Rarotonga / Aitutaki. Which first?

I'll be arriving to Rarotonga at 6:30 am on May 21. Flying out on Jun 2. I am inclined after travelling for 24+ hours to do Rarotonga first rather than get on another plane to Aitutaki. But what do others think? Is there some sort of logic to see the "busier" island to get a better appreciation of Aitutaki? Would the serenity of Aitutaki diminish an appreciation for Raro if Aitutaki were first explored?

The May 21 flight to Aitutaki is 3:30pm so there'd be some "wasted" hours between landing in Raro and waiting to fly out to Aitutaki (are there lockers at the airport to leave my luggage so I could cruise the island for the day and come back to the airport?)

I'm all about making the most of the ground time I'll have in the Cooks. Also, what split would others recommend between Raro and Aitutaki? I'm thinking 3 nights Raro, 8 nights Aitutaki, 1 night Raro to be sure I'll be departing on time on Jun 2. Is that too unbalanced given that the activities I plan on Raro are the Cross-Island walk, diving, snorkeling, and hanging out for a day or two at the motus in Muri? I figure island night, deep-sea fishing, and a lagoon tour will be an equal or better experience on Aitutaki.

Or would 3, 7, 2 night split be better so that last day in Raro is not spent obsessing about departure preparations but still part of my vacation. (What I mean is if I have just the last night in Raro on its own, it would end up being about prepping for departure and not part of the trip but if I allot the last 2 nights, then the last 3 days are still in my mind a part of the vacation.)

Edited by: colbyvillage

Edited by: colbyvillage

I'd recommend the 3-7-2 option for a first-time visit.

In Raro you'll probably meet people who have been to Aitutaki and have some suggestions on what to do during your trip there. On Aitutaki you'll probably talk to people that mention some things you missed while on Raro. Then you can take those in on your return to Raro.

Anticipation and planning is half the fun....

Yes, there are lockers available at the airport.

Hi colbyvillage. I've been to both islands, plus 'Atiu (population: est. 450), over a three-week period, and I think you may want to add an extra 2 days to Rarotonga. But I'll tell you what we did and you can decide what sounds more appealing to you.

We landed in Raro and spent five days exploring the lagoon, rented a scooter just one day, and spent the rest swimming, strolling the beach, and visiting the nearby towns on the day when we rented a scooter. (The backroads are fun and go past papaya plantations and stunning scenery). Raro really surprised my in how quiet it was. We were there in November. We stayed a five-minute beach walk from Muri Beach, a bit farther away from Vara's so that we weren't in a busy area. But nothing is really busy in Raro. In the morning, we often had the beach to ourselves, and a few stray dogs. Restaurants were never full. There was plenty of room to do whatever without feeling hemmed in by people.

Then we spent 5 days in Aitutaki.

Aitutaki is QUIET. And I found that the lagoon was really mind-blowingly beautiful, and the snorkelling (the giant clams are truly monstrous) was amazing. Truly paradise and almost offered forced relaxation. Food options are fewer; we did cook a few times finding pretty basic stuff (hello, corned beef and packaged food from NZ) at the store. Simple, basic. Paradise. Beer was easy to come by, which is always good. There isn't much to do, which might be more your speed. We hiked up the little mountain, bicycled around, drove down every road (twice) on a rented scooter. Sailed to One Foot Island, Honeymoon Island, etc. Went to a nightclub. Ate street food. Visited old churches. Watched the world go by. Went for dinner with other tourists. Drank with other tourists from Canada, NZ, Oz, Germany, Sweden, Austria. Lounged on the beach. Had a campfire. Played with the local cats. Watched hermit crabs amble across the sand. Fell asleep in a hammock. And that was in 5 days. Of course, you could easily spend 10 doing the same over and over again. But as much as I liked Aitutaki, I was happy to go be going back to Raro for a bit more "action."

When we went back to back to Raro, the Vaka Eiva -- the outrigger canoe fest -- was on and there were lots of people from NZ etc. It's was crazy busy compared to before, but it was STILL quiet. We had more of an appreciation for the fact that we had a larger island to play on. We stayed in a different locale and snorkelled at new beaches. Ate at different restaurants. Hiked different backroads ... It was a nice balance and we didn't have to worry about the whole airport/island hopping since we were flying direct from Raro.

My long-winded point is that unless you really plan to get out on the water snorkelling, sailing, kayaking or fishing, everyday, or you want to have plenty of R&R time chilling and enjoying the slow pace, I'd shift 2/7 days back to Raro. Hope that helps. PM me if you have other questions. Whatever you do, the islands are amazing and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

We split the stay also by staying before and after in Raro. Thankfuly we had three weeks in total so we spent about 2 weeks in Aitutaki but we would have regreted spending less time there. The problem is that you need to leave a day or two between flights as some of the smaller flights to Aitutaki are sometimes cancelled due to bad weather.

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