Rarotonga get around · Get around Rarotonga
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Get around Rarotonga
Get around Rarotonga
Rarotonga is made up districts containing several villages located mainly around the coastal fringe of the island. Avarua is the main village on the northern side of the island and has most of the population and services. People tend to refer to it as the town. Muri on the eastern side is probably the main tourist centre, with apartments and the Pacific Resort scattered around the lagoon. Aroa is on the western side is a protected lagoon and beach, and home to the Rarotongan. The airport situated in Nikao, is close to Avarua, about 2km anti-clockwise.
Rarotonga's main island is encircled by a 32km two-lane (one each way) bitumen road that is in good condition. There is also an inner road that is paved, but narrow, and doesn't quite go around the entire island due to property owners.
Expect a remarkable number of chickens to cross the road. It is hard to understand why they do this, but they do. Dogs, walkers, children, and coconuts provide other obstacles on the roads that keep driving interesting. The speed limit is 50km/h, with 30km/h in some towns. Allowing 30 minutes should really get you to the fartherest point on the island, provided you start off in the right direction.
The main road is called Ara Tapu. The inner road, Ara Metua, links side roads between the inner and outer roads and have more recently been given names. Addresses with just the village name in the address can be assumed to be on the main road, or not far from it. The local free maps available at the airport and tourist information are quite detailed, and list the villages, and most places of visitor interest.
If you head off on any of the unsealed roads that start off heading inland, expect them to quickly peter out to narrow unsealed roads, with stream crossings often more suited to quad bikes.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Rarotonga
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Rarotonga Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.