Thor |
Jan 7th, 2002 06:52 PM |
Holly: I agree with Alf; you don't want to miss Aitutaki. My wife and I spent 3 weeks in the Cooks this past summer, including 5 days on Aitutaki. Raro definitely has more action, and a greater variety of things to do, but Aitutaki has superior beaches, diving, etc. It has more of the feel of the South Pacific paradise that we all dream about. If you go, make sure you take a lagoon boat trip. We went with Bishop's, and it included motu hopping, snorkeling, and a lunch on One Foot Island. We stayed at Gina's Bungalows, which was great accomodation at a very reasonable price. This was part of a package that included the airfare from Raro to Aitutaki. We booked this through a local travel agent on Raro called Jetsave. The only problem with Gina's was that it was not on the beach. We rented bikes, and mopeds anyway, so this was not a big problem; ( it's quite a small island) .The Pearl Resort is on a great beach, but is quite pricey, even with the positive exchange. Just down from The Pearl is a more public beach with a half decent beachfront restaurant. We swam there most days. Aitutaki has a bit of a mosquito problem, so make sure you take your repellant as there is Dengue fever in the South Pacific. Don't let this stop you, though, it's just a matter of protecting yourself. On Raro, we stayed at the Aroko Bungalows, which is in the best beach area of Raro. Price there was very reasonable as well. Recommend the Flame Tree Restaurant close by, but there are other good tips on a previous posting on this site. People on the Cooks are very hosptiable, so have a great time.
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