The Cook Islands - Rarotonga recap with pictures!

[sarahmarie0730]

There is so much to share! Like I said before, we had an absolutely amazing time in the Cook Islands. It was definitely a dream vacation - I would highly recommend it to anyone.

The Cook Islands are often compared to Tahiti, before Tahiti became crowded with tourists.  The country is owned by New Zealand and is comprised of 15 islands. We spent

Comments

[missymango]

It looks gorgeous, and yes, it does remind me of Tahiti! Of course Tahiti is filled mostly with French tourists, and as horrible as it probably is for me to say, French people are RUDE! The locals were pretty friendly but the French tourists were awful.

I have two questions. Was the sand really coarse, and were there waves? The two things I found unexpected about Tahiti were the lack of waves (because of the reefs around the islands) and how gravely the sand was.

[sarahmarie0730]

That's too bad...we found the New Zealanders and Australians to be very nice, for the most part:)

No, there were no big waves because of the reef, but we knew that before going there. However, it was really windy on a few days and it almost felt like there were waves out there when we were snorkelling:)

As far as the sand goes it was gravely in some places. The smoothest sand we felt was definitely on Aitutaki, on our lagoon cruise. Definitely check out my Aitutaki post...you will see the difference in the sand compared to Rarotonga.

How was the water in Tahiti? Really clear? We were suprised, especially on Aitutaki, how cloudy the water was unless you were way, way out there in the lagoon.

[missymango]

The water was amazingly clear! I had never seen the Pacific so clear and so calm before in my life! The only choppy water we had was when we were snorkeling too - only we were out farther than you would normally go because we were on our lagoon tour and they took us out deeper for the snorkeling and feeding of the reef sharks.

[ary18]

Oh Sarah, your vacation looks like it was incredible!! That water! And truly, is there any weather more perfect than mid-80's???

[sarahmarie0730]

Thanks Aly!!! The temperature was perfect - not too warm to lay out and explore, ya know?

[teacher_jessica]

Such fun! We too had some stormy weather when we were there but it just gives you a chance to adapt that island time right? ;o) Wasn't it amazing how nice the locals and all the tourists were? That was one of the things that struck me most while we were there. Can't wait to read more!!!

[sarahmarie0730]

Yes, it was the perfect chance for us to get situated.
We got a bit worried one day when we spent almost the whole day in our room and read all day long, lol:) The great thing about the storms there was that they passed quickly, ya know?

And yes, everyone was soooo friendly! That was very refreshing.

[drzwife]

It does look so much like Tahiti! Down to the lagoons and the nightlife! Can't wait to read more!

[sarahmarie0730]

That is cool...that is what a lot of people told us as we were planning our trip. The Cook Islands are just a lot quieter and not quite as touristy.

[megs100105]

Awwww, it looks FABULOUS!!

[sarahmarie0730]

It was soooo amazing!