{"id":1133,"date":"2019-10-10T15:30:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T15:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viralvacationideas.com\/?p=1133"},"modified":"2022-05-21T14:27:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T14:27:18","slug":"10-things-you-should-not-miss-in-the-cook-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viralvacationideas.com\/10-things-you-should-not-miss-in-the-cook-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things You Should Not Miss in The Cook Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Cook Islands are a nine hour night-flight away from Los Angeles so you really need to make it worth while.  Beautiful beaches, wonderful people, fantastic food, there are way more than 10 things you should do. We traveled<\/a> for two weeks to two of the fifteen islands, Rarotonga and Aitutaki and here is what topped our list of don’t-miss-its.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1  Visit A School<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Visit<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You want to see how the locals live?  Go visit one of the schools and you\u2019ll have every question answered  (and be asked quite a few on the way).<\/em> Hooking up with the school in the Cook Islands is as easy as an email.  Most schools are government run with a handful of private locations.  If you go to the Cook Islands Ministry page http:\/\/www.education.gov.ck\/<\/a> and click on the tab for schools it will give you a list of the schools.  If you want your visit to entail working with younger students, contact Primary schools.  Teenagers\/High Schoolers are at the Colleges (which flipped me out a little because college in the US is after High School \u2013 in Cooks, college is after primary, University is after college.  See, perfectly clear).  Once you have emailed a couple schools, arrange to either work with students with reading or math, have a question and answer session with a classroom or just hang out during lunch break.  We chose the question and answer session and they were one of the best parts of our trip.  At first students are shy (they are sometimes worried about their English skills), but they warm up to you quickly!  If you are traveling with kids or teenagers<\/a>, this is an even better experience \u2013 for everyone.  We traveled with our fourteen year<\/a> old and the fourteen year old Cook-Islanders had lots of questions for her! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This also gives you some \u201ccelebrity\u201d status later in your visit when you are wandering town, because the students have no problem coming up and talking to you.  We were told some of the best non-touristy places to eat<\/a>, snorkel, and shop during these impromptu run-ins.  We got invited to dinner, church, dance class and favorite swimming holes.  A piece of advice:  do this early in your trip and plan on more than one school.  We thought it would be hokey until the first school, and then my family wanted more so we ended up visiting<\/a> four schools on two islands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

2 Snorkeling\/Scuba\/Kayaking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could easily be numbers two, three AND four, but I bunched them all as one \u2013 two – whatever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rarotonga
Tropical sandy beach with rocks and palms on Cook Islands, Rarotonga<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you look at a satellite map of Rarotonga, you will see the island<\/a>, some pretty blue water just off the shoreline and then deep blue water outside that.  The pretty blue water is within a reef, about a 100 meters worth of lagoon.  This means that the water does not get very deep and offers wave protection within the lagoon (bottom line \u2013 keeps the big waves and sharks out).  The water is smooth for kayaking because there is no fighting the surf to get out to the calmer water.  We pulled the kayak out and it was remarkable smooth sailing (even in a sudden rain squall).  The kayaks glide right over all the coral (even though it doesn\u2019t look like it will).  We did have to be careful with the oars to make sure we didn\u2019t hit any of the live coral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Snorkeling
Underwater Scene With Reef And Tropical Fish. Snorkeling in the tropical sea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Snorkeling was a joy because you didn\u2019t even need to put any gear on to see the fish!  When we stood in three feet of water off the shore, we saw Picasso triggers, convict tangs, puffer fish and many other forgot-the-named species right from where we stood.  We saw things in the Cook Islands we\u2019ve never seen anywhere else in our travels<\/a>.  We stayed at the Palm Grove and had a great spot right outside the door.  Fruits of Rarotonga is another popular snorkel spot.  Beaches can seem hard to find because they aren\u2019t really labeled.  Literally, the cafe \u201cFruits of Rarotonga\u201d is across the street from the \u201cparking lot\u201d for the beach.  There is a bus stop there too.  Muri Beach was popular, but we thought too crowded.  Check the map or Jason\u2019s guide<\/a> for the two locations where snorkeling is not recommended.  Other than that, anywhere seemed good to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

3 Go to Another Island<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a big world out there off the island of Rarotonga<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aitutaki<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Head out to one of the outer islands like Aitutaki for the snorkeling or Manihiki for the black pearls.  While you can get a one day flight\/snorkel package to Auitutaki, everyone I\u2019ve ever heard from has wished they could have stayed longer.  It will add to the cost a bit, but stay for more than one day<\/a>.  Trust me, it\u2019s worth it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4  Progressive Dinner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Progressive<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not the most promoted activity, but this<\/strong> is the way to get a taste of the real local flavor.<\/em><\/p>

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