Anyone with Rarotonga diving experience
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Diving
Forum Name: The Scoobie Gang
Forum Description: Tanks thanks! - SCUBA diver's here
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=29659
Printed Date: 30 May 2023 at 4:15am
Topic: Anyone with Rarotonga diving experience
Posted By: Dagwood
Subject: Anyone with Rarotonga diving experience
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 11:28am
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Looking at a holiday in the sun for later in the year for the family. More of a blobout as opposed to an action packed adventure. Criteria would be: On or damn close to the beach Interesting Scuba diving for a newly qualified diver (my son) Interesting snorkelling for him in between diving to keep him entertained otherwise he'll just eat and cost us a fortune! Reasonable accommodation with a bar! We did Plantation Island in Fiji a few years ago and we quite liked that. Anyone been to Rarotonga? How would it stack up with the above in mind? |
Replies:
Posted By: snapslayer
Date Posted: 31 May 2008 at 1:15pm
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just got back from raro bout 12 days ago. we had a ball plenty of snorkelling and blobbing out.
It was the second time i've been there and i would be more than happy to pass on as much info as i can. I've p.m my number to you so feel free to give us a bell
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Posted By: kj
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2008 at 10:09am
| Been there a couple of times. To be honest the Diving is'nt as good as the snorkeling. Some good shallow water stuff around the rarotongan resort or outside the reef around the Avarua side. Found the diving to be bland compared to fiji and indian ocean sites. |
Posted By: Dagwood
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2008 at 1:39pm
| Thanks for this - all good info to throw in the pot - Snapslayer I'll touch base ASAP - Been away and busy catching up now. |
Posted By: brettt
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2008 at 10:05pm
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Spent 10 days in raro and aitutaki last month. Snorkelling is good all around raro inside the reef. Lots of nice sandy beaches and easy access. The most fish (and biggest) were in a place called 'fruits of Rarotonga' which is inside a marine reserve on the southern side of the island. Easy snorkelling - good for kids.
Only did scuba diving on Aitutaki. Went out with "Bubbles Below" and hired all the gear. No need for wetsuit which makes a pleasant change from here. Even at 30 m I was still warm. Got photos of large green turtles (4 feet shells), massive Napolean wrasse about 4 feet long and 2 feet high, moray eels, white tip reef sharks. On the day I dived the visibiity was only about 30m - apparently the wind direction/swell murked it up a bit - normally it is 40-50m. The bubbles crowd were really good - easygoing, friendly and knowledgable.
Haven't been to Fiji but enjoyed Aitutaki in comparison to Hawaii, Green Island and Poor knights. Enjoy ...
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Posted By: CEEBEE
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2008 at 2:40pm
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Hey Dagwood
Spent 12 days at Raro 3-4 years ago, stayed at the edgwater resort and had a ball snorkelling. Simply walked 20 meters in front of resort and snorkel. Excellent for the youngsters. Tried at the Marine reserve but better in front of resort.
Cheers CeeBee ------------- I STARTED THE DAY WITH NO FISH AND I STILL HAVE PLENTY LEFT |
Posted By: Dagwood
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2008 at 3:33pm
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Thanks for all the input. SWMBO ended up settling on Port Douglas which was great. We went out on a boat called Silversonic. http://www.silverseries.com.au/sonic.htm - http://www.silverseries.com.au/sonic.htm While it's owned by the Quicksilver company (like 1/2 of Port Douglas) it is a very different experience compared to the big wave piercer which looked like Disneyland for Divers with up to 400 passengers! For those that are interested, I did a brief update under the thread "Kids and Diving". Once again, thanks for the input 
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Posted By: JigKid
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2008 at 6:52pm
My mate and his family went last year and both dived and snorkelled. His two young sons also newly qualified dived and had an awesome time! Could find out more if you wanted...? 
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Posted By: JigKid
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2008 at 6:55pm
| Also have been there myself but only snorkeled. Had an amazing time, beautiful island! Viz is amazing and fish everywhere. Went out on a boat to a spot about 10-15M and had an awesome time ! |
Posted By: souzerncross
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2021 at 8:12am
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Hi everyone, I know it's an old thread but I thought I post my question here as I believe it is fitting. I need some advice on which dive operator to use in Rarotonga. We will be heading back to the Cooks once the borders open up again early next year. In the past, we have always been using The Dive Centre - The Big Fish in Aroa next to the Rarotongan. I just found out that they are closed and the dive centre does not exist anymore. After some searching I read that there is another dive centre now at the exact location ( https://www.adventurecookislands.com" rel="nofollow - Adventure Cook Islands ). Apparently they have been around for a while but moved their business to this location. Has anyone dived with Adventure Cook Islands before? Any recommendation? We will be staying at the Rarotongan Hotel and ideally we want a dive centre close to our hotel. Thanks!
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