By guest author, Mr. Wino – After more than two weeks living in the Cook Island’s on Rarotonga, we came away with a pretty good idea on where to go, what to do, and what NOT to do. Overall, Rarotonga lived up to our “wants and needs” for a tropical vacation, especially when you consider our most important factors are low cost, fun atmosphere, ease of logistics, and fantastic beaches/water/snorkeling/diving (see how Rarotonga measured up here).
With that in mind, if you decide to go to Rarotonga (or Raro as the locals call it), here are a few tips to make your trip more enjoyable.
Charlie’s on Rarotonga has great prices and HUGE sandwiches!
1. For restaurants and bars…go to Charlie’s on the south side of the island, Vaiana’s on the Beach on the north side of the island, and Vaima Restaurant Bar on the southwest side. Charlie’s is simply our favorite place because the food is good and affordable (their sandwiches are HUGE and can be split), the beer and wine are reasonable, and it’s next to the best snorkeling and beach on the island – in our opinion. Vaiana’s on the Beach (just out of Avarua) has one of the best happy hours on the island and has a great vibe where you can enjoy food and drinks with your feet in the sand. Locals go here a lot…so enough said! Vaima Restaurant is known to have the best sit-down dinner, with a nice but small beach area. They pick you up too, which is great if you are using the bus to get around!!
The Rarotonga bus is a great way to get around but it often runs on island time.
2. Speaking of the Rarotonga bus…if you choose to use the bus to get around the island, you should know two things about the price. First, get the 10-pass bus ticket, which you can purchase directly from the bus driver when you get on board. For about $30 NZ ($25 USD) you get 10 one-way rides that can be split among several people. This averages out to be around $3NZ per person for a one-way ride instead of the regular $5 NZ price. The 10-pass punch card is easy to use because the driver simply marks how many one-way tickets you are using at the time. But be sure not to lose it because you can’t replace it. Second…if you are traveling to and from the airport, there’s an additional dollar or two charged for luggage (so don’t be surprised.)
3. Another tip about the bus…pay close attention to the bus schedule but know it’s on “island time”. The clockwise bus runs all day long but the anti-clockwise (counter clockwise) bus only runs through the afternoon. This is important because if you don’t pay attention, you can end up making a 15-minute anti-clockwise trip into a 45-minute or more clockwise trip. Also, know that the bus often runs 30 minutes behind schedule, but sometimes it can be within 5 minutes. Bottom line is, you should be there on schedule (just in case it’s on time), but more than likely you’ll have to wait!!
We highly recommend the Matutu Brewery tour.
4. Go to the beer tour at Matutu Brewery (southeast side of the island). It’s very low key and cost $10 to $15 NZ. During the hour presentation at the brewery, you get three really good tastes of their beer (like full glasses!) and you get to hear about the process they use to brew beer in a challenging tropical environment. The beer is really fresh and awesome and the presentation is well done.
5. Internet – oh the internet! We did it two ways. On the first pass, we bought a visitor sim card from Bluesky Telecom for around $50 NZ. It came with 300 texts, 3 gigs and it worked like a charm. We were initially told it did not expire but found out that it lasts 15 days. So, for our remaining days we decided to use a cheaper WiFi “hotspot” package. This was a mistake. We purchased 1 gig and it was gone in less than 45 minutes. Maybe our phone settings were causing us to eat up data? We still have no idea…but either way, if you buy the hotspot data package, do some homework ahead to make sure you will not mow through your data in minutes of surfing.
Snorkeling in the Raratonga lagoon is fantastic but be sure to watch the tide tables.
6. The best snorkeling in Rarotonga’s beautiful lagoon is near the Fruits of Rarotonga fruit stand, located on the south side of the island. It’s great snorkeling even at low tide because the water is deeper here.
7. Another thing about the tide…the lagoon of Rarotonga can be very shallow at times, which can make snorkeling and kayaking impossible in many places. Be sure to bring a tide table or connect to one online so you can plan your snorkels and kayaking for high tide if needed.
Go to the Turoa Bakery behind the Saltwater Cafe for fresh bread.
8. Go to the Saturday Market in Avarua. We really enjoyed this and highly recommend it. It’s a great place to get affordable fruits and veggies, fantastic crafts and souvenirs, and delicious local hot food. It’s also a great place to mingle with locals too. If you are looking for fresh food to buy, be sure to come early (it opens around 6 a.m.) because many of the best items will be gone if you wait until later.
9. Buy your bread at Turoa Bakery- in the same building as Saltwater Café (at the south side on the “half-way” mark). The bakery is open at 8:00 p.m. and it is extremely informal – you wander into the warehouse area and buy the bread directly from the people back there making it. However, it is simply the best bread I have tasted.
Although mosquitoes weren’t too bad in Rarotonga, Mr. Wino still became great at hunting them.
10. Mosquito coils can be your lifesaver. We love to be outdoors spending time on the balcony and we found these coils to do a good job most of the time at keeping mosquitos at bay. We have not tried the electric plug-in mosquito repellant but we understand it does a great job for the indoors too. No matter what method you prefer, remember you are going to the tropics so be prepared for mosquitos (or “mossies” as they are often called).
Have you been to Rarotonga and know some insider tips? If you’d like to share any suggestions, use the contact page to let us know.
