Rarotonga

Pacific • Rarotonga

Cook Islands

Current local time

18:58:03

Saturday, May 30, 2026

UTC offset

UTC-10:00

No daylight saving changes

Rarotonga does not observe daylight saving time. Clocks stay on UTC-10:00 all year long.

Timezone details

Identifier
Abbreviation
—
Transitioned
March 2, 1991 at 11:30 PM
Featured city
Avarua

Location

Latitude
-21.23333
Longitude
-159.76666
Country
Cook Islands

Cook Islands Standard Time (CIST)

FAQs

CIST is a single‑zone region at a steady UTC‑10:00. Rarotonga sits in a calm, year‑round offset with no daylight saving, making it easy to coordinate with a small‑step offset toward the Asia side of the Pacific.

  • How unusual is a region with just one official zone?

    Very. Most codes cover multiple members; CIST is essentially a solo zone, simplifying all comparisons and scheduling for Rarotonga.

  • Roughly halfway between which global regions is this zone?

    Roughly central in the Pacific, sitting well east of Samoa Time but far west of Hawaii, creating common shorthand like 'halfway across the Pacific'.

  • CIST offset simplified in last century?

    simplified in 1991, and remained steady since, minor adjustments after minor historical adjustments

  • Why might this zone have removed DST?

    Very small landmass and tourism industry are small enough that clocks remain constant.

  • Small team remote work advice?

    With a steady 10 hours behind UTC and reliable systems or Asia (+ small time difference)

  • No DST, so you might ask why?

    Simplicity and avoided date line issues.

  • Global counterpart time?

    Often used as a reference for 'halfway across the Pacific'

  • Future changes expected?

    It is stable now.