12 Things To Do In Rarotonga

1- Hire A Scooter And Drive Around

The main road is the 32-kilometre Ara Tapu road, which is a sealed road encircling the entire island with several offshoots leading into the island’s interior.

It takes around 30 minutes to scooter around the island if you don’t stop, but you’ll most likely find lots to distract you along the way.

Driving around the island offers snapshots of local life, swaying coconut trees, beautiful beaches, lush hills and farms with pawpaw, taro, mango and banana trees.

Hiring a scooter for the day costs NZ$15 and if you don’t have a full motorcycle license from the country you live in, you will need to take a driving test at the Cook Islands Police Station.

2- Go Shopping in Avarua

Avarua, the main town, has several galleries and shops where you can buy hand-made gifts, soaps, colourful island shirts, dresses and sarongs.

Muri night markets has stalls selling local crafts along with food stalls where you can fill up on a cheap meal. 

3- Drink Cocktails At Trader Jacks 

Trader Jacks Bar & Grill is the spot on the waterfront with views of Avarua Harbour.

Take some time to reflect on the waterfront and watch the children doing flying leaps and somersaults into the harbour.

It’s one of the many laid-back bars where you can sip cocktails or drink beer while watching the sunset

4- Dine at Tamarind House

Tamarind House is a waterfront restaurant located in a colonial home with lovely gardens and lawns.

The home was built in 1910 for the managers of the Union Steamship Company and was used as the residence of the British Consul in 1988.

The menu has fresh, light and dishes that are perfect for the tropical weather such as tuna with coconut risotto and papaya salad.

5- Picnic On The Beach

Have a picnic on the beach or join a game of volleyball with the locals. The best beaches in Rarotonga include Muri Beach and Aroa Beach.  

Whatever activity you choose, it won’t be long before you’re dripping with sweat.

6- Eat Pineapple Cheesecake at Maire Nui 

Maire Nui Gardens & Café is set in leafy tropical gardens filled flowering hibiscus and banana trees.

The local Atiu coffee is excellent and the lemon-meringue pineapple cheesecake is delicious.

7- Go Diving

With a sloping plateau that drops off into an abyss 4,500 m deep, the waters around Rarotonga are abundant with coral.

10 minutes by boat is an underwater world of caves and a kaleidoscope of marine life with diving posts suitable for a range of abilities.  

The waters of the Cook Islands are protected by the Cook Islands’ Marae Moana Act, which covers an area more than four times the size of California. 

8- Enjoy Watersports on Muri Lagoon

Grab a kayak or paddleboard and head out into the Muri Lagoon, which is usually calm and perfect for sailing.

Adventurous travellers might want to try kite surfing as the Cook Islands is one of the best places in the world to experience this sport. 

The best time is from May to October when the combination of trade winds and the passing low-pressure systems create ideal conditions for kitesurfing for all skill levels.

9- Go Fishing

Life on Aitutaki revolves around fishing and all around the Cook Islands you’ll see local families scaling and cleaning a large catch of fish by the water’s edge.

Fishing tournaments occur regularly and if you’re lucky enough to be visiting during a tournament, it’s fun to see.

The atmosphere at the Aitutaki Fishing Club is jubilant and prizes are being handed out to the winners.

The competitors bring in hundreds of kilograms of tuna, wahoo, mahi mahi and trevally caught by fishermen on many boats.

Expect to see fish as heavy as 28kg. 

10- Attend a Church Service

If you’re visiting any of the islands on Sunday, make it a point to attend a local church service to see the locals dressed in their Sunday best. 

Missionaries brought Christianity to the Cook Islands during the 19th century and put an end to cannibalism. 

Since the first missionary, Reverend John Williams of the London Missionary Society (LMS) arrived in 1821, Christianity has grown to become part of the culture of the Cook Islands.

Women wear fabulous hats and the subject of the sermons can be rather interesting too. 

11- Take An Aitutaki Day Tour

It’s easy to fall in love with Aitutaki as the lagoon has a mesmerising quality that draws people back again and again.

Ringed by 15 palm-covered motu, the jewel in the crown for the Cook Islands was visited by John Wayne and Cary Grant while flying in the Solent, the passenger flying boats for Tasman Empire Air Line (TEAL) that refuelled at Aitutaki on its route across the Pacific.

Charles Darwin called in on the 1835 Beagle voyage en route to the Galapagos Islands and in the 1850s Aitutaki was a favourite port for whaling ships

Until you see the lagoon, you really can’t appreciate the amazing changes in the colour but to get to the best snorkelling spots in the lagoon, join a boat tour to Aitutaki’s more remote Motus (islets).

Aitutaki is a 45-minute flight from Rarotonga and can be visited as a day tour.

Outside the Aitutaki Sailing Club, the boat appears as a speck against a backdrop of wind-blown palm trees curved around the lagoon.

It’s the size of a giant tinny big enough for a dozen passengers, with a canvas canopy overhead, and small enough to drop anchor at some of the lagoon’s best shallow snorkelling areas.

Rub suntan lotion on as the boat cruises past swaying coconut palms and white-sand beaches.

Your first destination is a shallow sand shelf near Honeymoon Island in the southwest part of the lagoon.

The water is thigh deep and ice-green, so clear I can see the stripes of the scissor-tailed surgeonfish swimming around my legs.

A few kicks away, green becomes blue where the sand bar slopes into deeper waters and the usual multicoloured suspects play hide and seek among coral bommies.

Deeper down is the wreck of the cargo freighter Alexander that sunk in the 1930s.

Look out for brown eels hiding behind the coral.

Captain Wonderful flashes a white-toothy smile and says: “Take a picture and send it to your friends in Australia. Just don’t touch.”

At Honeymoon Island, Captain Wonderful drops anchor and leans back in a plastic chair, feet up, arms behind his head, gazing at tufts of cotton candy clouds.

Next to the boat, a boy clings to the handles of a kitesurf as a gust of wind sweeps it upwards and lifts him out of the water.

On the island, we hunt around the coconut groves for red-tailed tropicbirds nesting on the ground.

The birds are unconcerned by our presence, although a few anxious mums hover overhead keeping a watchful eye on the chicks in the foliage.

12- Honeymoon In Cook Islands

The boat drops you off on a sand bar near the lagoon’s best-known motu, One Foot Island, and where you might be lucky enough to spot a bride and groom.

It’s a picture-perfect island paradise of soft sand, swaying palms and blue skies.

The scenery is everything you’d expect from a gorgeous day in the South Pacific.

Cameras click and the bridal party is surrounded by a gaggle of people in sarongs, budgie smugglers, board shorts and bikinis.

No, this is not a set for a commercial (but it could be!).

Each year, hundreds of Australians and New Zealanders whose dream is to tie the knot in paradise, head to the Cook Islands to exchange vows.

The dream is to have photographs taken on a secluded beach and One Foot Island is just the place. 

Then you wade about a kilometre through knee-high water to One Foot Island for lunch.

On One Foot Island, Captain Awesome, from a bigger boat, and his crew sing, strum guitars and ukuleles, and bang on drums while Captain Cook fries fresh fish. 

Cook Islands Resorts

Pacific Resort Rarotonga

The best beach on the island is Muri Beach and where Pacific Resort Rarotonga is located.

The reason it’s the best beach because it’s protected from the ocean by a reef on three sides and three tiny uninhabited motu.

From the resort, roads lead inland towards the mountains in and the Avana Valley where you can take a hike into the jungle.

There are birds, butterflies, wild goats and pigs but Rarotonga has no snakes, poisonous insects or predators.

The beach is a popular luxury escape for families and the board outside the resort has a list of activities like swimming, sunbaking, snorkelling and paddling canoes.

Fishing tours are popular with visitors.

You leave with a fishing guide at dawn and bring back your catch for the chef. By lunchtime, you’re eating the fish you caught.

With plenty of fresh fish, beautiful beaches and a warm sunny climate, Aitutaki is the perfect South Pacific paradise.

Pacific Resort Aitutaki

Pacific Resort Aitutaki, on the western side of the island, has beachfront bungalows, suites and villas with views of the lagoon.

Choose a suite right on the beach for easy access to fantastic snorkelling. 

All you have to do is pull on your snorkel and wade into the lagoon to swim with fish and coral.

The resort is in a perfect position for swimming, snorkelling or lazing on a hammock under a tree. 

Pacific Resort Aitutaki won the “World’s Leading Boutique Island Resort” at the World Travel Awards in 2008 and 2009.

Currency In The Cook Islands

The New Zealand dollar is the International currency used in the Cook Islands, along with local notes and coins.

The local currency can’t be used outside of the Cook Islands unique local coins and notes are not negotiable outside of the Cook Islands but are keenly sought by collectors worldwide.

ATMs are conveniently located around Rarotonga and Aitutaki and EFTPOS is available at most hotels and stores. Western Union has an office in Avarua offering money exchange and transfers.

Flights To Cook Islands

• Virgin Airlines flies from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to Rarotonga (via Auckland).
• Air New Zealand flies from Sydney and Auckland to Rarotonga. 
• Jetstar flies from Auckland to Rarotonga. 
• Air Tahiti flies from Tahiti to Rarotonga. 
• Air Rarotonga flies from Auckland, Sydney, Tahiti and Los Angeles with to Rarotonga with daily connections to Aitutaki and flights to other places in the Cook Islands.