World Cook Islands Aitutaki

My Travel Hub South Pacific and Japan - Spring 2009

Aitutaki May 5, 2009

From Rarotonga I flew to Aitutaki, recognized as one of the most (if not the most) beautiful lagoon in the world.

Aitutaki is smaller and hotter than Rarotonga. As you can guess, it has no public transportation. Most people go around on rented scooters.

For five nights I stayed in my own bungalow right on the beach. It was a splurge for me at $100 NZ/night (about $72 CAD), but still one of the cheapest places on the island.

The highlight of my stay was the lagoon cruise/snorkeling trip that took seven of us to three snorkeling spots, four motus (tiny islands along the reef) and included a BBQ lunch. Just before our first snorkeling stop we were battered by some cool rain (quite chilly with the wind) so when we entered the water it felt bath warm. And as soon as I put my head underwater I went "whoa". The water was perfectly clear, and there were tons of fish swimming around (attracted by the bread that the boat captain was throwing in the water). It was like swimming in an aquarium.

Beside swimming in the lagoon in front of my room, I aslo cycled (not brave enough for scooters yet) to Ootu beach where I did a little kayaking and swimming, although the water was very shallow. It makes for beautiful pics though.

As idyllic as Aitutaki looks, it does have its share of problems, which for me were the constant harassment by mosquitoes (night AND day) and the limited food supplies. Restaurants were few and far between (hard to get too without your own transport) and a supply ship was waiting to be unloaded (the wind/waves or whatever were not permitting a safe unloading). As a result you couldn't find any fresh food in the tiny stores. They were running out of everything, including the ingredients to make bread. Even fruits and vegetables were rare (apparently the "cold" season was starting). So I ended up eating quite a bit of packaged food like chips, cookies, instant noodles. Every day I was trying to get a real meal somehwere, which consisted mainly of fish (tuna or wahoo), some salad, and some root vegetables if I was lucky. I think most restaurants grow their own stuff. I went to another Island Night and this one included a "fire dance". Very impressive and the guys were hot too (no pun intended)!