The Marlins compete in the men's NBL1 North and play their home games at Early Settler Stadium.

CBI's women's team is the Cairns Dolphins.

Between 1993 and 1998 the Marlins won four championships, prompting calls for Cairns to join the Australian National Basketball League.

[1] Since the Taipans' entry into the NBL the two teams have remained very close, often sharing development and training players over the NBL off-season and the QBL season.

[2] After a successful first season in 2019, in 2020 the NBL1 expanded into Queensland and replaced the QBL.