❤️🇨🇰 Cook Islands

1 Sept 2025 – 15 Sept 2025 · by shannonburrows

Destinations

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

FROM INSTA - Muri Beach (paddle boarding,kayaking, snorkelling & lagoon cruises available here!) - Muri Night Markets (Sun, Tues-Thurs) - Brunch at Beluga Cafe, The Little Rooster Cafe - Highland Paradise cultural show & traditional dinner ($130NZD - booked by calling +68221924) - Day trip to Aitutaki (@thevakacruise) - please see our Aitutaki day trip post for details. A MUST DO 😍 - Snorkelling at Aroa Beach - Black Rock for sunset & snorkelling - Cross island hike (The Needle) - Punanga Nui Market (Sat mornings) - Off-road Raro buggy tours - Pub crawl/party bus (see Raro Pub Crawl FB page) - Flying turtle cafe night market & live music (Thursdays 4:30-8:30pm) 🚗🛵 The best way to get around the island is by renting a car or a scooter! You can rent a scooter for around $100-$120NZD for one week (however you need to do a 20 minute theory & practical test at the police station to get a Cook Island bike licence which costs $40NZD - but is apparently very easy to get!). Renting a car costs around $70NZD per day (including insurance). 🚍 To save some money, we opted for using the bus! There is a ‘Clockwise’ and ‘Anticlockwise’ bus that do loops of the island. We got a 10 ride ticket for $30NZD which can be used by multiple people. You can keep track of where each bus is on the island on the ‘TransportMe’ app or you can checkout busaboutraro.com for bus schedules! 📞 We got Cook Island SIM cards at a Vodafone shop (there is little wifi available on the island.) We paid $69NZD for 10GB of data which covered a period of 28 days. ☀️ Rainy season: December to March. Dry season: April to November. 🐳Whale watching season: July to October
Aitutaki, Cook Islands

FROM INSTA A visit to Aitutaki is a MUST when visiting the Cook Islands. We took a day trip from Rarotonga with @thevakacruise & @airrarotonga. You can also stay on Aitutaki and join this tour from there - but accommodation can be expensive as this island is much smaller than Rarotonga. 🤑 This day trip is pretty expensive but absolutely worth every penny. We paid $493NZD (approx £250) per person (plus booking fee, bringing it to $501.63NZD). This price includes pick up & drop off to your accommodation, the return flight from Rarotonga to Aitutaki, a bus tour around the village, a boat trip around 3 islands (one of these called One Foot Island which you can actually get a passport stamp for!), snorkelling & a buffet lunch of traditional food (amazing 🤤) 🎟 We booked our tickets through aitutakidaytour.com. I would recommend booking your space prior to your arrival in the Cook Islands as this tour is very popular and may book up! 🤿 When snorkeling there are loads of amazing fish to see & huge clams! The colour of the water is absolutely incredible & it is such a nice temperature! 🎵 The incredible staff play live music as you are sailing to each destination. ⏰ We were picked up at 7am from our accommodation & caught a flight to Aitutaki at 8:00am. We were back at our accommodation in Rarotonga by around 5:30pm. 📺 One if the islands you visit is actually where many reality TV shows have been filmed, such as ShipWrecked! ✅ I couldn’t recommend this tour enough. It is so well organised, the staff were amazing, the food was so good & the Cook Islands is now up there with one of the prettiest countries I have ever visited! //// And then, hop aboard an Air Rarotonga flight and prepare to have your cotton socks well and truly knocked off. Aitutaki is the most accessible remote island this side of Tahiti. There’s even a couple of resorts. Aitutaki consists of a ‘main’ island, a barrier reef and a few far-flung islands that make for good fishing spots. You can walk across Aitutaki in one day, straight from the beach into schools of reef-dwelling fish and turtles! This shit is simply incredible.