You are here: Home › Destinations › Oceania › Cook Islands › Avarua
Avarua
About Avarua
Avarua is the capital and the commercial centre of the Cook Islands. It is situated on Rarotonga Island below the peaks of Rarotonga. The mountain scenery around Rarotonga is truly beautiful. The circular shaped island is only 32 km in circumference and has lush rain forests and palm-fringed shores. The island is almost completely encircled by a reef, which harbors a lagoon of clear turquoise waters and white sand beaches. Rarotonga has some excellent swimming and snorkeling beaches, and offers exceptional opportunities for deep sea fishing with ideal fishing grounds for barracuda, yellow fin and skipjack tuna, sailfish and marlinLocal highlights
Enjoy the city
- Visit the Saturday open air market for brightly coloured sarongs, fresh fish and tropical fruits
- Walk by the rocky coast along Avarua Town
- East of Avarua you can find some Marae (ancient stone foundations)
- Enjoy the best of Rarotonga nightlife with its seductive dancing
Highlights in the vicinity
- Visit the attractive village of Titikaveka with its prominent white church and excellent beach
- Visit Arorangi with the Tinomana Palace and Zion church. Its beach is good for reef-walking
- Black Rock-an excellent swimming and snorkeling spot. The coast north of Black Rock is a marine protected area and is a good place to spot humpback whales.
- Hike trough the rainforest, home to the endangered kakerori flycatcher (native bird).
- See the Papua Waterfall and the natural swimming pool
- Muri Beach the only true sand beach with the sandy bottom lagoon, excellent for swimming, snorkeling, sailing, kayaking, wind and kite surfing. Try to kayak to the uninhabited islets and enjoy the quiet beaches.
- Visit the secluded beaches on the south coast of Rarotonga
- The south-east coast has the best snorkeling lagoon in the Cook Islands
- Go visit the lagoon at Aroa Beach, that is quite deep and ideal for swimming and snorkeling
Good to know
- No. of inhabitants: Few thousand
- Timezone: UTC +10
- Weather: Generally hot throughout the year, with moderating trade winds. The coolest months are June to August. November to March is the warm season with higher rainfall.
- Tel nr. Police: 999
- Tel nr. Ambulance and hospital: 998
Local transport
- Bus circles the island
- Motor scooter are popular
- Rental bikes, cars and jeeps
Inbound transport
- Nearest airport: The town is served by Rarotonga International Airport
- By boat: Rarotonga has a desirable port of call for South Seas sailors
Travel tips
There are no Travel tips yet
Add a Travel tip
Did you visit this Destination?
And become one of the EnjoyYourWorld Photographers
And show travellers YOUR BEST PICTURES OF THE WORLD. Everyone has a different view on this world and that makes your pictures so special, so don’t wait any longer and send us your pictures right now!! And become one of our EnjoyYourWorld photographers.