From the moment we stepped into the full bus we knew we were in for a good time. We had a fun bunch on board and a part of the experience was meeting people from around the world who were seeking the same Cook Island cultural experience. Starting the tour at Aunty Nono & Sharnyta's home was perfect. We got to tour their beautiful property, meet their very active dogs and learn about island life. The put forth a broad spread of tasty appetizers. The second stop (just up the road) provided the main dishes and then we ended the evening at Baxter's home. Baxter provided a ton of desserts as well as humorous commentary. Our driver Mike, along with others, provided music. It was an entertaining evening full of good food and great conversation.

Well the driver Ron didn't even arrive for the scheduled pickup that was booked and confirmed by the hotel. After taking pity on us a driver from the same company asked if he could help and told us Ron was down the harbour sitting in his van. He tried to ring him but to no avail so this driver drove us to the hotel......straight past Ron sitting playing on his phone exactly where this driver told us he would be. Well done to our driver for his assistance and a huge thumbs down to Ron who missed out on the handsome tip we gave our driver.

didn't turn up wasted my $119.00 dollars don't use them had to hire a cab & pay more to go to our hotel very unhappy customer

We had a great night sampling a huge range of food, with wine and coffee included. There was plenty of food to feed everyone. The hosts were excellent and it was interesting to find out a little about their culture. Don’t worry if it’s raining as all venues are organised to deal w inclement weather.

Lovely hosts, food, music, stories and history. A very relaxed dining experience at different locations for each course, it is also a great way to meet others visiting Rarotonga. Check where pick up is. Afterwards you are dropped off at your accom, but not before, although it will be somewhere close to where you're staying

This has to be a must do...We shared our experience last night with 32 other visitors.It was so humbling to meet real residents in their own homes and to hear at each of the 3 places visited their lives living both here in Rarotonga and other places they had visited. The food was divine.Beautifully presented by the hosts...all explained what the dishes were. You get the best experience of tasting real authentic local cuisine. This is our second time and will definitely be including in future visits. One small downer was we had lots of trouble contacting Cook Islands Tours who operate this experience. They never replied to our emails and the phone sounded disconnected.???? Other people on our tour expressed the same views. You had to confirm your booking few days prior to your trip ....but no acknowledgement back.???? However we believe this problem has now been addressed. It certainly hasn't put us off doing it all over again

I didn't go to the Progressive Dinner until my second visit to Rarotonga, because I have food intolerances and didn't want to offend anyone by not eating certain dishes. I needn't have worried. 24 people participated in the tour on the night I attended and it was wonderful. The hosts were warm and generous with their stories and their homes. The food was magnificant and beyond plentiful, with plenty of choices for different dietary needs. Our host was lovely and explained the process for the evening. Our meals were accompanied by wonderful singing and ukelele playing. We at outside at each home - once on a verandah, once under cover outside the house and once on the beach. Being outside with beautiful lighting really enhanced the experience - which was not even impacted by a power blackout for part of the night. I would heartily recommend this tour.

We stayed at the Rarotonga Beach Resort and Lagoonarium. This place sure needs a makeover. The whole place is dated and it looks as though nothing has been done for years. The water did not flow out of the shower the entire time we were there and the water in the sink in the basin sprayed out over the basin. The wardrobe was half covered by another cupboard that they put the fridge in - very poor design. The place was dirty, one rag stayed in the foyer the entire time we were there. The gardens were unkempt. Mosquitoes nearly eat me alive - despite me using mosquitoe spray. Breakfast consisted of old fruit, mush, stale pastries and undrinkable juice(liquid) in large containers. Staff not interested in guests or listening to issues. Would never go there again.

This is a must do when in Rarotonga, we went to Aunty's for entree learned a bit about her & island life, explored her lovely grounds and then sat down to a awesome array of food. Then off to Mark's house for mains, even though he is only 21 mark keep us laughing then we tucked into a beautiful meal which was all local produce and stuff they eat daily, apart of a new thing to their household salad 😆. Baxter was our next host who did the desert's and man there were plenty of it. This was an experience not to miss, we only score a 5 from Baxter for our effort on eating his desert's. We also had Mike our driver & Tim the ukulele player and story teller and man his story of the island where he comes from is eye opening. Highly recommend doing this tour.

Interesting Dining. Not outside as pictured. Thought there were too many in group as little bus was completely full, overloaded. (Waited 15 min for pick up in drizzle). Possibly less talking and more eating. First house and tour was amazing as was the woman that ran it. No alcohol. They did NOT cater for vegans or diabetics and kept going on and on about the amount of food .. we did not think that much. They also get you to write review in their Visitor Book at home of person with dessert .. so you only really have one option! Driver repetitive "commentary". Think they need to talk about who says what so not so repetitive. Cordial or water on tables. Probably half the people as guests would have been enough. Very squashy on bus and some people super loud (no alcohol) and a bit pushy, hence why I say half the guests would have been better. A cultural experience but quite expensive.

Avarua Escape is just magic! Delightful hosts. Second visit from Australia in 7 months! There are two, one bedroom, fully equipped units, spacious and extremely clean. Wonderful, clean pool. Washing machine etc free to use. Situated about 500 metre easy walk to main township (shopping) or cafes or Tamarind Restaurant, Trader Jack's, Lazy Trout Cafe, Lucky Rooster cafe (breaky of lunch), central bus stop (every half hour). Close to everything - supermarket, pharmacy, ANZ bank, Western Union Bank, hire cars/scooters. Very safe. If you are a couple or solo this is the place to stay. Just the little touches .. bread, butter, assortment of little jams, coffee, milk on arrival in fridge. Plenty of spare towels. Hosts Jodie and Macca live on the property (with gorgeous cocker spaniel, Dixon). Nothing is ever too much trouble for these wonderful hosts who go out of their way to ensure you are enjoying your holiday/break. Won't stay anywhere else.

A must to book when visiting the island Food amazing with some foods first I've ever tried, loved the hosts so welcoming, funny

I booked my transfers to and from the airport with Cook Islands Tours and was fairly disappointed with the experience for what I paid (over $100 for 2 x return transfers). After landing in Rarotonga, there was about a 45-minute wait in the van prior to departure with no communication from staff around timings - and my hotel was only a 5-minute drive away from the airport (Edgewater). It doesn't seem fair to charge each person the same rate when there are quite variable hotel distances. Most notably, there were not enough seats in the van for the number of people who had booked a transfer and one man was asked to essentially sit on my lap and kindly proceeded to sit on the floor instead. The same seemed to occur for the van next to us so this was not a once-off occurrence - selling more seats than are available seems very unethical to me. The water and lei provided were nice but did not justify the price - by comparison the local bus charges $5pp from the airport to locations all around the island plus a $2 fee for luggage. My return transfer was less drama but the company did not seem to have a record of my booking so it's fortunate I called the day prior to confirm.

Such a great opportunity to get to meet some local families on Rarotonga, and learn about their culture through food, music and korero. It was a real privilege to be able to do this, and each part of the meal was so yummy!!

So glad we decided to book the progressive dinner. We were picked up and delivered back to our hotel after the dinner. The variety of food and drink served to our group of thirty was fantastic. Not only were we treated to an abundance of delicious local dishes and stories of the hosting families, but we got to share the experience with people from all over the world. This was the highlight of our trip so far. Highly recommended.