The cleanest lagoon on Rarotonga – The Rarotongan is the ONLY beachfront resort on our stretch of beach. We are the guardians of our Aroa Lagoon Marine Sanctuary, the cleanest, clearest lagoon on Rarotonga.
This lagoon is teeming with healthy tropical fish – testament to the cleanliness of the lagoon here. If a clean swimming and snorkelling lagoon is important to you, there is no better spot than The Rarotongan.
All-in-one resort for your all-in-one vacation – this is indeed ‘the resort with the mostest’. It’s all right here for your supreme relaxation and enjoyment, be it restaurants, spa, huge range of complimentary activities, gym, salon, personal wedding planners, function catering, self-contained luxury villas, the list goes on. Enjoy your best beach resort experience ever!
Experience the real Rarotonga right in your resort. Soak up the distinctive ambience and aesthetic of this independent resort. Here you’ll really feel like you’re in the Cook Islands, in a very special place amongst a very special people, soaking up a very special magic. The Rarotongan is Rarotonga’s most Rarotongan resort. Feel Raro … at The Rarotongan!
Location, location, location … combined with Options, options and more options! The Rarotongan is laid out on a kilometre-long stretch of prime beachfront, famous Aroa Beach. Here you can choose to have as much privacy and seclusion, or fun and excitement, as you want – there’s plenty of options!
Because the resort is spaciously laid out over 6 acres bordering the island’s best stretch of private white sandy beachfront, you can always enjoy peace and privacy on the beach – perfect for deep relaxation under the tropical sun. Or by evening, order in Room Service, another great way to relax into each other’s company.
Other areas around The Rarotongan such as the Activities Hut, the Games Lounge and TE VAKA Restaurant in the evening, are hubs of exciting diversions or entertainment.
Because The Rarotongan offers so much, you can easily ‘go with your mood’, whether you’re feeling like mixing and mingling with other resort guests over sunset cocktails or taking in a show, or more like relaxing in your room or suite with a great in-house movie and ordering in. Great options make for a great, stress-free South Seas getaway!
The Rarotongan is not the Cook Islands’ largest resort, but it definitely offers the most. And that all adds up to maximizing your vacation enjoyment. It’s all laid on!
Each evening you’ll receive a copy of our informative and entertaining Guest Newsletter outlining the following day’s complimentary Activities Programme – in our experience, easily the most extensive activities programme in the whole of the South Pacific!
This way you can dip in and out of the huge range of activities options on the programme, as well as ‘doing your own thing’ when the mood takes you, such as the complimentary stand-up paddleboarding, outrigger canoeing, kayaking, tennis, feeding the fish by hand, doing some self-guided snorkelling, taking a siesta in a beach hammock, or booking in some me-time at SpaPolynesia LUXE @ Lime Blossom Villa.
Prime, pristine white sand beachfront for your best beach vacation ever. Aroa Beach is the beach lover’s beach – a long swathe of white sandy beach lapped by a turly crystal clear blue lagoon. The beach here is groomed by our grounds staff to keep it looking its best.
An extra plus for those seeking seclusion is that The Rarotongan is the only resort on Aroa Beach – no jostling with a passing parade. Just you, the sun, the sand and the sea. In fact, The Rarotongan is well away from ‘hotel mile’ on the eastern (sunrise) side of the island, perfect for those seeking privacy and exclusivity.
SNORKELING
The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa is the guardian of the Aroa Lagoon Marine Sanctuary, declared by local traditional elders as a protected traditional marine reserve (rau’i) well over a decade ago.
Today the Aroa Lagoon Marine Sanctuary and The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa offer guests an incredible array of ways to really make the most of this world-class snorkelling location. Step out of your room and you are just a few steps away from a stunning snorkelling adventure. Snorkelling is fun and easy to learn if you haven’t done it before.
Take advantage of The Rarotongan’s snorkelling lessons in the swimming pool or the lagoon itself. Join the regular fish feeding and guided snorkelling tours. For something really special, go on The Rarotongan’s unique Night Snorkelling Tour.
Or check out our guest Snorkelling Map and take yourself off on your own self-guided snorkelling tour any time the mood takes you. Aroa Lagoon is available to use at any tide – not so with most lagoons around Rarotonga.
For so many of our guests here at The Rarotongan, snorkelling has become much more than a pastime, it’s a passion, something they do at least once or twice a day! It’s so good knowing that by being a guest of The Rarotongan, the option’s yours to take yourself off for an easy, enjoyable snorkel excursion any time the mood takes you. It’s all right here.
SWIMMING, PADDLEBOARDING & KAYAKING
What makes Aroa Lagoon so special as a snorkelling location is that it’s a fish breeding lagoon. For fish to breed and thrive they need the right water temperature – not too hot (ie shallow), not too cold. Aroa Lagoon is perfect for fish . . . and for people.
Because it’s a crystal-clear, dynamic lagoon (ie not too shallow or slow-moving, and sparkling clean) it’s always available for swimming and snorkelling – at any tide. (By contrast, most lagoons around Rarotonga are tidal and very shallow at low tide eg Muri).
So as our guest, you don’t need to worry about the tides for your swimming or snorkelling enjoyment in Aroa Lagoon – just go when you’re ready. Aroa Lagoon is very friendly to both swimmers and snorkellers. As you enter the water, the entire area in front of Aroa Beach is sandy and clear of any corals – perfect swimming conditions.
Further out, there’s plenty of coral to keep the fish happy – ideal snorkelling conditions. The best of both. As our guest, you get to enjoy this incredible facility right on your doorstep, every day of your stay here with us at The Rarotongan. Cool.
ALL DAY SUN
Something easily taken for granted in the tropics when you’re not in the know about local conditions. The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa is blessed by being located on the sunshine southwest coast of Rarotonga, the drier side. Picture this – the island of Rarotonga, with its very high majestic mountain peaks in the centre.
After the sun has risen in the east and traversed the sky, it goes behind the mountain for the eastern coast of the island around mid-afternoon during our winter (ie June – September), and the eastern beaches (eg Muri) are in shadow from around 3.30pm onwards. By being on the southwest coast, Aroa Beach is blessed by being bathed in glorious tropical sunshine all day long, right through to stunning sunsets.
STUNNING SUNSET
You have a real sense of completion and satisfaction when you can enjoy each full day here in paradise, right through to our renowned, glorious tropical sunsets. Kick back on the lagoon deck or in a hammock with a cool cocktail in hand and witness the island sun dip set across the shimmering lagoon.
Then, take a deep sigh of satisfaction as another perfect day in paradise comes to a close. As our guest at The Rarotongan, you have box-seats for the island’s best sunset views, which of course are only visible from Rarotonga’s southwest coast.
WARM ISLAND HOSPITALITY
So many of our guests return again and again, in love with the friendliness and warmth of the staff they’ve met here over the years, who have become their friends, almost like family.
The Rarotongan’s staff look forward to welcoming back our return guests by name with a warm “Kia Orana! Welcome home!” Once you’ve been a guest of The Rarotongan, you’re part of our Rarotongan family, and will always be welcome to return.
FAMILY HOLIDAY
The Three Bedroom Pool Villa! The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa offers the fabulous Three Bedroom Pool Villa Onemaru (‘Soothing Sands’ Villa), a superb, spacious private pool villa which is completely private and set it its own tropical gardens 400 metres west of The Rarotongan.
Villa Onemaru features 2 master bedrooms each with ensuite bathroom and TV, a 3rd bedroom with PlayStation, a separate bathroom with large spa bath, sitting and dining room, full kitchen, large swimming pool, outdoor dining or daybed pavilion, outdoor mobile BBQ, open-air shower, children’s playground, kayaks and Games Room with full-size pool table. A stunning family or couples retreat. Guests of Villa Onemaru also enjoy full access to all the facilities of The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa.
BEACH RESORT
As the Cook Islands’ iconic signature resort, The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa is much more than the sum of its parts – it is the total beach resort, the resort with the mostest, offering guests the best beach resort experience on Rarotonga for your best beach vacation ever, right in the heart of the South Seas.
Remember, any time of year is perfect in Rarotonga, never too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry – always, just right. So anytime you yearn for some great time-out in the tropics, book that ticket and come on over, we’ll be right here waiting for you. What are you waiting for?
