Relax31107131389
April 2, 2024
We stayed in Magic Reef for week three of our three-week trip to the Cooks. Out of the three places we stayed this was my least favourite - I'd still rate it strongly but if you only have one option for staying on Raro, I would go to Muri over here. This is because the beach really isn't great outside the resort and I didn't really like sitting / walking on it and certainly couldn't get into the sea. The pool however is lovely although doesn't have any loungers around it - I brought one of the 'slug' cushions over from the beach to lie on, which the owners didn't seem to mind. Magic is also classed as an 'eco' resort and they only service the rooms every three days - we therefore had to empty our food waste into the slops bucket in between services, which really didn't please me whilst I was on holiday! We enjoyed our room and didn't have any issues sleeping - the freezer compartment however wasn't working properly, so the food we had purchased in Avarua wasn't properly frozen, and we had to stuff our face on prawns on the bbq very quickly...to be fair the bbq was high-end and spotlessly clean (it was also coincidentally right outside our room, so that was handy)! As we were there in shoulder-season, the owners let us stay for a late check-out and then dropped us at the airport for our flight - I am sure they'll only kick you out if they are fully booked and can't accommodate. Overall, I wasn't as keen on West-coast Raro as the east, but it was still great to see it. There is a great bar / restaurant a couple of doors up: the Waterline where we spent quite a lot of our evenings. Also be aware the nearest shop is 15 mins walk away if you want to buy beers - you can also get the bus into town to buy food at Prime Foods (we think the best supermarket on the island). Thank you to Lawrence and Simone for an enjoyable stay.