cairns Convention Centre’s number is (07) 4042 4200. For bus questions, the council points to Translink on 13 12 30. This guide will be updated if the club or the venue publishes a change before Saturday.

Sources

• Cairns Taipans — Game Day Guide (checked 26 October 2026)
• Cairns Taipans — Schedule (checked 26 October 2026)
• Cairns Taipans — Cairns 2026-27 Schedule Arrives (29 May 2026)
• Cairns Convention Centre — Car Park (checked 26 October 2026)
• Cairns Convention Centre — Conditions of Entry (checked 26 October 2026)
• Cairns Regional Council — Parking and On-street parking (both updated 26 October 2026)
• Cairns Regional Council — Transport and bus services
• Translink — Cairns fares and tickets (checked 26 October 2026)

Featured image: Cairns Convention Centre arena entrance (photo: DaHuzyBru / CC BY-SA 4.0) (text added)

OZ Local Updates is an independent local guide and is not affiliated with the Cairns Taipans, the Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns Regional Council, Translink or Kinetic. Game details, parking and bus arrangements can change; check the official pages above and the signs on the day.