Aitutaki: The Myth is Real (Part 2)
Jun 01 '02 (Updated Apr 02 '06)
The Bottom Line Aitutaki is a remote tropical paradise where life is slow and unhurried.
...Continued from Part 1 (under Aitutaki) at this URL:
http://www.epinions.com/content_65720061572
Now, on the remainder of the review.
Dining:
Dining out on Aitutaki can be somewhat of a problem unless you rent a scooter or a car. We did neither, so we were dependent upon other means of transportation. There is a small "restaurant" just a hundred yards or so down the road from the Are Tamanu called Tauonos'. It's not a real restaurant as such, but in actuality just someone's house. If you let her know in advance, the owner will serve you up either a vegetarian dish or a "catch of the day" fish dinner in the garden out behind her house on one of a pair of picnic tables. As you can imagine, it's all very informal and quite representative of life in general on the island. In all honesty, the food was quite good and the hostess very interesting to talk to, but wear your insect repellent or be prepared to be the main course to the hoards of mosquitoes that emerge at dusk. All vegetables served here are organically grown. The technique seems to work - she had star fruit growing here that looked like they were mutant. They were enormous - nearly the size of a large orange!
Aside from this small informal eating establishment, there are no other nearby places to dine (Ralphies Bar and Grill is about the closest). This is a very common problem on the island because it's so very small and lacks a real tourist infrastructure. The locals of course are well aware of this problem, and have taken steps to alleviate it, notably by providing transportation to and from their restaurants. Not all places do this, and most of those that do, seem to do it only for dinner. It looked like this transportation was sort of on a schedule, so don't leave your dinner plans until the last minute or you may miss the free ride. We took advantage of this service to dine twice at the Pearl Beach Resort's lagoon-side restaurant. It was very pricey (by Cook Islands standards) and the food was just okay - not bad, but not great either. Both times however there was terrific free entertainment in the form of music and Polynesian dancers.
Since Aitutaki is such a small island, there are actually just a handful of dance teams. I suspect these troops make the rounds going to different resorts each night in a rotating schedule. However, since the size of the audience varies with the size of the resort, it seemed to me that the dance and music teams were bolstered up a little with additional performers when putting on shows at the larger resorts. It might pay therefor to try and catch a performance at one of the bigger places at least one night during your stay. The Pearl Beach, as the largest resort on the island (at that time anyway), was obviously a great place to do this. We had an absolutely terrific time - especially on the first night we went there. This was in large part due to the setting that evening. It had been sunny all day, but as evening drew close, enormous thunderheads began to form far out to sea. By nightfall, it seemed the island was ringed with them. As we dined at the water's edge, cooled by a gentle tropical breeze, from all around us came the flicker of lightning and the far-distant rumble of thunder. It was quite a show and made the evening particularly memorable. Better yet, it never actually rained on us. We felt a few drops from time to time but it seemed the storms were all for show. Obviously, I can't promise you an experience like that - but who knows, maybe you'll get lucky too.
The other place we ate and watched a show was at Samades Beach Bar. It's situated just across the channel from the Pearl Beach. Every full moon they offer a dinner and a show at prices about half of what the Pearl Beach offers. In truth, we were not impressed with the food at all, but the show was very, very good and you might consider giving the place a try. Just don't wait until the last minute to get in the buffet line or you may end up with slim pickings.
Finally, we did of course dine Sunday evening at the Are Tamanu when they offered their weekly barbecue. This was a great experience. The food was good and plentiful and the event did a terrific job of encouraging folks at the resort to mix and interact. As I said, the owners of this place try hard to make their guests feel like an extended family and by and large succeeded.
Activities:
Since Aitutaki is very small, with a relatively tiny population and an even smaller base of tourists, there is not much in the way of organized activities on the island. Bishops Tours seemed to be the largest tour company there.
Lagoon Cruises ($25 - $30 USD): There are 3 different flavors of these, driven by the size of the boat. There is a large (80+ foot) catamaran, a smaller mid-sized boat (the Kit-Kat), and standard speed-boat tours. We went on the largest boat. It takes you to the small motu where the British precursor of America's "Survivor" show was once filmed. It then drops you off in very shallow water (3-4 feet deep) way far out in the lagoon near the southern boundary of the reef (see img89 and img60 in my Webshots "Aitutaki" album). Here you can snorkel to your hearts content while a fresh caught tuna is grilled aboard the vessel. When lunch is ready, they call you back onto enjoy your feast while the vessel cruises over to One Foot Island. Those of you who have never tasted FRESH tuna are in for a treat. It tastes nothing like canned tuna and is just delicious (probably the best fish I've EVER eaten). At One Foot you have an hour and half or so to explore the motu and go for a swim (once again see my Webshots "Aitutaki" album - lots of pictures of One Foot). The Kit-Kat is (I believe) a similar tour, while the small speed-boat tour will apparently take you out to the motus at the extreme south-west corner of the island as well. Whichever trip you take, bring your passport so you can (for a small fee) get it stamped on One Foot (I believe it's free on the speed-boat tour).
Aitutaki Circle Island (Land Safari) Tour: ($25 USD):
We took this tour with Bishops Tours and it provided a terrific overview of the island's interior as well as bits and pieces of the local history and folklore. I highly recommend it, even if you later decide to rent motor scooters and explore the island on your own. Aitutaki is very rural and most roads are little more than dirt tracks. This is a great chance to really see what a "semi-remote" little tropical island is REALLY like.
Scuba Diving ($40 USD):
We're not divers so I can't say much about this except to note this is an available activity for dives both inside and outside the reef. Some of the other guests at the Are Tamanu were experienced divers and went on and on about some of the extremely large fish they saw.
Deep Sea Fishing ($75 USD):
We didn't do this one either, but I thought I'd list it so folks would know it's available.
"Island Night" Polynesian Dance Shows ($25-$60 USD):
Aitutaki is known far and wide across the Pacific for the quality of it's Polynesian dancing. This is NOT the hula. This is wild, fast-paced and often rather erotic dancing in the Tahitian style, with lots of energetic and suggestive hip movement. Aitutaki was the very last place the crew of the HMS Bounty stopped before they mutinied. After seeing these women dance I can understand why the sailors didn't want to go home to England.
The above activities are pretty much the choices of available things to do on Aitutaki. As you can see it's a pretty short list. The island is very small and doesn't really have whole lot of structured type things to do. Mostly Aitutaki is a place for playing in the water, chilling out, and touring the motus. We went for a week, and though we had a terrific time I'd probably recommend perhaps 3-4 days as a more appropriate length for a visit to this tiny place - though much depends on how you weigh the solitude and superior waters of Aitutaki against the advantages of more things to do on Rarotonga. It was beautiful and exotic, but overall, I think most folks would find Rarotonga a bit more interesting - though, as I say, it's really a matter of personal preference. One thing to note also is that Aitutaki was a bit less manicured in appearance. It wasn't run down, but it was obviously a bit less affluent. There were a number of abandoned houses scattered about (no doubt the result of folks leaving the island to find jobs) which gave some parts of the island a bit of a "third world" appearance (though I don't wish to overstate this). Also, if nightlife is important to you, you should know that there is virtually NONE of it on Aitutaki (even less than on Rarotonga) other than the already-mentioned Polynesian shows.
Aitutaki is however a great place for swimming, snorkeling, and walking on the beach. We planned our trip so that we would be there during the full moon and I'd thought I'd share one last amazing memory with you:
The night of the absolute full moon, right after we returned from the show at Samades, I went for a walk south along the beach from the Are Tamanu to the site of the new Pacific Resort. The enormous full moon was directly overhead and lit up the white sand of the beach as far as I could see. Overhead the sky was cloudless and it was almost bright enough to read. To my left the brightly lit palm trees rustled in the breeze and to my right, miles and miles away, towering thunderheads poked their heads up over the horizon, dimly lit by the light of the moon. Beside me, a small eel (perhaps a foot long) slithered along in the shallows 3 or 4 inches from shore in so little water that he was actually half out of it. He paced me for the longest time, moving along like snake at the exact same speed as me and seemed entirely unconcerned with my presence. It was fascinating, though a little creepy as I couldn't tell exactly what it was I was looking at. Finally, I sped up and pulled away. When I returned along this stretch of shore a little later it was gone and I still don't know for sure what species it was.
In any event, I've added that special experience to my collection of memories and will treasure it as long as I live. Life is compendium of such moments, and you should gather them up while you can, for all too soon this wonderful ride we call life is over and it's time to go home.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the ride.
Ken
Below is the link to my collection of travel photos. Take a look at my "Aitutaki" and "Cook Islands Resorts and Rental Houses" albums to get an idea of the places I describe.
http://community.webshots.com/user/lordbalfor
Other helpful links:
http://www.aretamanu.com/
http://www.aitutakilagoonresort.com/
http://www.pacificresort-aitutaki.com/
http://www.jetsave.co.ck/aitutaki_island.htm
http://www.islandhoppervacations.com/cook/default.htm
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/thorn/topics.pl?Cat=&Start=pacific
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=3
http://aitutaki.com/
http://www.ck/
http://www.cook-islands.com/
Update as of Nov 21st 2005: From what I've heard, there has been a lot of changes going on in the Cooks. On Aitutaki, the Pacific Resort is open and getting rave reviews and another new place - the new Etu Moana boutique hotel is also getting a major thumbs up from everyone who sees it. The Are Tumanu is now known as the Are Tumanu Beach Village and has expanded to include a new section known as the Manea Suites - which seem made up of larger (1-bedroom) units. There apparently a 2nd pool now as part of that complex. Check their website for current info. I've also heard (from several sources) that the original Are Tumanu units are perhaps starting to look a bit worn (though others say they are just fine - largely a matter of expectations I guess).
Also - we are returning to the Cooks (first time ever that we've gone back to place rather than go someplace new - that says alot about how much we love the Cooks) and when I return I will likely either update my series of Epinions reviews, or perhaps write one or two new ones.
In any event, here are some links to some new places on Aitutaki:
http://www.etumoana.com/
http://www.popoara.com/
http://www.seaside-aitutaki.com/index.htm
http://www.esmavillas.com/Index.html
This is where we will be staying on our upcoming trip in April of 2006:
http://www.aretaibeachvillas.com/
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News flash as of 3/2/2006: Word on the coconut wireless in the Cooks Islands is that the next "Survivor" series will be shooting on Aitutaki soon. It sounds like the construction crews will be there in April/May, and the show will be shot in May/June. So you folks back home in the USA may have a chance to see Aitutaki in the fall. No doubt the show will be filmed out on one of the many motus (islets) on in Aitutaki's lagoon. Hope it's not One Foot Island as I hope to visit there again in April and no doubt the chosen islet will be closed to the public. Last year, a British "Survivor" precursor returned to Aitutaki for the second time to shoot another episode on two of the other motus. Aitutaki is getting to be one "hot" destination, with several articles about the place appearing in various travel magazines lately. With all this exposure, it's not likely to stay quiet for too much longer.
Update as of April 2nd, 2006 -
Though nothing official has been announced yet, and there are still rumors that Survivor will be filmed in New Caledonia instead of Aitutaki, it does indeed look like Aititaki may have been chosen for this coming seasons' version of the show. It sounds like the Aitutaki Pacific Resort is no longer taking bookings for June-August (indicating that the 300 member Survivor filming crew has booked it up perhaps?) and rumor has it that the first shipment of equipment for the show is scheduled to arrive around April 20th (while we're actually on the island). If you are planning a trip to Aitutaki during the May-August timeframe, be aware that the filming of the show (providing it does indeed occur there) will have a MAJOR impact on your trip. Interisland flights from Aitutaki will be hard to get, accommodations my be fully booked and some areas of the lagoon and its motus closed to visitors. Unless you are a fan of the show, and are specifically excited about being nearby, the affects on your trip will probably be more negative than positive during the filming. Just something to consider.
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Epinions.com ID:
LordBalfor
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Member: Ken Klein
Location: Seattle, Wa
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 109 members
About Me:
I am in love with the tropics (especially the South Pacific).
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