Cook Islands surf
Appreciate any advice / experience.
Hi etarip - Ive been to Rarotonga and yes its super shallow but there are some reef passes like Rutaki passage and the pass next to it (sorry forgot the name) that are surfable. High tide only tho and still probably better suited to a boogie board but def do-able. Hire a motorbike - not much traffic. Wave access is pretty easy
Thanks SS and MMM.
Looks like there’s some decent options. I’ll be packing the reef booties and some hydrogen peroxide.
seaslug wrote:
“Rutaki passage is the perfect playground for both advanced surfers and beginners.”
Ha, yeh right!
the boogie wave is surfable if your good on take offs but yes wear booties, there was another righthander with a pilon in the channel that looked good and surfable too, about 400m out, wont be too hard to find, saw another guy surfing somewhere on other side was indiscernible peaks didn't bother going out
worth going fishing early in the trip aswell catch something big and feed everyone for a few days
There is a great lefthander breaks off Edgewater resort in the right swell direction, pretty shallow though. Would send photos but not sure how to insert
Thanks for the extra info. Need to get a bit more urgency in my pop-ups then!
The waves are short..Hire a bodyboard, just think like a kid on a surfmat, &get some Rad toobz
lostdoggy wrote:seaslug wrote:“Rutaki passage is the perfect playground for both advanced surfers and beginners.”
Ha, yeh right!
Agreed LD - def not a playground for beginners
Have had great waves there - western side of the island. Was pumping, though the break i surfed was very dependent on swell direction. right in Nth swell left in sth swell. If its on you will see it if you have a bit of a look around- take booties. you will need them if low tide for reef walking and massive urchins.
Also surfed Rutaki passage. nice barrel but exits are onto a going dry big coral head, seemed more suitable to the boogers.- or makesure a high tide. Maybe someone has pu a bit of dynamite init and blown it up by now. Be aware water runs out real hard on those reef passes when tide drops out- so have a plan to get in if lose your board.
Another time i was there was real solid swell but very windy.
Kinda trip where you could score or not get much.
Good luck and enjoy having a bit of a search around.
I've been twice about 15-20 years ago when I use to bodyboard. There are plenty of slabs around the island but it is ridiculously shallow and the breaks works at high tide. North swells in summer, south in winter
Etarip, I've been there half a dozen times with two of those being 6 month stints.
All comments made so far are correct.....
My experience is you could surf everyday of your trip or not even get your board wet. Can be frustrating with wind direction/strength & not that many options for any given swell /wind direction scenario.
Beautiful place, love it to death but yeah, ya gotta spend some time there to get it good but hope you score!
Got a trip booked in to head to the Cook Islands with the family in a couple of months. Staying with (non-surfing) friends.
Planning to take a couple of shortboards. Anyone been / got advice on surfing there? Heard it’s shallow. Our friends said there’s only bodyboarding there.