Kia Orana Everyone! We’ve officially made it to paradise, arriving in the Cook Islands for some sand and sun. After over a month of intense logistical planning that included 3 car rentals, 10 accommodations and 93 decisions of what to eat, we slowed down. The only things we booked ahead were the flights and our singular lodging, embracing the island life. Well, as much as a Type A engineer can.
The Cook Islands weren’t on our original travel plan radar but arose from a Google search of non-stop flights from New Zealand to tropical locations. Fiji and Tahiti were also options, but after reading a few blogs, the Cook Islands stood out. It’s an affordable blend of beautiful beaches with a more local vibe. There were definitely no +10 story mega hotels on the beach here nor Tommy Bahama stores. Picking our travel destinations based solely on ease of flight has been a unique gift of this year.
Where Are We?
We spent a week in the Cook Islands on the main island of Rarotonga. The island is small, circumnavigable in 45 minutes with a singular ring road around it. We stayed at the Lagoon Breeze Villas in the perfect two bedroom cabana with kitchen to make easy meals during our stay. The main draws of the place where the small kids pool, playground/trampoline and, most importantly, a beach right across the street.
Each morning after breakfast we would load up our sand toys and head to our idyllic beach spot. The sand was soft and water warm. It was also shallow and calm, making it the perfect spot for the kids to play for hours. Just off shore was the Aroa Lagoon Marine Reserve, a beautiful reef with crystal clear waters. While two adults went off snorkeling with sea turtles the third stayed behind to dig sand pits and play some form of “shell shop” or “mama mermaid” with Emmett and Mae. The beaches were littered with fresh coconuts that, with a bit of effort, we husked and opened for fresh coconut water.
On the rare occasion that we left the beach, it was a trip in the sketchiest pink car I’ve ever rented. We spent one day on a boat cruise and another visiting a few markets around the island. We did find that opening hours were flexible, and places that showed they were open online were shuttered. The silver lining was that with it being such a small island, it wasn’t a huge time investment to drive back home after a failed excursion.
Our nights also followed a consistent rhythm, starting with the happy hour at the Villas for a cold beer while the kids took turns jumping on the trampoline, since Emmett would protest every time Mae “bounced to hard”. We’d then return to the villa to stream the Winter Olympics while making dinner. The kids particularly liked watching the figure skating which felt strange watching from a tropical island. Book reading with Nani would follow (a fresh set of books, thank the lord), before lights out with snuggles.
Our week went by quickly and before we knew it, it was time to leave. We ended up loving this island for its local, unpretentious feel and quiet beaches (at least in February). It’s a popular spot for Kiwis and Aussies during their winter (June-August) so keep that in mind when planning!
Favorite Things
Here were some of our favorite things, aside from beach time, that we did on Rarotonga.
- Captain Tama Lagoon Cruises – A snorkel and lunch cruise in a glass bottom boat was great for our young, non-swimming kids. They loved watching the fish and me swim under the boat and even got into the water with floaty noodles thanks to the helpful crew. It was shmaltzy, but we all had a great time singing songs on the boat and at the grilled fish lunch.
- Muri Night Market – A food market on the SE side of the island, it’s great after a long beach day. There were lots of options spanning the hardcore four meat carnivore plate I got to the veggie noodles Madeline and her mom got, thus saving their digestive systems. We mistakenly allowed the kids a choice of any dessert they picked. Emmett ate a donut as big as his head and Mae had a churro sundae that came with 4(!) churros and ice cream.
- Punanga Nui Market – This weekly Saturday market is huge by any market standards, more impressive considering the size of the island. There are food vendors as well as produce and craft tents. It’s only one day a week, so plan to be there in the morning.
- Snorkeling at Aroa – The snorkeling right off our beach was phenomenal. The water was super clear and coral vibrant. Highlights were of course all the turtles, but also eels, flounders and huge schools of fish swimming in the sandy gaps between the coral outcroppings.
Family Moments
- Making Leis– Mae loved gathering the tropical flowers around our villa and one day the receptionist saw and called her in to teach her how to make leis (flower necklaces). For the next two days during Emmett’s nap, Mae made beautiful leis from the flowers she gathered. The receptionist brought more from her own home and they made some truly impressive accessories!
- Downpour at the Market – On our one day to see the Punanga Nui Market we got caught in a literal downpour while getting our lunch. While Nani, Madeline and the kids found a small corner of refuge under the pergola, I braved the ankle deep water and sheets of rain to make runs for food. There was so much rain that they even closed the market early.
- Per Mae (5 Yr Old): Favorite moment was “Making Leis” – Mae absolutely loves making things with her hands. She was a whiz at threading the flowers on the string and making color patterns with the plethora of flora available.
- Per Emmett (2.75 Yr Old): Favorite moment was “Being a Fishy” – Every day Emmett immediately went in the water and pretended to be a fish and every day he cried when we left the beach because he could no longer be a fish. We love his fun imagination.
Tips & Lessons Learned
This is where we put all of the things we learned along the way about traveling in the region as well as traveling with toddlers.
About The Cook Islands:
- Beachfront – There were a lot of “beachfront” accommodations when searching online. We found that not all of the shore is sandy into the water – there are areas where it is mostly shallow coral, not making it swimmable. Even our own place required a 5 min walk (10 min with our kids) along the beach to reach a true sandy area in the water. Just double check when booking what the “beachfront” actually looks like.
- Aitutaki Day Trip – One thing we wish we had booked ahead was a trip to the island of Aitutaki. It is a short flight and can be a day trip or dedicated vacation destination. We didn’t do it because of the cost but other visitors mentioned it as a highlight. These are the pristine white sand beaches with crystal lagoon waters you see on the Cook Islands post cards.
- Dogs – There are lot of dogs on the island that are free roaming but not necessarily strays. The locals treat them as communal dogs and they are fed and taken care of by the community as a whole. We still kept our distance with the kids, however, I befriended a particular one that put his head on my lap for pets while watching sunset.
- Tropical Diseases – Unfortunately for us, there was a dengue outbreak when we were there. We opted to still travel based on # of cases and government mitigations. We were religious with bug lotion, reapplying after every time we did sunscreen. We did get a few bites each at our accommodation but luckily did not get sick. It’s always a good idea to keep bug spray handy at tropical destinations, especially at places like the markets and airport. Also, the World Health Organization has outbreak alerts, which you can subscribe to while traveling.
About Traveling with Toddlers:
- Make up Brush for Sunscreen – We applied a lot of sunscreen on the island and our best friend was Madeline’s ex-makeup brush. Not only does it make the thicker, kid’s mineral sunscreen easier to spread, but it also is a fun pretend game to “put on makeup” making a chore into something they want to do.
- Beach Trip with Toddlers – Nothing is much better than a beach trip with kids. The Cook Island beaches were perfection for littles as they were really shallow a ways out, perfectly clear, and zero waves. They spent most of the time crawling around in the water like “mermaids”. One of the few beaches that we could actually relax while they were playing in the sea.
Closing
Thanks for reading everyone. We are leaving Oceania behind for our 6th continent of the year, South America! We won’t make it to all seven (sorry Antarctica) but will be able to officially say we flew around the World!
