Vacation bliss in the South Pacific: Visiting Aitutaki

AITUTAKI, Cook Islands (AP) — Swaying in a hammock hung from coconut trees, floating down a cyan-blue channel or swimming in a cloud of tropical fish, all I could think was, this place is too perfect to be real.

First you fly to Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands, 15 volcanic islands and atolls scattered over an area the size of the Mediterranean.

Bright red petals were on the bed, but manager Lisa Green also shared a jar of peanut butter, drove me to three tiny grocery stores for picnic lunch provisions, and let me pick starfruit in the garden.

For about $20, including cold beer, I had just-caught tuna steaks with homemade passion-fruit marinade at Puffy's Beach Bar and ika mata, raw tuna cubes in coconut cream, at the Boat Shed on the eastern tip of the island.

[...] the colors were even more surreal above water: transparent over the sand bars, periwinkle in the surf, swirls of turquoise, green and aquamarine in the lagoon, while the lapis-lazuli Pacific roared against the reef.

TIPS:

Because the Cook Islands are independent but in "free association" with New Zealand, they have NZ dollars, English (and Maori), and left-side driving.