We stayed in Aitutaki for five days, the highlights of which were the two resorts that we visited, as well as a tour around the island in a rental car, which included visiting Mount Maungapu, the top of the island, and the Aitutaki Marine Research Centre, where giant clams were grown.




The passage

The passage to Aitutaki was comfortable and straight forward. We had the wind from behind, and everything went well (see track below). The only tricky part was the entrance to Aitutaki itself.



But first a bit about Aitutaki itself

Aitutaki is similar to Bora Bora in that it is a central (originally volcanic) mountain surrounded by a reef. Other than with Bora Bora, there is almost nothing left of the central mountain, only a hill of 124 meters high. In fact, it is called an "almost atoll". See map below (taken from orangesmile.com):


So, the appearance is drastically different. Another difference is that Aitutaki has no natural passage into the reef, for ships to come in. There is a passage that appears to have been created by men (almost straight for a mile long), but it is narrow and shallow, according to the info we had before arriving, but supposedly sufficient for our catamaran (draughts < 1.50 meter) to pass through.

Below is a touristic map for the main island (taken from issuu.com):


Aitutaki has a permanent population of 2000. And is a popular tourist destination, with well over 100K visitors per year, 60% of which are from New Zealand, 20% from Australia, entering the island through the (international) airport in the north of the island.
There are two resorts on the island, and there is a well developed range of activities that one can do (whale watching, snorkelling, diving, visiting motus and more).
Similar to Bora Bora, development of Aitutaki was very much accelerated during WWII when the US built an airport on it, in support of travel between the US and Australia and New Zealand out of range of the Japanese. After the war, Aitutaki became a regular stop on cross Pacific flights. Later, Aitutaki became one of the stops for the "Coral Route" between New Zealand and Tahiti, via Fiji, using luxurious flying boats. This was a legendary route at the time for the rich and famous, similar to the "Orient Express" train in Europe.


Entry into Aitutaki 4-Sep Monday

When we arrived to the entrance to the Aitutaki harbour, the weather and wave conditions were calm. Unknown) to us, the Cook Islands government had started a multi-year project to enlarge the harbour, to ease unloading supplies arriving per ship, but specifically also to make it more attractive for passing yachts to stop over, and deepen the access channel. We could see the works in progress, however could only guess how the depths were now along the channel in this intermediate stage.
In any case, we went straight in, and this is the track of our entry:

Mats was on the bow looking out for shallow water

and Gauthier and Ruth installed fenders, just in case.

Note how close we were to the reefs:

Especially in the area where the work was in progress and the water was murky and one could only guess the depth available, we went very slowly, in order to be able to back out in case we would hit the (sandy) bottom.


However, everything went well, and we arrived to the tiny harbour safely, and dropped anchor in the murky water next to two other monohull boats already anchored there. Note - the very fact that those two monohulls (with their deeper keels) were in the harbour should have been a sign for us that the channel was of sufficient depth for us. I don't remember if that thought passed through my head when entering. See track below of our entry through the reef.


The harbour was about rectangularly shaped, and we were anchored in the middle of it, at a distance of about 80 meters from a jetty, which we would be using as "dingy dock" during our stay.
This is the view we had onto the shore from our boat (taken next days):



We went on shore with our dinghy, and started to walk around, trying to get the feel of the place. The harbour area was quite messy, with various buildings in various stages of neglect, being partially used. There was a café right next to the jetty, but it was mostly only open in the mornings, and only occasionally at other times. We found the port authority on the first floor of a dilapidated building. And they referred us to toilets for sailors next to a small park nearby. When we arrived there were only toilets, but later the men's shower was opened for everyone's use. There was no (open) shower for the ladies, so they used the men's showers, no problem.

A bit higher up, there were some mostly simple shops, the tourist office, a small vegetable market, two or three small groceries, a modern bank with an ATM, and a modern cellular services outlet. 50 meters further was the police station.
I found that there were some further isolated shops and businesses spread over the island, but this was in fact the main "shopping area".

We crossed the island on foot, and came passed this church. Note the church's denomination, belonging to an organisation founded in 1830 in the US. We found many churches belonging to relatively small sub groups in Christianity spread all over the Pacific. They must have been the only churches sending missionaries to this part of the world.


On the east side of the island, the lagoon side, we encountered the following views:



We walked a bit further south and came to a restaurant called "Avatea Café" (see map above), which was a good find. Unfortunately, no pictures. The food was really good, and it looked pleasant and attractive, but not fancy. The most interesting thing was their collection of (cooking) books, and I got in love with one of them "The Cuisine of the South Pacific" by Gwen Skinner, which I later ordered (second hand). It was written by a New Zealand model / violinist, who later built a boat with her husband and sailed around the world. It covers all the Pacific countries, and their foods, and for each country it first gives a very interesting story about its culture and history, before providing some recipes typical of that country.


Errands and renting a car 5-Sep Tuesday

Mats & Gauthier inflated the canoe that was on the boat and used it to get to shore and back independently, which gave us sole use of the dinghy.



We did some errands and looked for a tour operator who could take us to the various motus with names such as "One Foot Island" and "Honeymoon Island". For an example see pictures below. Local law forbids the use of your own dinghy to move around in the (shallow) lagoon, and thus protects the local providers of such services.



But before that, we preferred to see the island itself, so we found a car rental agency, the owner of which we unfortunately found to be difficult to deal with, but with a more cooperative wife, and after a long time spent waiting for the owner to write a contract, we in the end got our car, which turned out to be their private car, from his wife, with her agreement to keep it for a certain number of days. During the waiting we got into a conversation with one of his aunts, also working in the business, who turned out to have been living for many years in Sweden, and had left her Swedish husband to return to her home in Aitutaki. A surprising combination of nationalities.



Tour around the island 6-Sep Wednesday

Next morning we got up relatively early, and found the weather looking a bit unstable. However, it provided some very good photo opportunities.


There was this dam being created along the channel to the sea by a self-propelled excavator (especially bought for the project) with a very long arm, which used the dam itself as a platform to deepen the channel next to it. The (coral) sand being taken out was dropped into a big truck, which was brought next to the excavator by driving in reverse from the start of the dam all the way to the end. Every time the truck was full, it would drive off onto the island, to drop the sand off somewhere. Sometimes it was right next to our dingy dock, into the harbour, apparently to create some extra land there, (causing the murkiness of the water), but most of the time it went somewhere on the island. Later on, when we had rented a car, I encountered the truck several times all over the island, and I got the impression that local residents could ask the truck to drop off a load in their building site, or for landfill purposes. Not sure how many trucks were involved, maybe two. In any case, the whole day, from the early morning into the late evening, we saw the excavator working, and the truck(s) moving in and out.



At the end of the day, the excavator would be driven back to land, and washed off. To me it was a fascinating sight. It seemed to me that the excavator could any moment drop into the water, it made a very laborious impression, but it seemed to work.

Later on the weather cleared a bit, and we started to drive around the island. The first stop was to go up Mount Maungapu, the highest point on the island.
We could get only so far; the last bit was too steep for the car:

The views from up did not disappoint:







Here is a panoramic picture (press here to view at full resolution):


We continued in the direction of the airport (always an important place on an island), and on the way we came upon the following sign:


We were curious what that was about, so we went in.
We found a couple of buildings not far from the shore, appearing kind of deserted.


One of the buildings was open and housed tanks with water. Apparently, sea water, constantly being circulated. Some of them contained a few shells ("giant clams" it turned out).


There was an exhibit with explanations on what was going on

De-skewed and enlarged:



After a while a staff member came out and provided us with a short briefing of what they were doing here.
The "Aitutaki Marine Research Center" (AMRC) is mainly busy with preserving and enlarging the population of giant clams on Aitutaki. I understood that in the tanks there were nursing several type of giant clams, from all over the Pacific. Some of them from the Palau islands. The latter grow and reproduce at much faster rates than the ones from Aitutaki, and I understand that the intent is to place them in the lagoon of Aitutaki as well.

From there on to the airport, which is a modest affair with little traffic (but enough to bring in over 100K visitors every year!).

Every arriving passenger is welcomed by placing a fresh flower necklace (a "Lei") around his/her neck.

Presentation boards tell the history of the airport:

And of the "Coral Route", by sea plane:


The sea plane actually didn't land at the airport, but in a remote corner of the Aitutaki atoll (see runways in old map taken from ginasaitutakidesire.com):


We drove on, along the whole length of the airport runway, and towards the end of the land tongue, where there was a restaurant, where we ate, as well as the access "ferry" to the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort, (more about that later), and took some pictures from this corner of the lagoon:
The main island with Mount Maungapu visible:

And a look over the lagoon:



Aitutaki Lagoon Resort and Beach 7-Sep Thursday

The next day day we came back to the same place. At the end of the runway, where at the end of the road one comes to the passage through the reef, on the other side of which is the "Aitutaki Lagoon Resort". We understood one can visit it and have a meal in its restaurant. Being curious about resorts, never having been inside one, we decided to have a look.

The resort provided a private ferry service for people to cross the passage:


While waiting for the "Private Resort Ferry", one can study the nice info board (sorry, not fully sharp enough):


The ferry is fun:

View towards the island:

View towards the open sea:


The resort lobby was tasteful and airy and contained nice flower arrangements (note the Giant Clam shells):


We were welcome to have a meal here, and chose to sit outside on the wonderful terrace next to the pool and the reef passage. We found it a real treat, both in the food we are served, and in the environment, the design and the views:




Then we made a round through the grounds of the resort. It was quite stunning and very posh ...





Back with the ferry:


On the way back to the boat we went to have a look at the beach on the other side of the main island, near the Marine Research Center. A nice looking beach, but not inviting swimming - too shallow, a rocky bottom:




Preparations for departure towards Niue

Our original plan had been to visit a further Cook Island, called "Palmerston Island", an atoll with only 50 inhabitants, ALL of which are descendants from "William Marsters, an English adventurer from Walcote, Leicestershire, who became caretaker of Palmerston and settled the island in 1862 with his three Penrhynese wives" (freely quoted fom Wikipedia and other sources). Apparently a beautiful, unspoiled atoll, whose inhabitants are said to be very friendly towards visitors. However, unfortunately we were told already in Rarotonga, that nobody was allowed to visit Palmerston for 6 weeks from mid-August 2023, because of a rat eradication operation going on in that period...

And thus we would go directly to the island country of NIUE (with a population of less than 2000 people living on the island), possibly visiting Beveridge Reef on the way, a total 600 nm trip supposed to take 4-5 days.
This required some preparations, most importantly getting a weather forecast from MetBob, but also announcing our upcoming arrival to the Niue authorities (yes, even a country with less than 2000 inhabitants has those), reserving a buoy in Niue, as well as clearing out of the Cook Islands, a check of the technical state of the boat and provisioning for the passage. We had not been able to buy a Niue courtesy flag anywhere so far, but were assured by the Niue authorities, that we would be able to purchase one locally on arrival.


An important rugby match, the Pacific Resort Aitutaki and departure preparations 8-Sep Friday

As Gauthier, our French crew member, had made us aware earlier in the week, today was the day of the opening match of the Rugby World Cup 2023 between France and New Zealand, and he wanted to see it. Ruth and I weren't into rugby, but here in the Pacific it is THE sport. And the Cook Islands being closely associated with New Zealand, there was a lot of interest in this game, so the owner of the bar in the harbour had set up a large TV screen outside on the terrace, as well as extra seats.


A diverse crowd:

The tension was visible on Gauthier


But France won!

Following that, Ruth and I used the last hours that we still had the rental car to have lunch in the other big resort on the island


Also here the lobby was stylish and airy:


Nice gardening:


The pool next to the beach:


The drinks (as well as the food) really good:

Ruth's flower matched the surroundings well:


The resort's beach was very pleasant and good looking:




Checkout and Mats loses his purse

Being we had received a go ahead from MetBob for our passage to Niue with reasonable winds and seas, we decided to leave the next day, Saturday. As all offices are closed on Saturdays, we then paid our mooring fees at the Port Authorities office and went all of us together to the Customs office next to the harbour, and performed the checkout formalities including stamping off our passports, dated the next day.

Some time afterwards, Mats noticed that he had lost his wallet, with his credit card. So that caused quite some unpleasantness, mostly for him of course. We all went looking for it in all the places where he had been, but to no avail. In the end we decided to go off anyway, and asked the police to forward it to the next destination if it was found...


Departure 9-Sep Saturday

And so, around 11 in the morning, we lifted anchor and departed towards Niue, leaving beautiful Aitutaki behind us: