The Aitutaki Lagoon

The Aitutaki Lagoon, often ranked among the most beautiful lagoons in the world, is the crowning glory of the Cook Islands, a vast, shallow triangle of impossibly clear turquoise water enclosed by a barrier reef and dotted with a dozen tiny, uninhabited palm-topped islets, or motu. The classic experience is a lagoon cruise, gliding across the dazzling shallows to snorkel among coral and giant clams, wade across sandbars, and land on castaway motu like the famous One Foot Island, with its heavenly beaches. The sheer, luminous beauty of the water and the sense of tropical paradise are unforgettable.

What you actually see

• The turquoise lagoon - the dazzling shallow water and reef.
• One Foot Island - the castaway motu with heavenly beaches.
• The lagoon cruise - the glide across the shallows to the motu.
• The snorkelling - the coral, fish and giant clams.

When to go

April to November, the drier, cooler season, for the best weather and calmest lagoon conditions; the wet season from December to March is hotter with a cyclone risk. Aitutaki is reached by a short flight from Rarotonga, and the lagoon cruise is the essential, unmissable experience, best on a calm, sunny day.

Honest expectations

Aitutaki is small, remote and low-key, reached by a flight and with limited, often pricey accommodation, so it is a splurge island escape rather than a budget or activity-packed one; the lagoon cruise, while magical, is the main event. For the sheer, breathtaking beauty of one of the world's finest lagoons, its castaway islets and dazzling turquoise water, though, Aitutaki is a genuine tropical paradise and a bucket-list Pacific experience.

Nearby

The main island of Rarotonga is a short flight away.