Things to Do in Cook Islands (2026)

Cook Islands · CK

Discover Marine Wildlife and Eco Centre

A venomous stonefish floating lazily behind glass. A coconut crab the size of a dinner plate gripping its tank wall with hooked claws. An injured seabird blinking at you from a rehabilitated aviary while its rescuer explains how it ended up there. This is the Discover Marine Wildlife and Eco Centre on Rarotonga's main road in Arorangi — a small, wildly personal attraction that packs more personality into one room than some national museums manage in ten. Built by New Zealander Stephenie Jansen, who arrived on the island in 2015 and fell so hard for its lagoon life that she turned passion into a place visitors could actually touch, the centre opened in 2019 and has been quietly winning over families, nature lovers, and rainy-day beach-goers ever since. What makes it special is not scale but specificity: every exhibit tells you something real about this particular stretch of the South Pacific, from the island-building geology behind the lagoon to the whaling ships that once hunted its waters.

Mountain peak

Cook Islands · CK

Raemaru

Raemaru is a distinctive flat-topped mountain peak on the west coast of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, rising 357 meters above sea level. Its summit rewards hikers with spectacular 360-degree panoramas over the turquoise lagoon, patchwork farmlands, and the vast Pacific Ocean. The Raemaru Track is widely regarded as the easiest peak to climb on Rarotonga and one of the island's most rewarding short hikes. The approximately 3.1-kilometre return trail winds through lush jungle canopy before emerging onto a dramatic ridgeline, where the optional final challenge is a 15-metre rock-face scramble aided by fixed ropes and steel bars.

Lake

Cook Islands · CK

Lake Tiriara

Lake Tiriara is the largest freshwater lake in the Cook Islands, a calm inland lagoon tucked into the southern end of Mangaia, the ancient volcanic island ringed by fossilised coral cliffs. Unlike a simple mountain pond, it drains the island's lush interior and disappears underground through a cave in the makatea—the raised coral limestone terrace that walls in Mangaia—giving it the feel of a secret that the land itself has been keeping. Set on one of the Pacific's oldest islands and reached by a short domestic flight from Rarotonga, the lake rewards the small effort of getting to Mangaia: a quiet boardwalk and viewing platforms trace its shore, the Cave of Tangiia sits at its mouth, and the surrounding wetlands belong to a community-led conservation project. For travellers drawn to remote nature and slow, low-key islands, Lake Tiriara is a gentle highlight in the heart of a rugged one.

Beach

Cook Islands · CK

Tikioki Beach

Tikioki Beach sits on Rarotonga's south-east coast at Titikaveka, and for many travellers it is the single best place on the island to snorkel straight off the sand. Protected as a marine reserve under the traditional Cook Islands practice of ra'ui, the lagoon here is wider than most of the coast, the coral heads are larger, and the fish have grown used to people. The water stays calm and sheltered from breaking waves, so even nervous swimmers and small children can wade out and find themselves surrounded by colour. Locals often call it the "Fruits of Rarotonga" spot after the well-known juice bar on the road opposite the beach, where there is a public car park and easy access down to the shore. Entry is free and you need no boat: put your mask on at the water's edge and the reef life begins within a couple of metres.

Finding your next place…

A little more
of Cook Islands.

Discover Marine Wildlife and Eco Centre

Raemaru

Lake Tiriara

Tikioki Beach

Finding your next place…

A little more
of Cook Islands.

Discover Marine Wildlife and Eco Centre

Raemaru

Lake Tiriara

Tikioki Beach