Noordam in Rarotonga
Rarotonga is an island of volcanic origin in the South Pacific. Though the name has tonga in it, it is not part of the Kingdom of Tonga, but rather one of the Cook Islands. At just over 26 square miles it is the largest of the Cook Islands. The highest elevation on the island is 2139 feet or 652 meters. Money is the New Zealand dollar. Credit cards are widely accepted and tipping is not customary.
view of Rarotonga from the ship
About 75% of the Cook Islands population lives on this island. The island is surrounded by beaches and shallow reefs that drop off into deep water and is forested in the center. Watersports are popular pastimes. Cruise ships are too large for the island’s lagoon harbor so they anchor outside and tender in. There is a road encircling the island with busses running in both directions. It takes about 50 minutes to circle the island. Bus fare is pretty cheap, but it was cash only and they only accepted New Zealand dollars. There are ATM’s within walking distance of the tender pier, but it’s best to come prepared with New Zealand dollars in hand if you want to ride the bus around the island.
map of Rarotonga
Bus service is pretty lacking on weekends with short hours on Saturday and only the clockwise bus with even shorter hours on Sunday. The town of Avarua is just a short walk from the most-used tender dock, though there is another farther dock that is sometimes used due to weather conditions. This is the sort of port that is often skipped due to unsafe tendering conditions. There may be excursion vendors at the tender dock, though they were lacking during our visit.
expensive island tour bus
It was kind of hit and miss as to whether we would stay and tender in or miss the port, but in the end they decided on a somewhat limited tender service. There was not much available at the dock, just an island bus tour for $90 (same price for any acceptable currency, no discount if yours is worth more) which only lasted an hour and had two stops, or the public transit bus which did not have full service that day since we were there on a Saturday. Also the problem of if you got off anywhere there may not be space available to get back on when the next bus came and there wouldn’t be many more busses going by since they quit early on Saturdays.
scooters and cars for rent
Places that took American dollars, euros, or any other non-New Zealand money did not offer any sort of exchange rate so it could end up costing more for the same thing depending on the currency used and its current rate opposed to New Zealand dollars. Credit cards charge the actual exchange rate so they’re the best bet for those lacking in New Zealand dollars, other than the bus that only took New Zealand cash or anywhere else that wouldn’t take credit cards.
market sign
Between the lengthy decision time on whether or not to tender to shore and the long wait for a tender it was 10am before we got to shore in a port scheduled for 8am. Even at that we were way better off than people with tender ticket numbers so high they were still waiting for their call after we returned to the ship.
outdoor market
Just before the ship people started calling the first tender numbers a guy stood up and addressed the group around him in German and they all left together. I didn’t really think anything of it, figuring that they’d all booked some sort of group excursion together through an outside source. There were no excursions available through the ship that port, but I know any time I’ve had anything booked through an outside source at a tender port they’ve always said to make sure and get on the first tender. Such a small thing apparently brought out the pettiness in some people though. People were complaining that nobody explained to the room at large in English what that group was doing, and that instead of each one of them holding their own tender ticket the guy who appeared to be the leader of them had the whole stack. It’s still one ticket per person regardless of who holds onto them and really nobody else’s business what that particular group had going on, but I guess small things anger large groups if they think they’ve been slighted because somebody else got to go first. Probably the same sort of people that leave their towels on deck chairs all day long to keep other people from sitting in them even though they are nowhere in the vicinity. Because they think they are the only ones who matter. Several days later I came across a lady who was still mad about it until I mentioned the bit about that group probably having something booked through an outside source to which she said she’d never thought of that. It did seem to dispel her anger a bit though.
bikes for rent
Deciding to pass on the ridiculously expensive for nearly nothing island tour and not having the right currency or desire to wait for the next bus, we opted to just walk around the area near the port. There was quite an extensive market nearby with lots of small stalls selling mostly souvenirs or food. Some had colorful cloth, which apparently some tourists actually go there to buy. Others had clothing. Quite a few sold the sort of things not allowed on our ship as most people would disembark in either Australia or New Zealand where there are a lot of restrictions on what types of things you can and can’t bring into the country.
playground in Rarotonga
There were a variety of places to eat within walking distance of the tender pier. For anyone with kids there was a pretty good playground there too.
view of the ship from a little beach
We found lots of places with good views of the ship. We saw a shop with cars and scooters for rent not far from the dock, and a bicycle rental stand along the walkway near the sea. Some places had signs advertising much better tours than what was available at the dock, but they all looked to be the sort of thing geared to people staying on the island rather than passing through on a ship. Things could probably be booked pre-cruise through outside sources, but you would want to be sure you had reliable transportation to get to it. There was only one taxi sitting at the pier when we got there. Anyone counting on the bus would need to check the schedule and make sure that would work out for them, especially if they are there on a weekend since bus service is reduced then.
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