How To: Getting Around Rarotonga

Muri Lagoon, Cook Islands

We learnt quite quickly after arriving into Rarotonga that although it is a small island ,only 32 kilometres in diameter, this does not mean you can walk in the blistering hot sun from your resort to the main city centre of Avarua.

On every holiday in the past we have had a pre-arranged airport arrival pick up. We all know how it works; the driver collects you in a mini-van, makes awkward small talk about where you're from, probably continues on to say "Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi" after you tell them and then drops you off at the hotel after which you're left in a foreign country without any cellular connection to figure out on your own how the bloody hell you're going to get anywhere. Let me tell you now, walking in the hot sun for hours is not the answer.

The best thing to do when you land in Raro is to head to the city of Avarua. You can get there from your hotel by the clockwise/anti-clockwise island bus for as little as $5 NZD or alternatively pay for an expensive cab ride. Once in Avarua, you can choose to either hire a car for the length of your stay or head to the police station to grab yourself a motocycle license for $40 NZD as hiring a scooter is the most economical and simplest way to get around this stunning tropical island. You can hire cars from $55 NZD a day or a scooter for around $19 NZD a day including your helmet hire. The scooter is the most economical as it only has a 2L tank which costs about $3 NZD to fill up which you might need to do every couple of days. I know most people think of wild, drunk Bali bogans wearing Bintang singlets and a hefty hospital bill when considering hiring a scooter but I can assure you it is nothing like that in Raro. The locals are super chill and the maximum speed limit on the island is 50km plus there's only 1 road that goes around the entire island so you can't get lost or into trouble but always grab a map from your reception.

Of course when waterborne, kayaking or paddle-boarding are the free options to getting from the beach to a small islet for a snorkel but if you're a couch potato who doesn't enjoy physical activity but still wants to see some tropical marine life, then it might be better if you head to Captain Tama's boat tours. These cheeky locals will get you out to the reef in no time in one of their glass bottom boats so you can sit back and relax in the sun which is what holidays are all about after all.