Distances Aitutaki and getting around after dark

kia orana!

i will be going to the cooks (i think) in about 3 weeks on my own. from previous islands, i know that i would want to be in a place that is not a resort and not expensive (under $130NZD), but not an isolated scary cabin where i'll be fearful at night. locks on doors and windows important.

my other thing is that i would have a really low budget/desire for dining, so an island takeaway with fresh fish usually suits me fine. even if it the same place every night, no problem.

all that said, do you think staying in near to samade is the right choice for me, or someplace on the other side of the island? i'm most interested in maybe kayaking unchallenging water, staring at the pretty water during the day, and snorkeling once or twice. i could amuse myself with starfish.

also...are there water dangers in the cooks as in new caledonia?

can i get to a take away on a push bike on the other side if i stay near samade? if not, thanks for telling me where i should stay...tom's looks right, but where would i keep my important things secure?

ta!
tbb

Samade is a bit far from town and most shops and restaurants. It is past the airport, on the NE side of the island. Tom's is near town and a lot closer to most of the shops etc.

But if you could rent a pushbike, you could make it to town once a day and back, it's about 5 miles or so each way. Samade's is a great area for kayaking and resting, so I'd go with that, if you can arrange for a pushbike rental. Sam or Ade can help you with that, e-mail them in advance. If no pushbikes, you can walk and hitch to town. Not a lot of traffic, maybe a few cars if any, but could be a number of motorbikes heading to town, and many will offer you a lift if they are not too loaded down.

No dangers from sharks etc. But watch out for stonefish near the ferry crossing to the resort, that is near Samades. Wear reef shoes, and don't push off any large chunks of coral when you are snorkeling.

You will have a great time!

thank you for that reply...sounds a little scary with the stone fish...

is there a logical place to stay on the other side near to town where there aren't stone fish?

i'm really scared of them.

tbb

Well, Tom's is one of the backpacker-type places, very close to the main town. It's in the one km area between the Pacific Resort and the main town. But the swimming is not that good there, you have to go a bit north, past the Pacific Resort, for better swimming and snorkeling.

I really wouldn't worry that much about stonefish, but I can understand it if you still do. They do NOT attack people at all. They just sit on the floor of the lagoon, or on large chunks of coral. they look like, well, a stone, so you don't really see them at all. they have one main thorny thing sticking out upwards at a slight angle, and four or five smaller fins on them. All these are toxic, so if you step on them, or your hand hits them, you will get something resembling a very, very, very bad wasp sting.

If you are wearing reef shoes, it would be a rare thing if you stepped on one and felt anything. The adults are usually in deeper water, so you wouldn't step on them, and the babies which might be in shallower water don't have a long thorny thing, so it usually would not penetrate a reef shoes sole. Like I said, just don;t push off any large coral chunks with your hand, you might come in contact with a stone fish.

OK, that probably scared you enough to avoid that area, so I'd check out Tom's and other places near town. If you go to www.ck you can see a good map of Aitutaki. Samade's et al are on that little spit of land on the NE. Town and the other places you might check out are along the W coast.

PS--A favorite of mine was Rino's, near Tom's. It has self-contained units. Garden ones may be under your budget max.

While the Samades area sounds perfect for what you want to do, it can be problematic for dinner if you are not planning on self-catering. I think your choices are the Samades restaurant and the resort. There are only a few takeaway places and it would be a longish bike ride in the dark. I walked at night from Puffy's to Tom's and Crushers (now closed?) to Matriki and the street lights were pretty far apart. I doubt it would be better and possibly worse on the road by the airport. I would stay on the west side and bike over to Samades during the day if I wanted to eat takeaway for dinner.

Toms has locks on the room doors and felt like a secure safe place. I don't recall the room windows, I think they were the louvers with mosquito screens in the bedrooms.