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Diving in the Cook Islands

Diving destination or destination with diving? That’s the choice for many of us when browsing travel brochures looking for a vacation that suits us and our non-diving partners. Although not quite a diving destination of its kind, Rarotonga still has a lot to offer both novice and more experienced divers. And, with many dive sites just a short boat ride away, you’ll even be back in time for afternoon cocktails on the beach!

Rarotonga is a volcanic island surrounded by lagoons and inshore reefs. Outside of the reef the terrain drops off in some areas quite steeply, in fact not far offshore there is more than 1/2 km of water depth. The island has over 70 species of fish, including lion fish, clown fish, butterfly fish, angel fish, puffer fish, parrot fish, trumpet fish and many, many more. There is also a good chance of seeing moray eels, reef sharks, turtles, wrasse and eagle rays. From June to October we often see humpback whales and calves wandering around during the surface interval.

Another reason to dip into the tropical waters around the island of Rarotonga is that they offer a pleasant year-round temperature of 73 to 84 F (23 C to 29 C). Above all, Rarotonga has some of the clearest water in the South Pacific, with visibility that always takes my breath away as I look over the fall into the blue. The warm temperature and clear water lead to some of the most relaxed and easy diving in the world.

Diving

For qualified divers, there are sites suitable for all levels of training and experience, from coral gardens to falls and from wreck to cave dives. The island’s dive operators offer guided dives for certified divers and training courses from the first bubbles. With clear, warm waters, Rarotonga is an excellent place to learn to dive.

All dives for qualified divers are done by boat. The surrounding reef limits shore diving to the shallow lagoon that is only a couple of meters deep. There are around 30 dive sites, with locations on all sides of the island accessible by boat, exiting through the reef at one of 4 locations. This allows for short boat trips, on the order of 5-20 minutes. About 70% of the diving takes place around the upper half of the island. The main breaks in the reef on this side are in the main port ‘Avatiu’ and in the smaller port ‘Avarua’. Dive sites to the south of the island are reached with a beach launch from ‘Rutaki Passage’ and some dives depart from the often windswept southeast ‘Avana Passage’ on calm days.

For most divers visiting Rarotonga, one of the many sites in the north, such as ‘Paradise’, and the north-east of the island, such as ‘Sand River’, are the best option. Most of these sites are suitable for all experience levels and offer some of the most consistent diving conditions, with little to no current and some of the best coral and wildlife. From this area towards the east side of the island, with its reef closer to land, there are some interesting slopes. The more experienced diver can swim to the edge in 18-24m of water with the bottom dropping to the depths below. Sites like ‘The Gap’ can offer some amazing views out into the blue where larger game fish can sometimes be seen, along with the occasional whitetip reef shark.

Here’s a more “in-depth” overview of a couple of popular dive sites in the North and Northeast:

Sand River ‘A river of sand descending from the shallows as far as the eye can see, surrounded by reefs and interspersed with coral reefs.’ No description can do this dive site justice. After mooring in 12m of water, it’s just a short swim to the edge of the blue. The edge of the reef is home to an abundance of colorful reef fish and also a couple of resident giant moray eels. For the experienced diver, there is nothing quite like the view while swimming above the drop, where you can often see the distant silhouette of sharks in the depths.

Paraiso If you want to see lots of colorful fish and beautiful coral formations, ‘Paradise’ is the dive site for you. A short trip from the city, this site is ideal for all levels of experience. And with plenty to see at 16-18m, it means you can get some good snorkeling time exploring the beautiful reef. The amazing thing about this dive site is that the fish here are very friendly. The two main characters, ‘Tommy’ and the cleverly named ‘Son of Tommy’, are regulars here. They are extremely social blue/green triggerfish and very often one or both will follow you throughout the entire dive.

Mataora Wreck The Mataora, once a Tongan registered cargo ship, was 44.25m long and 299 gross tons. She was purchased on December 11, 1990 from Silk and Boyd for the whopping sum of $1 to form an artificial reef. Her last trip to the seabed began a couple of days later and the wreck now lies at 18m, just off the reef to the north of the island. Not long after it sank, the island was hit by a cyclone. The onslaught of waves went to work on the wreck, separating the bow and stern. Now quite fragmented, the wreck is a haven for lionfish and groupers.

Relative to the rest of the island, the west and northwest dive sites offer deeper coral dives between 18 and 30m deep, along with some interesting volcanically formed shallow caves that are safe to dive on really calm days. Also on this side is another of the three wrecks available on the island, the ‘Maritime Reefer’, which is 26 m deep. In general, the fish life on this side of the island is not as prolific, but there is a reasonable chance of seeing eagle rays on ‘Diana’s Ridge’ and if you are very lucky, this is the side of the island that sharks visit. hammer.

Dive sites to the south of the island are found in and around passages where there are natural reefs. Although there is a drop-off here as well, most life can be found shallow in these holes in the reef. Unfortunately, these passages can be a bit unpredictable when it comes to visibility and current. Often the current can be very strong, making it impossible to climb the passages safely. In general, these sites are only suitable for experienced divers. If you are an experienced diver looking for something a little different, these can be interesting dives. On a good day gray and white tip reef sharks can be seen in ‘Avaavaroa’ and ‘Papua’ along with eagle rays.

The selection of dive sites depends on the weather, but with sites all over the island, there is a calm side most days.

Hopefully this has given you an idea of ​​what is available in Rarotonga. The Cook Islands may not be a cult diving destination, but with my experience of diving in different places around the world, you could definitely do a lot worse than Rarotonga.

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