Today we head home. So nothing to report but an opportunity to take notes.
TL;DR: if you’re looking for a quiet, sleepy Pacific island, can recommend.
If you want a car or bikes or a boat trip or an event you need to book, and book early.
Stay in Muri. End of.
The dateline is confusing… no way around it. It’s not unheard of to book accommodation for the wrong days, make sure you double check.
We stayed at Tama’s Beach House on Airbnb and it was pretty much perfect for two people. Right on the lagoon, a decent enough kitchen, big deck, good bathroom, screens, aircon and fast WiFi. There are plenty of resorts too, but they mostly feel small and low-rise rather than giant holiday compounds.
There are roosters and chickens everywhere. The roosters start about an hour before dawn and keep going until after dark. It didn’t bother us at all.
There are also dogs everywhere. Sort of wild, sort of communal, and well behaved. One will often join you for a walk, then wander off again when it gets bored. They were part of the charm.
Muri has plenty of cafés and restaurants. Most are a little rough around the edges, but we never really had a bad meal. The sea food is very fresh. There is also a surprisingly committed relationship with mayonnaise. Resorts seem to offer the fancier end of dining if you want it.
Supermarkets are well stocked, particularly with NZ products, so self-catering is simple. Not being able to drink the tap water sounds like a bigger inconvenience than it is. With a kettle, fridge and bottled or filtered water, it barely registered.
The lagoon is why you come here. Warm, clear, shallow in places, and beautiful even under occasional grey skies. Swim, wade, sit beside it, watch fish. We had reef shoes which I’d definitely recommend if you like strolling through lagoon water (not vital).
Bikes are perfect for shorter trips, although some of the roads are rough. The buses are an easy way to get further around the island, particularly when it rains. Mopeds and cars also available.
We were here in mid-September and the weather was close to ideal. Warm but not at all humid, comfortably hot in the sun, no mosquitoes and the lagoon was lovely.
In fact there doesn’t appear to be much here that wants to bite, sting or eat you. No snakes, mostly harmless insects (we didn’t see any), and a lot of extremely friendly dogs.
The best thing about Rarotonga is that you don’t need to do much. There are all the water sports, hiking, cultural evenings if that’s your thing. Or just go for a swim. Find coffee. Wander somewhere. Have a snooze. Eat some seafood. Watch the lagoon.
That’s kind of the point.
The Obligatory Blog 