Moana Sands Beachfront Hotel

A small hotel with only 17 rooms meant all the staff got to know us and were extremely helpful. The greatest asset of this hotel and site is the beach and snorkelling. Walk out of your room down the beautiful sandy beach and there is amazing snorkelling or kayaking. We saw a huge number of tropical fish and a turtle. The hotel supplies all you need for snorkelling or kayaking at no cost. The snorkelling from the beach was almost as good as the "paid" options available via commercial operators and was easily suitable for all the family. One family member was able to stand in the water and view tropical fish while his feet were still on the ground. The onsite restaurant serves amazing pizza at a reasonable price. A really quiet hotel, generally between 10pm and 8am there was little noise. Our room had the most incredible views out to the reef, photos on the website matched, what we experienced. One down side was the parking on the side of the road, at times this was full as staff also parked in this area. The building is in need of some maintenance. We would definitely stay here again - based on the access to a beautiful sandy beach, fantastic snorkelling on the door step and quiet location.

We enjoyed the very nice continental breakfasts which are included at the onsite Sands Restaurant with lots of fresh fruit, cereals, toast, juice and tea of coffee. We also had dinner there most nights as food was good, on low cost tap beers. We stayed in one of the deluxe suites (sleep 2 only) on the top floor with great lagoon and ocean views but the other rooms looked very nice too as they all have lagoon/ocean views too. I would recommend ground floor if you had a child with you (sleep 3 max) as you have direct access onto the sand. Mini kitchen is well equipped for a hotel, with plates etc. The sister resort Moana Sands Villas about 3 km down the road sleep more. We viewed them and they are very nice too with full kitchens. We enjoyed the snorkling right in front of the hotel at least twice a day and there were outdoor showers so you could wash off. Sea was warm so easy to get into. Snorkling gear and reef shoes provided free, but we had our own. We had a rental car but there were other people staying there that managed without (Hotel offers airport transfers at a reasonable price). We went to a Island night with buffet dinner at another resort which offered free transfers which we took as drink driving is not tolerated on the island. Also enjoyed dinner at the Little Polynesia Resort just a few minutes walk away which is on the same beach. We will be going back to Rarotonga and Moana Sands Hotel will be our first choice if available.