KiteSUP Watersports Cook Islands — Attraction in Ngatangiia

Terrible Experience with Owner of Kitesup in the Cook Islands Our experience with Kitesup was extremely disappointing and left a sour note on an otherwise wonderful holiday. We booked a night tour on paddle boards but needed to cancel due to a severe injury I sustained a couple of days before. We personally went to Kitesup with six friends to cancel the booking more than 24 hours in advance, as required for a full refund. Despite multiple emails exchanged with the owner, Ina, he insisted on proof of our cancellation because his employee claimed not to recall it. Ina's emails were insulting, rude, defamatory, and extremely hurtful. He accused me of lying and even claimed that an email from one of my friends, who is a police officer of high regard, was fake and sent by me. Despite us spending over $500 with his company, Ina refused to refund me 100% of only one persons booking, even though I did cancel more than 24 hours as per his refund policy. I have been in retail for over 40 years and have never encountered such poor customer service. This experience significantly marred our holiday. I do not recommend Kitesup in the Cook Islands, and I believe the owner should reconsider running a company or dealing with people.

READ THE OWNERS RESPONSE FIRST THEN READ MY RESPONSE TO HIS ACCUSATIONS BELOW

Response to False Accusations I am writing to address the recent accusations made against me. I want to categorically state that these accusations are false, and I am deeply concerned about the impact they may have on me. Bullying and Harassment: I have never bullied or harassed anyone. I just asked him (the owner of Kitesup) to do the right thing as I preferred to handle any grievances with his company before I review anything on any public forum. I have been trying to resolve this situation for weeks now False Emails: I did not impersonate my friends, He asked them to email him, which they did to verify my statement, but instead he accuses me of creating false emails. I have not created any false emails. I would not even know how to, I am 60 yrs old and not that computer literate. Bullying Staff: Anytime I had spoken to his staff including the day before and the day of the tour,I have never bullied them. His staff spoke to three different ladies on the phone the day of the tour. He has absolutely no evidence of me bullying his staff, because I did not. Policy Changes: I did not ever request any policy changes; I merely sought fair treatment according to existing policies. I do not want his money, I just wanted him to believe me. But instead he has been the one to insult, blame, bully and accuse me of things I did not do. History of bullying and harassment. OMG He has no documented evidence of bullying and harassment of his staff, because that do not happen I have never made a bad review before, but I did everything he asked me to do and he still thinks I am lying. I would not go to all this trouble if I was in the wrong. I would not waste my time or energy. I just wanted him to do the right thing. Clearly that is not going to happen. So you be the judge. Have a look at what he has accused one of his customers of doing. It’s not a nice feeling especially when he...

Sure you can hire a SUP yourself and have a paddle around the lagoon but you will miss out on an entirely different experience if you don't do the Fire on Water night paddle tour. The team were friendly and made everyone feel comfortable, offering wetsuits to those who didn't want to brave the 30C water. There was a safety box to leave car keys, shoes etc and a choice of kayak or Stand Up Paddle (SUP) board. All but 2 of the ~15 people in our group went for the SUP, though most chose to kneel and paddle rather than stand. Muri lagoon was quite calm so it pretty easy to get the hang of it, particularly after an introduction from the staff. We had 2 local dogs swim out with us into the lagoon. They knew where to go and lead the group for much of the time, pausing for a break on some rocks that were close to the surface. We saw a number of turtles and an eagle ray as the sun set and we paddled across to one of the mutos. There we got a short but interesting cultural history of the Maori people and the similarities across the Pacific islands. On the island we were treated to a fire dance and everyone was able to give it a go if they wanted to. After the show we paddled back across the lagoon in the dark, guided by the LEDs under each of our boards; a unique experience I haven't seen offered anywhere else. One of the dogs decided to ride up front on one of the SUPs which was fun to watch (I don't think my pampered pooches could do it). We are waiting for the event photos to be published on their Facebook page. I've only seen a few from October so I'm not holding my breath. The lagoon doesn't have much coral and is very shallow so there is balance between safety with beginners and how far out on the reef they can go. Overall an...

We participated in the Fire on Water night paddling tour through KiteSUP, and that was definitely a 5-star experience. My husband and I chose a tandem kayak, but the vast majority of our fellow night adventurers opted for the SUP, most of whom had no previous experience, so don't let that stop you!

This was a really cool and informative tour. Troy, our tour guide and owner of KiteSUP, gave us a lot of great information about the history and culture of Rarotonga, and just general good conversation as we paddled to the small islands surrounding Raro. He also put on a great fire show, and even let some of us give fire dancing a try. After hefting that blazing baton, I had that much more admiration for what he could do.

The tour was also just really unique and fun. When we started, the sun hadn't quite set, but as it got darker and darker, the LED lights under the kayaks and paddleboards really lit up the water beneath us. The water around Raro is so clear and blue and shallow, so we could see all kinds of marine life below us. It was also really breathtaking to kayak under the stars. The sky was so clear and so littered with stars!!! Make sure you look up once in a while as you paddle along.

We highly recommend this night paddling tour. Although we can't really comment on any other part of this...