Best cook island for snorkeling
 

We are planning a trip to the cook islands but we are not quite sure what island to spend the most time on in the . Our main passion is snorkeling with awesome coral and fish and hanging with the locals. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks, Theresa

I am quite sure that the consensus would be Aitutaki for snorkeling. The lagoon is teeming with fish and coral, and the whole island is more low-key than Rarotonga, which is no hot spot to begin with! The best island for hanging out with locals is probably Atiu.

I'd have to agree with ALF. We found the snorkeling on Aitutaki to be even better than on Raro (which we thought was pretty darned good). <BR><BR>Keep in mind however that Aitutaki is very low key (as ALF also mentions). It is a very small island without a lot of &quot;tourist type&quot; activities - other playing in the water or exploring the motus. Though some folks might have tendency to go stir crazy on the island, there is no doubt that it is beautiful.<BR><BR>For what you describe as your interests, I would think it would do nicely.<BR><BR>Ken

continuing this train of thought: On Raro, I understand that the Muri Beach area offers the best snorkeling on the island. Is this correct?<BR>We are staying at the Beachcomber then on to Aitutaki.

The area most often quoted as having the very best snorkeling is the area directly across from the &quot;Fruits of Rarotonga&quot; smoothie bar at the SE corner of the island. This is part of a &quot;protected&quot; area that stretches from Muri Beach, around the SE corner of the island. As part of that area, the southern portion of Muri has pretty good snorkeling. The northern portion (from about the Beachcomber north) is more open, with less coral and therefor less fish. So snorkel to the south from the Beachcomber. By the way, I actually prefer the south shore (around Vaiimanga), but I'm in a minority about this.<BR><BR>Ken

<BR>We spent three weeks in the Cooks and I can not agree that Aitutaki was awesome but on Raro just in front of the Edgewater was great. The fish were not as big but there was no shortage of them. I even got to see an eel.. Email me at [email protected] Wendy

If Aitutaki is not &quot;awesome,&quot; where does one go for good or great snorkeling? What about the boat ride out to One Foot? Thanks.