{"id":7819,"date":"2016-02-23T16:39:50","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T20:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/?p=7819"},"modified":"2020-08-24T14:56:25","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T18:56:25","slug":"cook-islands-the-great-south-pacific-escape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/cook-islands-the-great-south-pacific-escape\/","title":{"rendered":"Cook Islands: the Great South Pacific Escape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CITC065\"<\/p>\n

Rarotonga is the gateway, once an almighty volcanic pyramid that has since worn down to razorback ridges with lush green foliage.\u00a0 Like other islands in the group, Rarotonga\u2019s white beaches with sand as fine as powder stretch in to clear blue lagoons around the islands.<\/p>\n

The capital of Rarotonga is Avarua, with many shops offering a wide selection of goods and souvenirs.\u00a0 One of the best souvenirs I found was the black pearl from the northern islands of Manihiki and Penrhyn.\u00a0 The Saturday Punanga Nui Marketplace is busy and colorful with stalls selling souvenirs, food and clothing.\u00a0 This is a great place to get a pareu (sarong) and handmade pearl shell jewelry.<\/p>\n

With clear blue lagoons and the ocean surround the island, there is a myriad of water activities to fill your days.\u00a0 Swim or snorkel in the lagoon, go kayaking, fishing or perhaps see the reef from a glass bottom \u201csubmarine\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Or perhaps fill your days lazing on the beach and enjoying the perfect weather.<\/p>\n

After a day on the water or relaxing, enjoy a great meal in one of the many restaurants that specialize in Cook Islands Fusion Cooking; a combination of European and Polynesian flavors.\u00a0 Buffet style dinners accompany dance shows that are a must for any visitor. The umukai (Polynesian feast), is baked in an underground oven and usually consists of chicken, pork, fish and vegetables. For breakfast, wake up to local produce that includes delicious ripe paw paws, mouth-watering mangoes, coconuts, pineapples and starfruit.<\/p>\n

\"CI_185_DK\"<\/p>\n

The entire island of Rarotonga is only 19.88 miles in circumference, making getting around easy.\u00a0 There are only 2\u00a0 main roads on Rarotonga \u2013 you can circle the island on the Ara Tapu coastal sealed road, through the villages and past the beaches, or you can take the older inland road, which winds through fields of local farmlands.\u00a0 The motor scooter is a popular, fun way to see the sights.\u00a0 Bicycles, cars and jeeps are also available to rental.\u00a0 The \u201cCook\u2019s Island Bus\u201d service offers a convenient low cost method of transport, operating regular scheduled around the island in both directions.<\/p>\n

\"AitutakiLocated an hour north by plane, Aitutaki is the pearl in the Pacific. Aitutaki is the 5th largest of the Cook Islands 15 islands, but it only a mere 7 square miles, and is home to about 2,000 Cook Islanders.<\/p>\n

The highlight of Aitutaki is the spectacular turquoise lagoon and the sparkling white sand beaches. Rest and relaxation is the key on Aitutaki. Snorkel, dive, kayak or swim the exquisitely colored lagoon and its many dazzling white sand motus islets.\u00a0 Other popular diversions are kite surfing, bonefishing or lagoon cruises and getting your passport stamped on One Foot Island. A day spent hopping from the pure white motus sprinkled around the lagoon is one of life\u2019s great memories.<\/p>\n

There is no public transport on Aitutaki.\u00a0 You can either use a taxi to get around, walk or rent a car, scooter or bicycle.<\/p>\n

The Cook Islands unit of currency is the New Zealand dollar, supplemented by notes and coinage minted for local use.\u00a0 The strengthening US Dollar makes a trip to the Cook Islands extremely affordable.<\/p>\n

\"CI_196_DK\"<\/p>\n

Air New Zealand offers direct services from Los Angeles to Rarotonga once a week, Sunday, returning every Saturday.\u00a0 Flight schedules allow for either a 5 night or 12 night stay using direct services.\u00a0 Alternatively, the Cook Islands are an idea stopover en route to Australia or New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Discover your little bit of Paradise in the Cook Islands. For more information, check out Down Under Answers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"CI_225_DK\"<\/p>\n

Down Under Answers is a paid sponsor of Budget Your Trip.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stunning Cook Islands lie some 4,700 miles south west of Los Angeles, a mix of coral atolls and volcanic islands. Consisting of 15 islands, scattered across the Pacific, the Cook Islands offers an unspoiled playground for those wanting to escape the daily grind of city living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[150,686,772,72,631,572,767,581,718,766,584,716],"class_list":["post-7819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photography","tag-beaches","tag-coral","tag-cruises","tag-food","tag-fruit","tag-kayak","tag-paradise","tag-plane","tag-restaurant","tag-snorkel","tag-souvenir","tag-villages","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 04:18:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7819"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11943,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819\/revisions\/11943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}