Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

where to go with Mom

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea

Hi all.

My 73 year old mother wants to go to the South Pacific with me, and I am trying to narrow down where to go.

Here are some parameters:

Neither one of us scuba dives
I snorkle, but she doesn't
We don't plan to lay around on the beach the whole time
We do NOT like big fancy hotels
We do like cultural experiences, native dance, etc.
My mom is in good shape but not necessarily up for long hikes (although short ones/walks would be fine)
We would probably have about 2 or 2 1/2 weeks for the trip

Any ideas for me? I am thinking about Easter Island as one stop.

Thanks for your input.

I would go to French Polynesia, either a trip on the Aranui (has its own website) or Tahiti, Moorea and some of the other Society Islands. They have low key hotels and pensions.

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Would your ,other be happy with no 24-hour power? There are now some great village stays and eco-lodges, as well as low-key, locally-owned resorts, in Solomon Islands, offering cultural experiences. It would depend on how you are prepared to travel, and your budget, too.

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Thanks for your input -- I will check these leads out.

S.

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Hi Susana,

I think Rarotonga would give you and your mom a great trip. Lot's of activities and tours. Plenty of Maori culture and singing and dancing. Not touristy, mostly small lodgings, Take a look at Aroa's Beachside Inn on the Internet. They have some handicapped accesible units. The owners are great and on premises. They have BBQ with entertainment twice a week. Sunset beach wirh snorkeling and kayaking right in your front yard. Round island comes by twice an hour during the day.

Papa Mike

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That sounds like it might be my sort of place too, if I ever get to the Cooks, PappaMike.
I'll check out the site and bookmark it.
(I looked at Cooks accommodation options before, but there are so many, it is hard to know without inside knowledge.)

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Just found it on Google. The newest search engine, Bing, only led me to Trip Advisor reviews - they couldn't find the website.

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Here is the website for Aroa's Beachside, http.//www.aoabeach.com

I hope this works.

Papa Mike

Edited by: PapaMike

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The link didn't work - not just because there is a full stop rather than a colon after the http, because I fixed that.
However, google found it for me.

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how about tripping your way up the yasawa islands in fiji, a new exotic little island ever few days and far from touristy but very authentic

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