Culture And Heritage Highlights In Rarotonga

By
Mike Yardley | For the Love of Travel NZ
Photography By
Cook Islands Tourism

Tear yourself away from the palm-fringed lagoon and explore Rarotonga's culture and heritage. 

Escape the hum-drum of the daily grind to the quintessential South Pacific island paradise of Rarotonga, steeped in heritage and culture. The bewitching blend of serrated mountains, saw-tooth hills, dense tropical jungle bountiful plantations and deliciously bone-white beaches sets the stage for great adventures. Encircled by a coral reef, the Rarotongan lagoon supports a dazzling variety of tropical fish life, with an even greater array of sea life in the deep water outside the reef, including eagle rays, sea turtles and black-tipped reef sharks. But what makes the Rarotongan lagoon so family-pleasing is the shallowness of the crystal clear water, preventing sharks from being able to enter the lagoon.

It’s absolutely where the magic happens. Beyond the beach, the broad arc of sugar-white sands and the crisp lagoon palette of electric blues and turquoise hues, the backroads of Rarotonga vividly reveal the life and soul of this South Pacific jewel. Tear yourself away from the beach to dig a little deeper at the roots of the island. Locals loosely consider the coastline hugging main circle island road as the “tourist road.” The backroad, Ara Metua, and its adjoining lanes is like entering another world, where the beating heart of Rarotongan authenticity slaps you in the face at every turn with its living history and village vitality.

Click HERE to read more.