Renting A Car In Rarotonga

car rental rarotonga

There are several car rental services in Rarotonga some big and some small the largest ones are Island car and Bike Hire followed by Polynesian Bike and Car hire followed by Raro cars which are located near the town area.’

Most tourists like to hire a scooter because of the ease of transport and the unique experience it offers as people from overseas never get to chance to do it back home so its one of the must do things whilst here in the islands. The laws have changed now so locals between the age of 16-25 years of age must wear a helmet but if you’re under 16 years you don’t need to? Sounds a bit odd but it is the case. Tourists must wear a helmet at all times as part of the new rule which is good because safety is number one and a tourist dying on the road by an accident and having no helmet would look quite bad.

One thing that is certain that when it rains it sucks to be on a bike you have no shelter from the rain and the roads are wet which makes them more slippery so it’s a very unpleasant to drive in plus when it’s cold at night which it can be in Rarotonga you’ll need to layer up. What we highly recommend is hiring a car whilst you are in the Cook Islands because of the following reasons

  1. There’s a less chance of having an accident as most people hiring a scooter have zero experience in driving the motor vehicle.
  2. Take more people and luggage around which you can do on a bike
  3. Don’t get we like you would on a bike
  4. Don’t have to do a test at the police station is a simple trade of licence
  5. If you’re going on a night out in town you can always have a sober drive
  6. You can take more people in a car
  7. Fewer accidents in the Cook Islands involving cars then Scooters.

How much is it hire a Scooter vs Car?

Cars start around the $35-$50 mark per day so its ok most of the cars here are quite small so they dont have big 4WD drives or Pajeros to hire out here so you smaller cars around that price.

Scooters are around $18 – $25 per day so is quite cost effective and they are a lot more affordable than cars but easier on petrol, that’s why you see lots of locals using them for this reason.

If you have a large group then Vans are the way to go but they are hard to get so you need to book well in advance to get one.

Car rental rarotonga Place We Recommend

There are a lot of great places around to hire a car but one company that we’ve used time and time again is Sweet as Rentals Rarotonga which is a small car company on the island compared to others but the service and customer support that Nick Shows to his customers is probably the best on the island.

They offer Suzuki Swifts are the car of choice as they are convenient and good on petrol. They also deliver to the airport also.

If you are after a people mover then Polynesian car hire and rarocars are another rental company we would recommend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_rental