Tuhe Piho says he is "deeply apologetic" for what happened to Christchurch woman Emily Yu. Photo / Facebook
A Herald investigation has found allegations of unsafe practices against a Rarotongan turtle tour operator. Police and members of the tourism sector say the Cook Islands does not have effective laws or regulations to hold unsafe tour operators accountable, writes Varsha Anjali.
When Emily Yu bought coconut water at a night market in Rarotonga, she had no idea the man who sold it to her would later give her the fright of her life.
The Christchurch woman says Tuhe Piho - known as Papa Turtle - sold her the drink before convincing her to buy his turtle tour package, on which guests with snorkels could go out on paddleboards in the Avaavaroa Passage. She claimed she told him she couldn’t swim, but that he assured her he would keep her safe.
Instead, she ended up drifting towards the rough open sea in the infamous passage at the southern end of the island - a popular tourist destination that has become notorious for drownings - and had to be rescued by another tour operator. She thought she might die.
“I was so desperate and I didn’t know what to do. I was just panicking, scared to death.”
Local police have issued a warning to Piho after Yu laid a complaint against him. Her story follows more than a dozen allegations against Piho, either shared with the Herald directly or made to the country’s tourism board, police or online.
Other tourism operators say they have often had to step in to save Piho’s clients. He has also been accused of exceeding safe capacity limits recommended by the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation (CIT), and failing to provide safety briefings.
Piho charges $70 for the turtle experience, considerably cheaper than other operators, who charge at least $150 for a guided tour.
His company has been running since 2013, according to its Facebook page.
Piho, previously a teacher at Auckland Grammar School, has a controversial past in New Zealand.
The Herald reported in 2003 that he was jailed for nine months in New Zealand for his role in a failed business venture while he was an undischarged bankrupt. He had been declared bankrupt in 1999.
Piho has said on Facebook that he taught in New Zealand for 25 years, and in the Cook Islands for six years.
The Cook Islands is a popular holiday destination for Kiwis. According to Statistics NZ, 108,590 Kiwis visited in 2024, representing an increase of 16.5% from the previous year. Tourism contributes about 70% of the island nation’s gross domestic product.
After years of dreaming of visiting the island, Yu, 39, travelled to Rarotonga in March for a week-long holiday.
She met Piho at the Muri Night Market and agreed to do his tour because she wanted to try something new for her birthday the next day.
Yu claims that, at the start of the tour, which she did with a holidaying couple, Piho never provided a safety briefing. The flippers she was given were “very tiny”, and the lifejacket didn’t seem the right size.
According to Yu, the three tourists were put on standup paddleboards and, as Piho went to tie the ropes at the end of the boards to something secure, Yu started to drift away.
“I completely lost my security,” she says.
“My brain went blank. I [didn’t] know what to do. I was just hopeless.”
Matty Robinson, a lifeguard and sales and marketing manager at Go Local, another turtle tour company, tells the Herald he spotted Yu 80-100 metres from the shore on her paddleboard as he was wrapping up his own tour.
He says he saw Piho struggling to hold on to the rope attached to Yu’s paddleboard in “chest-deep water”. According to Robinson and another witness spoken to by the Herald, he then turned around to get a paddleboard for himself as Yu quickly drifted into the middle of the passage.
Robinson describes the area as “a body of water that is more than 20 metres deep with very strong currents, especially when the swell is up like it was this day, with 10 to 12ft waves crashing on the reef”.
Robinson says he swam to get to Yu.
“I could immediately see that [Yu] was panicking and very scared through her full-face mask. She was frozen and couldn’t even think about taking it off her face.”
He says Piho then paddled back towards them, falling off his board twice on the way. By the time Piho reached them, Robinson believed Yu would have drifted to the breakers had he not been there with her.
“Who knows what could’ve happened then, with huge waves breaking across the passage - a very treacherous situation for even the most experienced watermen.
“This was the moment I asked her ... if she wanted me to take her back to the safety of our boat on the other side of the passage, to which she constantly nodded yes. I then told Papa that I was going to take her.”
He says Piho thanked him but claims he “got defensive” and said he would be taking Yu back to shore.
Another lifeguard, from local company Sea Pace, witnessed the ordeal. In 2023, he had worked with Piho for several months.
“[Piho’s] decision to walk back instead of continuing the effort to retrieve the guest gave me the impression that he wasn’t fully aware or concerned about the seriousness of the situation,” the lifeguard, who did not wish to be named, tells the Herald.
Yu says she felt Piho minimised the issue when she confronted him at the market on the day of the incident.
“I said that you need to shut down your business because you don’t have enough ability,” Yu claims.
She claims he told her to leave his store and told her to talk to the police if she had more to say.
Yu reported the incident to police and then, two days later, to airport police after seeing Piho’s turtle tour advertisement that stated: “Kids welcome”.
In a statement from the Cook Islands police to Yu last week, Sergeant Iva Parima says she spoke to Piho.
“He also has provided his statement. He acknowledges your concerns and he is deeply apologetic for what happened. He asks me to apologise to you on his behalf.”
Parima added that Piho was warned “sternly” about his actions.
Yu says police had earlier told her there would be an investigation.
In a statement to the Herald last month, Cook Islands police spokesman Trevor Pitt says police would investigate complaints, but that the tourism sector had been taking the lead in setting and promoting safety measures for tour operators.
“Police can step in if someone’s life has been put at risk. This has been conveyed to the tourism authority, some years ago. There has not yet been any prosecutions in regards to this activity, although there has been, on occasion, publicity raised about unnecessary risks being taken around the passage area.”
Piho hung up the phone when the Herald first contacted him, saying he was on tour and to try again later. Since then, he has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
In November 2024, Cook Islands News reported that up to 16 tourists were rescued by turtle tour company Ocean Toa after what the CIT called a “rogue” turtle tour operator took them out to Avaavaroa Passage in adverse weather. The operator was not named in the article, but Ocean Toa says it was him.
Ocean Toa claimed to the Herald that local tour operators, including its own lifeguards, went on rescue missions for Piho’s guests at least monthly.
The Sea Pace lifeguard says he also helped to rescue Papa Turtle guests.
Another industry worker, who did not want to be named, claims that many of the tour operators who work inside Avaavaroa Passage worked for Piho at some stage, but “left due to the same reasons”.
“Which [were] just going out there when the conditions weren’t very well, safety ratios, anything to do with safety.”
“Our tourism [authority] can‘t shut it down for whatever reason. He’s just able to continue doing it [risking guests’ lives] over and over again, but it is becoming very annoying because it just keeps on happening,” the worker says.
A Herald staffer who went on a tour with Piho last July claims he was asked to be a lifeguard.
“There were about 15 in our group and, when Papa finally arrived late, the wind was getting up a bit. He asked who among us were good swimmers who could volunteer to be lifeguards and look out for anyone who might be struggling in the current.
“The snorkelling was great and everyone made it back okay, but it was pretty loose.”
Police and the CIT say they have received complaints about Piho’s company previously.
While not a legal requirement, turtle tour operators in the Cook Islands are asked by the CIT to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. This is a non-binding agreement that promotes “a safe operation and experience for guests”, setting things such as a guide-to-guest ratio and ensuring that safety briefings are completed.
All the operators the Herald spoke to had signed the MOU. Piho is not an MOU-signed operator.
The CIT told Yu that Piho “has been difficult to engage with, especially concerning guest safety”.
In emails to Yu seen by the Herald, the CIT’s industry development manager writes: “He has a history of overcommitting, often exceeding safe capacity limits. Our recommended ratio is 4:1 for marine tour operators, and only if the operator possesses the physical fitness to ensure safety.”
The manager adds: “Even locals are now questioning why this operator is still allowed to operate ... While our options are limited at the moment, we are making progress toward a solution.”
CIT chief executive Karla Eggelton tells the Herald: “A number of formal complaints have been reported to Cook Islands Tourism Corporation that make reference to Papa Turtle Tours. At least one complaint has cited a rescue by another guide/operator.”
On March 29, Yu shared her experience on Rarotonga - Cook Islands Holiday Hub, a popular Facebook community group, prompting shock and anger from some of its 113,000 followers.
One member of the group claimed she had a similar experience with Piho two weeks earlier.
“2 women drifted off that could not swim and my board tipped with an 87-year-old lady on it and I lost my phone and no guides were around. It really put a damper on my trip,” she commented.
While Piho has some good reviews, many of his negative reviews call into question his commitment to health and safety. On Tripadvisor, Shenane L detailed a “terrible” experience in November.
“He should have never let us go out. I was taking in water and I had signalled for help [and] assistance, he relied on 2 other top swimmers in our group to help. My flipper was coming loose [and] I nearly lost them.”
Piho’s alleged safety breaches prompted the Holiday Hub‘s boss, Henry Wallace, to prohibit advertising from “unscrupulous operators” who have not signed the MOU.
“This is what happens when you don‘t have regulations,” Wallace says.
Police and members of the tourism sector say the Cook Islands does not have effective laws or regulations to hold unsafe tour operators accountable. As a result, operators are easily able to obtain a licence to operate their business, and face little or no consequences when things go wrong.
“While there’s been some efforts by tourism and community stakeholders to put safety measures in place, particularly in maintaining the ratio of guides to tourists, there’s been no enforceable law to hold anyone accountable,” police spokesman Pitt tells the Herald.
“We have had tragic situations here in the past. Our concern is the safety of our visitors and the risks to all lagoon users. The lack of clear legal protections is clearly not good enough.”
But the government’s National Environment Service (NES) is looking at the issue.
Eggelton says the CIT supports the service’s initiative, which she believes would include a permit system.
“This system will ensure that only those operators meeting clear safety and conservation standards are permitted to operate tours in the Avaavaroa Passage.”
The NES intends to roll out its draft management plan for public input before the end of June.
Eggelton says Yu’s experience highlights the “urgent need for stronger safety measures in this high-risk marine environment”.
“While the majority of turtle tour operators follow best-practice safety guidelines, a small number continue to operate outside these standards — putting visitors, locals, and fellow guides at risk. That is unacceptable.”
While the CIT does not have direct enforcement powers, Eggleton says the organisation works with the tourism industry to promote “clear safety expectations and accountability”.
“Voluntary compliance has been supported for many years, but it is now clear that stronger regulatory mechanisms are needed.
“We have referred repeat breaches to the Cook Islands Police, and continue to advocate for enforcement action where safety is compromised.”
She points out that the issue isn’t limited to physical safety. It also puts tourism at risk.
“Unsafe practices damage not only visitor confidence, they also threaten the integrity of our destination”.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown also holds the tourism portfolio. His office did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.
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