Tours

Rarotonga Tours

CLICK HERE and plan your Rarotonga adventure 

Excursions around the island of Rarotonga can be booked through the Tour Desk @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Lagoonarium. 

Te Vara Nui Cultural Experience 

Te Vara Nui – two options available as singular packages or do both as a combo. Take the Cultural Village Tour to learn about Cook Islands history and legends, traditional medicines, ancestral navigation and watch local craftspeople demonstrate how we weave, carve and prepare our dance costumes past and present. Or enjoy the evening spectacular of the Overwater Night Show & Buffet Dinner set in a lush water garden, showcasing a beautiful legend, “The Legend of Tongaiti”. Be blown away by Rarotonga’s finest dancers and musicians as they perform by flaming torchlight on the floating and fixed stages of the waterfall garden.

Highland Paradise Cultural Centre 

This 600-year-old village site was home to the famous Tinomana Tribe but was abandoned in the early 1800s with the introduction of Christianity. The Pirangi family, descendants of the original High Chief Tinomana, has ensured the survival of this 205-acre mountain refuge by re-discovering and re-opening it to Cook Islanders and visitors alike. Now once again, you can experience the strong and meaningful spiritual bonds associated with the land, the maraes and the people (past and present) of this unique and vibrant tribe. During your hours at Highland Paradise, you will discover ancient, significant places and examples of worship, chiefly council, warfare, sacrifice, tribal justice, home making, agriculture, medicines, fishing, education and canoe voyaging. We have reproduced buildings, re-installed artefacts and uncovered sites of great importance to our people.

Captain Tama's Lagoon Cruise & Koka Cruises

Captain Tama’s Lagoon Cruise and Koka Lagoon Cruises operate glass-bottom boat tours of Muri and Tikioki Lagoons to view reef fish and to enjoy fish feeding and off-boat snorkelling. Then it’s onto Motu Koromiri (one of the islets in the lagoon) for a delicious BBQ lunch and fun show.  The tours operate every day from 11am-3.30pm.  Cost includes beach BBQ lunch, return Resort transfers, and use of snorkeling gear.  

Raro 4WD Mountain Safari Tour

If hard trekking is not your idea of a holiday, but you’re still curious to experience Rarotonga’s lush rainforest interior and highlights, the 4WD Raro Mountain Safari Tour is for you. 

This is Rarotonga’s most popular tour for good reason. Enjoy the experienced, colourful guides as they share with you their local knowledge, good humour and ‘tall tales and true’. Tours depart Monday to Friday both morning and afternoon, as well as Sunday afternoons. Morning tours include a fabulous beach BBQ lunch with refreshments. 

Storytellers Eco Cycle Tours

Storytellers are the tour leaders and guides taking you on an unforgettable bike riding experience in Rarotonga. The Storytellers experience offers a variety of tours to suit most levels of riding fitness and experience. We are the only Cook Islands eco tour on mountain bikes. We also give 10% of our profits back to the community for development projects.

Quad and Buggy Tours

Coconut Tours offers two fantastic, exciting and exhilarating tours, the ISLAND BUGGY EXPLORER and the JUNGLE QUAD ADVENTURE.
Both tours offer the chance to experience the thrills and challenges of driving your very own Quad through our “jungle” or a Buggy to “hot spots” following the tour guide. No experience is necessary as vehicles are fully automatic and tours are guided and supervised. These exciting tours are ideal for those seeking some holiday thrills and excitement on their tropical island vacation. (Please note there is an age restriction on drivers). Private family or group tours including wedding parties and birthday groups can be arranged and organized. Don’t let anyone drive for you, DRIVE YOURSELF! Don't miss out on this great island adventure!

Turtle Sea Scooter Safari 

Swim with the turtles and discover a new way to explore Rarotonga’s marine environments with our experienced team, snorkeling with an Ariki Sea Scooter! Swimming with the turtles is an incredible experience that we love to share! Our Turtle Safari begins on the sandy shores of Rarotonga as we fit each guest with mask, snorkel and fins before beginning our briefings for snorkeling, scootering and entering the environment safely. From here we do a short test in shallow water to ensure everyone is feeling confident with their Scooter before following our guides into the deeper waters which our turtles call home. We often see Eagle Rays, Moray Eels, tropical fish and the occasion beautiful (and not dangerous!) Reef Shark as well as the amazing turtles in this area. 

Night Paddle Lagoon Tours SUP 

Experience the magical wonders of our lagoon at night. Our special lighting system reveals the wonders of being on the water at night in a way that simply cannot be experienced in the daylight hours. Price charged per board 

Diving

Rarotonga’s clear, warm waters with fantastic visibility and diversity of marine life make it excellent for diving and snorkeling. If you’ve never dived there are qualified instructors at several different dive operations around the island who can give expert tuition, and Rarotonga’s lagoons are a great place to learn (sure beats your local city swimming pool!). Outside the reef there’s a diverse range of diving including interesting drop-offs, a variety of hard corals, rays, sharks, turtles, whales, canyons, caves, tunnels ands shipwrecks. The reef drop-off goes from about 20-30 metres down to 4000 metres. Most diving is done at 5 to 40m where visibility is 20 to 60m (100 feet), depending on weather and wind conditions. Usual water temperatures range between 25-28 degrees Celsius. Another welcome feature of diving off Rarotonga are the short trips in purpose-built boats, often no more than 10 minutes to superb dive sites, and as the island of Rarotonga is circular there are almost always safe spots for diving with good visibility. Our Tour Desk would be pleased to assist you with your bookings for dive trips and excursions. 

Game Fishing

Marlin, Wahoo, Mahimahi (Dolphin Fish), Barracuda, Sailfish, Shark and Tuna such as Yellowfin, Albacore, Dogtooth, Skipjack and Big Eye are just a few of the exciting game fish that you have the opportunity to catch while fishing in the Cook Islands. Rarotonga’s waters are amongst the richest in the world and offer exceptional deep-sea game fishing, saltwater fly and light tackle sports fishing. Due to the close proximity of the reef, there are no long journeys out to deep water, and lines are set once out of the harbour ensuring maximum fishing time. Most trips are half day and private charters can be arranged. Catches usually remain with the boat although some companies do share it out and provide enough for dinner if the catch is sufficient. Morning trips go out at about 8am and afternoon trips at about 1.30pm.

NiteLife Tour

Friday is the Big Night Out on Rarotonga, so grab your ticket on the fun bus and head out on a fun NiteLife Tour to check out the island’s colorful bars and hot clubs with your entertaining guide. Your NiteLife Tour of Rarotonga includes a welcome drink, an ei (fresh flower lei garland) and finger food at your first bar stop. A great way to meet the locals over a drink or on the dance floor! Bookings are essential. A great night out, and great value (this way everyone in your party can have a ball and you don’t need to nominate a non-drinker!).

Circle Island Tour 

A great way to orientate yourself around the island and learn about Cook Islands history and culture. The tour includes a light lunch, coconut demonstration, and a short shopping break. 

Progressive Dinner

Visit with locals in their homes to experience true Cook Islands cuisine and home-style hospitality.

Rarotonga Golf Club

The Rarotonga Golf Club welcomes visitors to play on its 9-hole course. The golf course is open weekdays from 8am to 2pm and also features a 19th hole (the all important club bar!). 
Saturday is for members only and the course and club are closed on Sundays. The Rarotonga Golf Club is approximately 10 minutes from Sanctuary Rarotonga-on the beach by car.

Maire Nui Botanical Gardens

Located on the south coast of the island, these gardens contain many local plants and flowers that are not only beautiful but have medicinal uses. Seven acres of magnificent tropical gardens with lush cooling lily ponds and spectacular mountain views. A wonderful place to relax and chill. Hidden amongst our lush vegetation you will see our Cafe – Grill which offers a unique island dining experience. Enjoy fresh foods of the tropics with asiatic influence, enhanced with our own organic herbs and spices. We offer spectacular space for luxury weddings, corporate and private events for that unforgettable experience.