Rarotonga - Aitutaki - Rarotonga

Hey

Planning to visit Rarotonga and Aitutaki late december till late january.

Telling by the statistics, it's PRETTY rainy that time of year.
Would you recommend not going there at all? or is it possible to experience just a little period of sun?

How is it usually? 1 third sun 2 thirds rain???

thanks a lot :)

The Cooks don't usually have rainy days, they have rainy minutes. I'd say, in daylight hours, you'll have one or two hours of intermittent showers out of 12 hours each day.

Rarotonga gets a little more rain in the winter than Aitutaki. You can expect a shower on either island almost every day in Dec-Jan. They usually don't last for more than 10 or 20 minutes and then blow on by.

We just take a rain jacket with us and rain doesn't slow us down at all. If we're riding a scooter we just stop off under some shelter and enjoy it or, if it's light, just keep on going and enjoy the experience.

You do take a chance on being caught in a tropical depression or worse, a cyclone, at this time of year. Although I'd say the odds would be in your favor this would not happen. If it does, they usually last one or two days, rarely more than three. If you're spending more than ten days I'd recommend going. If you're going for just a week, a stalled depression could wipe out 50% of your holiday.

I've spent a lot of time in the Cooks in Nov-March and I'd go that time of year without hesitation. I usually go for at least 30 days at a time.

Also...I'll warn you that it's a very addictive experience and there's a good chance you'll get hooked on the Cooks!

Okey, sounds like typical southern summerrain :) Well i'm going for it then. You say it only rains for about 10-20 minutes, but is it then cloudy the rest of it?? :) Really hope to get a lot of sunny days, the bluesky way.!
I'm going to be there for about 30 days.

A typical day starts out clear or with a few cumulus clouds and calm wind. Then around 10:00 AM the wind picks up, usually from the SE or E, sometimes variable, depending on pressure gradients and passing low pressure areas.

Winds normally pick up in the afternoon. It's been my experience that the most rain happens on the least windy days. The exception is the sometimes violent wind and rain of a tropical depression.

Around 2:00 PM or so the clouds take on a bit more vertical development and in an hour or so start dropping moisture. As one of these vertical cloud formations pass over you, you'll get rain that varies from a few drops to a real downpour. I've seen it come down hard enough to limit visibility to 100 meters or so. Then the cloud will blow over and you'll have broken skies until the next one comes by or things calm down. On an average day the wind slacks and shower activity diminishes around an hour before sunset.

You'll probably welcome the cool break that the afternoon showers bring. The time between 10AM and 2PM can be pretty hot and the temp usually drops 10F during the shower.

This current summer hasn't seen the volume of rainfall, with the prevailing La Nina weather pattern prevailing over the Sth Cook Islands. I've been in Raro since early November, and I can recall only a couple of days when rain has remained steady over the course of a few hours. The thunderstorms over Raro have been more bang than precipitation and have been confined mainly to the mountainous interior or out to sea. Yes, NYE was blowy and rainy during the evening, but not enough to deter the annual fireworks display held on the motu to delight the crowds that gather along Muri beach. Most of the time there has been a series of blue sky days, interspersed with cloud and brief showers over Raro. One Feb 3rd the day-tour to Aituaki was postponed, yet the following day was incredible with no wind and dry and hot all day. if anything, Aitutaki has had more rain than Raro this year so far.

I'm so glad to hear that the tropical conditons in our paradise isn't going to deter or alter your travel plans. Should persistent rainfall occur, the cafes and accommodation lobbies, a well as internet cafes are popular spots. And there are always the safari tours and quad bikes for added thrills and spills in wet conditions. Kayaking too is a heap of fun. Wigmore's Waterfall is always more attractive after heavy rains.

Enjoy your travels.

Thanks a lot guys. Want make any seccond thoughts about this project. Will be there late december to late january.. :)

Mikkelholst...Just one more thing...from your profile it looks looks you're from Denmark.

Summer showers in the tropics can be quite different than rainy weather in the high latitudes. A torrential tropical downpour is quite a spectacle and will get you drenched in seconds.

Aside from a few cotton shirts my wife insists on we wear mostly synthetic clothes. Then, when we get wet, we're not as cold and dry out quickly. Synthetics are also lighter and easy to layer for cold airline flights.

A synthetic T-shirt, a light fleece pullover, a light-weight rain jacket and zip-off nylon pants will take care of all the conditions you'll run into from boarding the flight in Denmark to the Cooks and return.

You'll love the Cooks!