The Cook Islands have long held a certain mystic around their geographical location, and until now their people have largely remained living in an isolated and untouched Robinson Crusoe paradise, hidden away from all the pressures of modern day life.
It is that unique quality of life that now makes the Cook Islands such an attractive destination for travelers seeking an unspoiled tropical haven, unmarred by high-rise development. A place where buildings can be no higher than the tallest coconut tree, and where the people remain some of the friendliest you will encounter across the Pacific Ocean.
DMCK –Destination Management Cook Islands– are the Shore Excursion Handling Agents for all Cruise Ship companies visiting the Cook Island group and we proudly welcome Cruise Ship visitors to our country.
DMCK have our own dedicated Cruise-ship Coordinator who is able to organize a range of fascinating shore excursions for passengers visiting the Cook Islands group, and we have extensive experience handling prestigious Cruise Ship Lines including P&O, Princess Cruises and the expedition adventure cruise-ship, Clipper Odyssey, and the luxury liner Paul Gauguin.
We are able to handle all the arrangements for shore excursions to the islands of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Palmerston and we are pleased to be able to add several new destinations from our outer islands including Mangaia, Mitiaro and Mauke. Aside from the main island of Rarotonga, shore visits to all the outer islands can be coordinated for any days except Sunday, due to religious observances.
DMCK offers a number of exciting excursion programs for shore visits on Rarotonga that include the Island Discovery Tour with a guided commentary explaining the history and culture of our islands; 4x4 Safari Tours taking you to spectacular vantage points overlooking the island; Pa’s Eco Walk, where you will be guided into the lush interior regions by a traditional medicine man and shown the healing properties of the island’s fauna and flora.
DMCK works in partnership with a number of other Cook Islands tour operators on each of our islands to create tailor-made programs for shore visits, and with our own ground transportation service on Rarotonga, supported by our sister company Raro Tours, with their fleet of modern air conditioned buses and versatile people carriers, including the extremely popular “fun bus”, we are able to offer a variety of excursion experiences for cruise ship visitors in the Cook Islands.
DMCK have in place a comprehensive Public Liability Insurance Policy covering all aspects of shore excursions, apart from diving and marine activities, and we liaise closely with the Port Authorities to ensure landings are run with utmost safety and efficiency at all times.
For most larger vessels visiting our islands, it is a requirement that ships provide their own tenders for transporting passengers to the wharves, as port facilities are only capable of berthing smaller cruise ship vessels up to 120 metres in length in Rarotonga, by arrangement with the Avatiu Harbourmaster. Larger cruise ships would normally anchor in the roads and ferry passengers ashore.
For specific information on port facilities on any of the other outer islands of the Cook archipelago, or for general enquiries relating to Cruise Ship visits or shore excursions in the Cook Islands, please email your queries to DMCK.
