Walking the makatea staircases of Mangaia

📍 Mangaia, Cook Islands

Where

Various points around the makatea ring, Mangaia

Opening hours

Daylight

Typical cost

Free

Mangaia's traditional name, Auau Enua, refers to terraces. The natural crevices through the makatea were widened and stepped by earlier generations, carrying rock by hand, to reach the fertile interior.

Why walk them

Because the engineering is remarkable and unheralded, and because the transition is dramatic — from coastal coral rock, up through a cutting, into green plantation country in a few hundred metres.

Practical

Grip. Makatea is sharp and uneven.
Some tracks are private access. Ask.
Take water — there is no shade in the cuttings.

💡 Local tip

Ask locally which route to take. Some of these are working access tracks to family plantations rather than tourist paths, and it is courteous to check first.

Listed as a local guide entry — not bookable through CI Booking. Details can change; it is worth confirming before you go.