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The Cook Islands
Pacific Travel Guides
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Cook Island Tourist Information
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The following Cook Islands tourist information facts should help answer any questions you have:
The Cook Islands is a moderately expensive destination with prices slightly higher than those in New Zealand where most things are imported from. Tipping is not encouraged and contrary to Polynesian culture. Most credit cards and travellers cheques are readily accepted and there are ATM machines at Westpac and ANZ banks on Rarotonga. Currency is the New Zealand dollar.
Money and Currency
Cook Islands climate is hot and sunny all year round (day/night average temperature is Jan 22/28; July 20/26) with higher rainfall and more mosquitoes from Dec to April. There is no specific high / low season for tourism and rates remain the same throughout the year. Flights during Christmas are more difficult to get as locals return home from overseas for their holidays.
Cook Islands Climate
The Cook Islands is one of the main stopovers on the trans Pacific Air New Zealand route between Australia / New Zealand and North America.
Flights to the Cook Islands
Entry Requirements / Arrival
The Cook Islands has only two islands with regular tourist activity and another four islands with a limited tourist infrastructure. Getting around the main island of Rarotonga is easy. Air Rarotonga is the only airline offering internal flights to the other Cook Islands.
Local Flights ; Ferries ; Public Transport ; Car Hire
English is widely spoken although the local dialect is Cook Island Maori.
Crime is virtually non-existent in this extremely friendly and graceful island group. Electricity is 240 volts. The water is generally safe to drink although bottle water is readily available from the shops.
Other Useful Facts
Cook Island Restaurants / Food
Festivals and Special Events
Package Holidays
Tour Companies
Travellers with Disabilities
The Cook Islands has reasonable facilities for wheelchair access and the local people are extremely helpful and patient. Public buses will cause a problem for those in wheelchairs if they are unable to walk. There are several resorts that offer rooms designed for those with wheelchairs.
Media and Books
The local Cook Island paper is published daily and there is also a weekly newspaper with a round up of local news. New Zealand news papers are available but not from other countries. There are a few free tourist publications and maps in distribution mostly selling tours, restaurants and attractions.
Travel Guide books for the Cook Islands are few and far between. The only guide book available in the shops is Lonely Planet, but this is hopelessly out of date even when it has just been published! If you are simply looking for good information on the land, its islands and its people, with an excellent review on hiking, then Elliot Smiths Cook Islands Companion is great and available from Rarotonga book shops but last published in 1994 so it is out of date for accommodation, tours and prices etc.
Cook Islands Tourist Information
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Fiji Tourist Information
Samoa Tourist Information
Tonga Tourist Information
Tahiti Tourist Information
Hawaii Tourist Information
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