The Ultimate Travel Guide to The Beautiful Cook Islands
Where Are The Cook Islands?
This wouldn’t be much of a Cook Islands travel guide if I didn’t start by pointing out where they are!
The Cook Islands are located northeast of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean, between American Samoa and French Polynesia. There are 15 islands in the Cooks and your international flight will land on the main island of Rarotonga.
What to Expect From The Cook Islands
The weather is warm, and the sand and water combination is a tropical paradise. It’s perfect for a beach getaway and there is accommodation to suit most budgets.
You will find accommodation options listed down further in this Cook Islands travel guide!
There are no traffic lights, no huge crowds, and no building is allowed to be taller than a coconut tree. More importantly, the locals are incredibly friendly and family orientated.
What to do in The Cook Islands
You can lounge around on a beautiful beach drinking coconuts all day if you wish, stopping only to swim and snorkel in the warm water. You can also be incredibly active here. We managed to do both!
Hike, explore, ride a scooter, drive a buggy, jump from a waterfall, and learn about the culture. Each island has its own personality and highlights! Listing everything you can do is too much information for this travel guide, so instead, check out my list of thirty awesome things to do on a Cook Islands family holiday.
Cook Islands Travel Guide on Which Islands to Visit
All international flights land in Rarotonga and if time and/or budget don’t allow a visit to the outer islands, you will still have an awesome time here.
We visited the islands of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu and Mauke. Aitutaki is the second most visited island in the cooks and is incredibly beautiful, but as a family, our favourite island was Mauke. The coastline is unique, tourism is in its infancy, and the welcome we received was incredibly genuine. Visiting Mauke was an authentic experience and we absolutely loved it.
For more information on which islands to visit, check out our blog post on Cook Islands – Which Island? Alternatively, there is a short overview below in this Cook Islands travel guide.
Rarotonga
Despite the fact that Rarotonga is the most visited island in the Cooks, it’s not particularly busy. There are no traffic lights and the main road that circles the island is only 32km round. Both the coastline and jungle interior is beautiful and you won’t be disappointed. Check out my blog post on a Rarotonga Holiday, or watch our YouTube video on the island of Rarotonga.
Aitutaki
Aitutaki is the island that everyone dreams about! The huge aqua lagoon is the main attraction and you will need to spend a day or two on the water to really enjoy Aitutaki. Even though I’m not religious, I was incredibly moved by the church singing here! Check out my blog post on Things to do in Aitutaki, or watch our YouTube video on Aitutaki below.
Atiu
Atiu has a lot to offer and is really unique. The coastline is ruggedly beautiful and every little cove nestled between the Makatea (fossilised coral cliffs) is completely deserted. Check out my blog post on the Top 10 Reasons to Visit Atiu in the Cook Islands for more information, or check out our YouTube video below.
Mauke
The Island of Mauke has a population of around 300 people. Whilst resort style tourism is not a thing here , there are still decent accommodation options available. This island has a lot to offer nature loving families! Check out my blog post on 8 Great Reasons to Visit the Island of Mauke in the Cook Islands.
The highlights of Mauke for our family included swinging from the largest banyan tree in the South Pacific, visiting the divided church, swimming in cave pools, and exploring the circle island track. Watch our YouTube video on the island of Mauke below.
Currency and Costs
The Cook Islands unit of currency is the New Zealand dollar. There are also some local notes and coins that are available locally, but they are kinda useless outside of the Cook Islands other than as a collectors item.
ATM’s are available in Rarotonga and Aitutaki and quite a few places accept card. You will need to take cash to the outer islands.
The Cook Islands is not a cheap place to visit, but if you look around for deals and self-cater the majority of your meals, a family holiday to the Cook Islands can still be affordable. I haven’t included travelling on a budget within this travel guide as I’ve already written a post on How to Visit the Cook Islands on a Budget for Families.
The Weather and When to go
Many Cook Islands travel guides say May/June is a great time to visit but I say visit anytime as The Cook Islands are warm all year round. Technically, June to August are the cooler months and November to March are the warmest months. The dry season runs from April to November and the wet season is from December to March.
Check out the Cook Islands Tourism page on weather and seasons for more information.
How to Get to The Cook Islands
Flights depart from Australia, New Zealand, Los Angeles and Tahiti and all land in Rarotonga. Look for a great deal on JetRadar. The outer islands are serviced by Air Rarotonga.
How to get Around The Cook Islands
Car Hire
Car hire is available on Rarotonga and Aitutaki through Polynesian Rentals. On the outer islands, you will need to request through your accommodation in advance.
To legally drive in the Cook Islands, you will need to obtain a Cook Islands licence. It’s a simple enough procedure. Just take your current licence down to the police station in Rarotonga and they will issue one on the spot for around NZ$20 (at the time of writing).
Scooter Hire
Scooter is the main form of transport in the Cook Islands. Polynesian Rentals has a few locations around Rarotonga. On the outer lying islands, your accommodation should be able to help you out or point you in the right direction.
Scooter is the easiest way to get around and most locals use this method of transport. Kids are allowed to double on the back of your scooter and younger kids are usually tied on by a pareo (sarong).
Pushbikes
Pushbike hire is also available through Polynesian Rentals. It’s worth checking with your accommodation in case they have a few you can borrow. Tik-E-Tours also hire out electric pushbikes, which will apparently get your around the island twice before requiring a re-charge.
Bus
On Rarotonga, there is a bus that circles the island in both directions. A family pass is available and the bus can be flagged down anywhere along its route. Bus timetables are available from the tourist office or bus driver.
What to Eat in The Cook Islands
There are plenty of restaurants and cafe’s to choose from on both the islands of Rarotonga and Aitutaki. The less populated outer islands are mostly self catering, or the local corner store may do burgers like they did on the islands of Atiu and Mauke.
We loved the Muri Night Market in Rarotonga for yummy affordable meals (get in early for the pork belly). On the island of Aitutaki, we loved eating at the Boat Shed Restaurant.
If you are staying for a while, self catering is a good option for families as it will get pretty expensive eating at a cafe for every meal. Be prepared for your grocery shop to cost more than back home, groceries are expensive here (compared to Australia).
On the outer lying islands, you can’t be too choosy as only canned food, packet food and long life type items are available. This is totally understandable as the supply ship only visits once a month.
You will be surprised to find that fresh fruit and vegetables are not sold at the shops. This is because everybody grows their own! Just ask your accommodation where you can get some and they will happily help you out.
Wifi and Mobile Service in The Cook Islands
I won’t lie. Getting connected is outrageously pricey in the Cook Islands. It’s also not very reliable. You will still be able to access emails etc. but don’t count on being able to watch Netflix or do anything that uses larger amounts of data. It’s just not cost-effective to do so unless you absolutely have to for work.
Our phone company charges an arm and a leg for overseas data usage, and it was particularly expensive in the Cook Islands. We turned our data roaming off and even put the phone in airplane mode just in case. 3GB of data was purchased for a whopping $49 from BlueSky.
On the islands of Rarotonga and Aitutaki, it wasn’t hard to get signal. There are BlueSky Wifi hotspots on various parts of the islands to use the purchased data. However, on the outer islands of Atiu and Mauke we could only access the data when we lobbed in front of the small BlueSky shop/building in town.
The cost of getting connected is a good excuse to unplug, and reconnect with your family.
Cook Island Travel Guide on Where to Stay
Rarotonga
We stayed at the White House Villa, a self contained apartment around 100 metres away from one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. I loved it so much I wrote a blog post about it here, and even made a YouTube video which you can see below.
It features a shared pool, huge green grassy area, and more coconuts than you can eat and drink. It has all the comforts of home but its better, because this is tropical paradise!
If your budget allows it, both the Pacific Resort and the Little Polynesian Resort are popular choices.
Aitutaki
Unfortunately, the accommodation we stayed at has since stopped providing a service for families. Their website states they don’t take children under 17 years of age. This is a real shame as it was good value for money and there were a few other families enjoying their stay as well.
If you feel like splurging on accommodation, the upmarket Pacific Resort Aitutaki and the Aitutaki Escape both look amazing and are fronted by beautiful stretches of sand. I would definitely choose one of these!
Mauke
We loved Ri’s Retreat on the island of Mauke. I would highly recommend it to other families and visitors! We booked through Island Hopper Vacations on Rarotonga before we left Australia. When booking online, it stated the rooms were only for three people. After emailing, it was confirmed the owners were happy to let the kids share a bed for our family of four.
The same property owners also have some appealing cottages on the other side of the island, but you will definitely need to hire a car or scooter to stay there.
Atiu
We stayed at the affordable Kopeka lodge. They were a little run-down but will be absolutely fantastic when the required maintenance has been completed. The host was really lovely and went out of her way to assist with anything we needed.
The nearby Atiu Villas are more expensive but are by far, the best self-catering style accommodation on the island.
