Aroa Beach — Attraction in Arorangi

I stayed in a walking distance bungalow from this wonderful beach stretching with a few interruption up to Black Rock. I snorkeled regularly in the lagoon at high tide, specially in the late afternoon till sunset. I was impressed by the variety of coral and sand fish species, and bigger pelagic species including spotted eagle sting rays, yellow spotted trevally, mureen eels, grand puffer fish and so many more, I have filled two pages of encountered species. Off course you will have the opportunity to see Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) feeding on sea cucumbers! So do not hesitate to take a plunge starting off the Rarotongan resort swimming towards the reef barrier and following the coral rocks emerging from the white sandy bottom. It is a five stars experience! If you are not a swimmer but beach comber Aroa is also a great place to enjoy long walks accompanied by the rumbling sound of the...

Marine reserve! Perfect snorkeling spot when not windy or wavy! Check on surf forecast. You either can snorkel straight out from the beach, the best spot: 2/3 of the way out to the drop off there is a mint spot. Orrr go down further out in front of the fish feeding deck at the resort and even further down - it is amazing there all the way down to the passage, be very aware of the currents - be VERY careful of the passages, they drown tourists 😱 Just don't go into the passages without a local guide and you will be fine. Also beware of stone fish - look them up they are nasty. Also the crown of thorns starfish is bad. Best not to touch anything at all, some of the shellfish are venomous, even some of the coral "bites".

Snorkeling gear can be hired cheap as, straight across the road at the blue dive...

A beautiful beach but we had a negative experience with the locals here.

When we parked at what we thought was beach public parking some locals who were drinking alcohol in an old ruined building asked where we were going. When we said "to the resort to buy a drink then to the beach" they rudely told us to park elsewhere and that it was private property, and that the resort had its own parking. There was no private property signs and there was what looked like a public toilet here, as well as other people parked here and clearly using the beach so we were very confused by this.

The snorkeling here is excellent and we saw Moray eels, starfish and even a sea turtle, but our memories of Aroa beach will sadly be tainted by these unpleasant and...