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Hotel Class: 
4.5 Stars - 228 Opinions
PO Box 47, Arorangi, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
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of people enjoy staying here
228 Opinions
Rarotonga Blue
Banana harvest off the Rarotongan ring roads.
The Local "Watering Hole"
A pristine beach in Rarotonga
Hi there,
We want to get married in the Cook Islands. Did any of you do it before? Or do you know someone that did? Any recommendations?
Thanks IL.
We were in Rarotonga in June last year. We stayed at the Crown Beach Resort. We chose it for the privacy of separate bures. While we were there a young couple had their wedding ceremony. The staff were very friendly and obliging. They made a lovely aisle of flowers on the sand leading towards the water where they had a ring of flaming torches for the ceremony itself. It was exquistly romantic, just on sunset. We felt priveledged to witness it. It was very informal but very personal. The following night we went to the large Edgewater Resort up the road for a drink at the bar. There was a wedding party there too. Although we didn't see the ceremony, they had a large Aussie wedding reception happening with all the family and friends having a boisterous time around the pool. It depends on the type of wedding you want and the guests that you invite. Try the website at www.cook-islands.com it is very good. Wishing a lovely day and a lifetime of happiness. Bronjen
The Cooks is a great place to get married. I had friends that married there (at the Edgewater Resort) and they had a great time. The photos looked awesome...they married on the beach in front of the hotel. You just need 3 days from registration of the licence and you can marry on the 4th day. They said the Edgewater was fantastic and everyone was really friendly. They were provided with a wedding planner from the resort and all in all had a really fun day.
Unless you have a Vodafone New Zealand or T-Mobile USA phone, you can turn off your mobile for the duration of your visit as these are the only roaming partners of Telecom Cook Islands.
If you are really desperate to have your mobile phone on, you need to buy a local prepay SIM card - see http://www.telecom.co.ck for details
If you have never been before, hire a bike and cycle around the island. If you do it on a Sunday morning there will be no traffic, and you can go to one of the hotels for lunch, or a cafe that has Friday or Saturday as its closed day.
Once you have done the whole loop at this pace, you will know were you want to go for the rest of the trip and you can hop on the bus. I loved just sitting and watching the sea gently lap on the shore, and watching the hermit crabs going about their business.
The day we found a coconut on the beach, and my husband spent an hour getting in. It tasted fantastic though.
One of the local customs in the Cook Islands is for women to wear a wreath consisting of flowers and lettuce (yes, lettuce!) around their head. Despite its vegetal quality, it actually looks quite attractive and has the extra bonus that. if you got hungry without warning, you could start picking at your headgear (though I'm sure their must be some Polynesian etiquette rules frowning on that).
Whilst on the Island, we did some rock fishing when the tide was out, we had to wade right out to the reef edge where it would just drop 20 or 40 feet away at the mouth of a entrance to the lagoon. Along the way we would gather our own bait or if we where lucky a local would be out collecting octopuss from the rocks and he would cut us a tentical, fresh bait.
The fishing was good and i think that if we put more time into it the catch would have been bigger, but we where there for fun, so we enjoyed catching anything big or small. We took all our own fishing gear with us to Rarotonga,
Palace One Takeaway is located besides Avatiu boat harbour in Rarotonga's capital, Avarua.
Arriving at Avarua's Cook's Corner bus terminal, head west through Punanga Nui market place and you'll see Palace One located on the opposite side of the road to a large "Raro Fried Chicken" fast food restaurant.
Palace One is basically a glorified burger van.....in fact it isn't even *that* glorified! ;-) It does have a handful of wooden tables outside - some under a canopy and others on the grass amongst the wandering hens (don't stray over the road to Raro Fried Chicken, guys!!!). You can sit in the sunshine looking out across the harbour.....but don't expect too much action, it's not the world's busiest harbour!
I visited Palace One for a morning snack during my visit to Avarua in April 2006. Although the menu lists toasted sandwiches, calamari rings, mussels, fish, eggs and bacon amongst its meals.....at the time of my visit only burgers and hot dogs were available. Admittedly, the selection of burgers was fairly extensive (plain, steakburgers, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, a "Palace Special", burgers with eggs.....). There were also various cakes and puddings on offer. I opted for:
Cheeseburger - Cost: 4.50 NZD (approx 2 GBP)
It wasn't particularly big or filling, but the burger was well cooked and the meat was very good. There wasn't much cheese on it, but it too was very well cooked (to the extent that it had ceased to be melted and had achieved crispiness!). Also filled with grated lettuce, carrots, tomato and ketchup
Bottle of Fanta orange - Cost: 2.50 NZD (approx 1 GBP)
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Q: wedding venue "hi there, we are looking at having our wedding in raro in march 2013, just wanting any feedback on nice locations for both..."
A: "My brother held his ceremony at the Rarotongan. Went pretty well to be honest, although I am aware that a lot of the hotels offer this kind of package. For an idea on..."
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Address: PO Box 47, Arorangi, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
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