Lonely Planet Rarotonga & the Cook Islands

We just got back from a two week exploration of the Cooks and found this book VERY helpful. The Cooks will quickly convince you that if you've only been to Hawaii, you've only gone half way to Heaven!Unfortunately, we required hospital services (because of tainted food), and this book over simplifies issues of needed medical care. (Details that should be included in EVERY travel guide!)Naturally, most prices quoted are actually higher, but that's just dealing with reality.We observed "newbies" arriving without this book, and therefore, without a clue of where to go or what to do.FOUR Stars because this book was so valuable, but as with most, there is room for improvement.

If you are headed out to the Cook Islands (absolutely fabulous, beautiful place to visit), you MUST bring this book with you. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

I became interested in the Cook Islands after recently readingTom Neale's book: An Island to Myself (also published as An Island to Oneself), in which he describes his solitary life on the tiny island of Suvarov (Suwarrow) in the South Pacific Cook Islands. More inspiritation came from Florence Frisbie's book, Miss Ulysses of Puka Puka, written about 1947 about her life in these islands. These books enchanted me and made me start considering a possible trip to the Cook Islands, so I picked up "Rarotonga & the Cook Islands". It's a very slender book, but has all the information I was looking for, in particular regarding lodging. Maps and descriptions of the different areas of Rarotonga are helpful in deciding what side of the island appeals to one's taste in beaches, privacy, and comfort. Rarotonga is the most featured island, with the most facilities for tourists. The other islands are more difficult to reach, but the book explains ways to get to the other islands, if so desired. There doesn't seem to be a lot to do on these small islands other than biking, swimming, hiking, and eating, and this may be exactly what appeals to some. I wasn't convinced to go though, because I can do these same things more cheaply in lovely parts of Mexico; yet I would go if I could, if only to meet Florence (Johnnie) Frisbie, who I understand still lives there.