Aiutaki, Cook Island

Aiutaki Lagoon 
Honeymoon Island and One Foot Island
Aiutaki’s marae (courtyards)

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Aiutaki

Coral-protected Crystal-clear Waters

As soon as you arrive at Arutanga on an MSC cruise, you can’t help but notice that the Aiutaki atoll has the shape of a triangle that seems to have been drawn by a child.

The small settlement area — the entire island is home to only a couple of thousand people — is located on the west coast, south of the landing strips made for American airplanes during World War II. 
 
An MSC World Cruise is a great way to leisurely discover the riches found on the second largest of the Cook Islands: Aiutaki Lagoon. Right after you go ashore at Arutanga, you run into the rugby field and two white churches (the Cook Islands Christian Church is more than a hundred years old and is one of the oldest masonry structures on the island) on the main road, where the post office can also be found. This road circles the entire island whose eastern side also boasts a crystal-clear, calm lagoon, justifiably considered one of the most beautiful in the world. 
 
Out of the selection of interesting MSC excursions available, you can choose to go on guided tours of two of the smaller islands: Honeymoon Island and One Foot Island. They are located at opposite ends of the lagoon; Honeymoon Island is 3.5 km west of the coast, and One Foot Island (Tapueta) 4 km to the east. Honeymoon Island is actually a sandbank located in front of the island of Maina where the red-tailed tropicbird with plumage as white as the sand of this atoll nests. 
One Foot Island takes its name from its shape that is reminiscent of the footprint of a bare right foot. Also hidden amongst the vegetation of Aiutaki can be found the marae (courtyards), sacred ceremonial places used by the ancient populations that colonized the Cook Islands before the arrival of European explorers.
 
This is just one of the fantastic destinations of our cruise around the world: MSC World Cruise 2020!

Must see places in Aiutaki

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    Cook Island

    On the Coral Route
    On the Coral Route

    The Cook Islands, made up of fifteen islands with strong ties to New Zealand, have been a tourist destination since the 1950s.

    The result of the irrepressible force of ancient volcanoes, they mostly consist of paradisiacal coral atolls that protect tranquil lagoons. Some of the islands are so small, such as Takutea or Suwarrow, which they can only be protected nature reserves, uninhabited or almost; others are large enough to accommodate thousands of people, although many emigrated to New Zealand during the Twentieth century.
     
    The MSC World Cruise stops at Rarotonga, the largest and most populated island, home to the capital of the Cook Islands: Avarua. 

    Aitutaki is one of the dream islands where hundreds of newlyweds decide to spend their honeymoons, or even marry there. Palm trees, turquoise water and white sand: the Cook Islands are the stuff that dreams are made of. Although known and colonised by people coming from Asia hundreds of years before the arrival of European navigators, these islands are named after the British Explorer James Cook, who visited them aboard two sailing ships during the 18th century.