Things To Do › Rarotonga
Culture & History

Arai-Te-Tonga: Rarotonga’s most important marae

📍 Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Where
Off the Ara Metua (inland road), Matavera side
Opening hours
Daylight
Typical cost
Free

Arai-Te-Tonga is the most important marae — ceremonial site — on Rarotonga. A small sign off the Ara Metua points inland to a stone-marked koutu where chiefs were invested.

What you will see

Standing stones and stone platforms in a clearing. It is understated, and without the context it can look like not very much. With the context it is the political and spiritual centre of pre-contact Rarotonga.

How to behave here

This is tapu. Do not climb on the stones, remove anything, or treat it as a photo backdrop. A quiet visit is welcome; a careless one is not.

💡 Local tip
This is a sacred site, not an attraction. Do not climb on the stones, move anything, or picnic there. Look, read the sign, and leave it as you found it.
Listed as a local guide entry — not bookable through CI Booking. Details can change; it is worth confirming before you go.

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