Rarotonga

**Maha** · 15th July 2009, 19:15

Pic 1...The road you'll be riding on
Pic 2...The beach you'll be swimming in.

You lucky bastard, I wanna go back now....

**boomer** · 15th July 2009, 19:18

we stayed at he pacific resort, beautiful place. I did my advanced diving ticket whilst there too..

awesome island

**Highlander** · 15th July 2009, 19:19

Originally Posted by Maha

I wouldnt stay anywhere else really, it aint the dearest but it aint the cheapest and lets face it, you only need a place to sleep right?..the night life there is great, get pissed at Mels Bar, you are sitting outside listening to whatever is going on (mainly muso's playing and having a laugh) oh, and have a burger at the 'Whatever Bar and Grill', in town....brilliant place.

The Edgewater has everything there, its super clean, the staff are great (mostly Fijians) ....I think it has the best snoorkling beach, reef is about 100mts out and the fish!!!! amazing.

Replace Edgewater with Pacific Resort and you would be pretty close to our experience.
Convert your Kiwi licence to a Cook Island one for $20 and hire a scooter cost us $50 for 3 days (a month ago), + $15 to return it with a full tank. Trader Jacks is a good place for a meal, go in hungry bcause they dont do small servings. Island nights are good entertainment (if you are the one in our party of 4 not dragged up to dance). We took our own snorkels and masks but used the flippers from the resort.

edit: We ate one night at the yacht club (Sails?) resturant and left with all 4 of us saying we wouldn't go back. Food was barely acceptable, small quantities, service crap. Every where else we went on the island we were most impressed with.

All 4 of us would be keen to go back, apart from the realisation that there is a limit to how much money we can spend seeing the world and a lot of world to see, so why go to the same place twice? If we did go anywhere a second time Rarotonga would rate highly.

**Winston001** · 15th July 2009, 19:37

Rarotonga is a lovely lazy place to go. If you are thinking of nightclubbing and extreme activities........take a very large book and plenty of valium.

Personally I love the place but some tourists find it boring.

You can walk around the entire island n a day - about 20 miles. The cross-island walk is recommended. There is also a tantalising rock spire begging to be climbed if you can find a way up to it. Take reef shoes and good walking shoes. The coral is a killer.

The prevailing weather is from the north-west which means the beaches aren't up to much on the west and north. The reef is very close. Muri Lagoon on the south-east is the preferred spot and thus more expensive accomodation - beautiful.

Food mostly comes from NZ so is expensiveish. Given the low wages, its subsistence living for the locals.

Here are a couple of links to explore: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...26510&tstart=0

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html

**James Deuce** · 15th July 2009, 19:40

Shuddup, shuddup, shuddup, SHUDDUP!!!

**Highlander** · 15th July 2009, 19:52

The week we were there the wind didn't stop blowing, and it rained nearly every day.
The lagoon was all choppy and murky so water activities were unpleasant.

We made the most of the duty free booze we took in with us and the Happy hour at the resort each night.

Roosters crowing all friggin night

and Dogs roaming wild on all the roads made scootering dangerous.

Hit one of them and had a couple of near misses with others.

**Big Dan** · 15th July 2009, 20:02

You guys rock

you have been very helpful so thanks but don't stop keep it going

I'm almost tempted to say that KB members should all go to Raro at the same time just to annoy James Deuce - lol

I'm so looking forward to it i'm currently in the saving stage for the ticket there

Maha don't be jealous i'll try find a internet cafe and send KB photos LOL or send postcards

**Qkkid** · 15th July 2009, 20:58

Originally Posted by boomer

we stayed at he pacific resort, beautiful place. I did my advanced diving ticket whilst there too..

awesome island

We used to go to the Barefoot bar on the beach at the Pacific resort for happy hour every nite while we were over there. Very nice resort

**Maha** · 15th July 2009, 21:27

Yeah the Pacific Resort is pretty cool, but like I said, you can visit any one of them, the Island is only 40 kms around, about as big as Lake Rotorua.

And theres a cool eating place by the boat ramp/wharf just before Avarua, it looks like a pie cart but the food is cheap and way tasty, a big plate of chilli prawns for about $ 9 with salad .

First Pool is at the Pacific.

**Maha** · 15th July 2009, 21:31

Originally Posted by Big Dan

You guys rock

you have been very helpful so thanks but don't stop keep it going

I'm almost tempted to say that KB members should all go to Raro at the same time just to annoy James Deuce - lol

I'm so looking forward to it i'm currently in the saving stage for the ticket there

Maha don't be jealous i'll try find a internet cafe and send KB photos LOL or send postcards

One thing I would say about the Edgewater, first year we booked a Garden room, next time we booked a beach front room, and although its very nice to see the sea first thing in the morning, that constant wave break on the reef gets up ya nose after a night or two, so its back to the peace of the Garden rooms next time.

**skidMark** · 15th July 2009, 21:36

The only good thing rarotonga has is ashortcut way to ull bike license...

except they have now cracked down on converting them...

**Milts** · 15th July 2009, 22:57

Hah just got back less than a week ago. My advice:

- Bring some snack food with you (food even at the supermarket is much more expensive than NZ).
- Expect to spend most of your time swimming/snorkling/riding. There really isn't a lot else to do.
- Go to the Saturday market (from about 6am til midday near the main town) - lots of cheap food, clothing, and jewelry.
- Watch the dogs. Plenty of dogs with 3 legs because they ran out in front of someone's bike.
- Muri Lagoon is the best place to swim by far, it's hardly even worth trying any of the other beaches.
- As for food, follow what these other guys have recommended, when I was there I wasn't impressed. The takeaway food we got wasn't that great (stay well away from the 24hour fish and chip place), and the two restaurants we tried (the indian place at the main town centre and an italian place a few k's "clockwise") were average at best, and the italian one was overpriced to boot.
- Get a decent bike for transport. Check it before renting! And really shop around for a rental bike, your choices are basically limited to a GN125, Yamaha YBR125, or a Yamaha automatic scooter. My first YBR wouldn't idle, it stalled at every intersection. Went back, tested the engine of about 4 bikes, found one which ran well and went to leave on it only to find it had no front brake cable. My third bike had the throttle cable break after three days (not my fault I swear

). Give the bike a good inspection before renting. I found service at all three bike places my family tried was excellent.
- There is one company which runs a Rarotonga "Safari". This basically involves driving around the island on the back of a big 4WD looking at all the back roads, views from the hills, and local landmarks. Well worth it and very informative, as well as entertaining (the tour guides were great). Make sure you do the morning one as it comes with a BBQ lunch, which the afternoon one doesn't.
- Weather was 'warm' the entire 8 days we were there, but only really warm enough for swimming for about 5 of them. Only pack a jacket if you're planning on riding late at night or you grew up somewhere with mild winters, I've lived in Wellington all my life and didn't bother with a sweatshirt even when the locals were wearing jackets.

Have fun but don't expect excitement - it's a very relaxing and laid back place. Also, forget shopping of any kind after 2pm Saturday, the whole island just shuts down until Monday.

**Devil** · 16th July 2009, 07:15

Originally Posted by Milts

Also, forget shopping of any kind after 2pm Saturday, the whole island just shuts down until Monday.

Which is one of the best parts!

**Mom** · 16th July 2009, 07:27

I am a Raro fan too. I wont go into details for fear of envoking Mr SHUDUP SHUDUP SHUDUP again but seriously, if you want a cruisey, laid back, restful holiday Rarotonga can not be beaten. Only one thing I will warn about is the people are very religous for the most part. If you do decide to go to church on Sunday (the singing can not be missed) make sure you wear very conservative clothing. If you wear a frock (well you know what I mean) make sure it covers your shoulders and your knees, else a very stern preacher will come and tell you you are not welcome DAMHIK