Cook Islands / Vanuatu - Anyone been?

Has anyone been to the Cook Islands or Vanuatu? What did you think? Any tips/advice/recommendations?

My sister went there for her honeymoon and really enjoyed it. I can't remember where they stayed but I can ask her.

I hear they can be prone to tsunami's...

Sorry I couldn't resist! ;)

Fi has been..I'll tell her to post here

Oh the Cook Islands! I have never been but I have seen pics and i have heard it is such a beautiful place!! Don't worry about Tsunami's, they could happen anywhere, anytime!
The people in the cook islands are meant to be so lovely too!

I'm just teasing... bad Cailin is coming out... sorry!

Is there a tsunami season?

Bah when we are planning on having a holiday it's cyclone season... pffft...

Anyone know a great place to go in the summer thats not too hot in January (preferably under 30C) and family friendly? We need a holiday!

The only reason I mentioned it was coz there was a tsunami warning for the cook & christmas islands and the coast of aus last night. It was downgraded though.

Not sure on holidays. Sounds great... Why not somewhere local or do you feel like a plane trip?

Vanuatu is very kid friendly. Food is expensive but it's a really great place. We were then in Jan with a nearly 2yo and a baby and had a great time. We even managed to do a couple of day trips with the boys.

I wanna get on a plane Cai, I hate summer here, I want to do it somewhere else where its cooler ;)

Thanks for the suggestion Melanie, will check it out :)

Kelly,

The Cook Islands are a fantastic place and one of the top pacific island destinations. Life is very laid back, and it is set up for tourists without being like Hawaii.

A cheaper alternative is Vanuatu, as Melanie suggested. Flights are very cheap as it's just west of Fiji and not far away from Aust. as compared with the Cooks which are much further to the SE. The culture between the two is reasonably different as Vanuatu is Melanesian and the Cook Islands is Polynesian. Port Vila caters very well for tourists, yet doesn't feel anywhere near as 'westernised' as you might imagine. It genuinely exists in a very authentic way and the people are great. Very kid friendly too. Somewhere like Hideaway Island, which is about 30-45 minutes from Port Vila has fantastic snorkelling and the kids and adults alike love it.

Transport is dead cheap, you just pay the driver of any marked minivan 100 Vatu per person (about a dollar) to go anywhere you want, in order of first on first off. The only problem is, it may be a bit tropical in January as the drier months tend to be the southern hemisphere winter.

If you want any other info please let me know.

what about New Zealand???
anything above the brissy is the wet season through summer and can be hot and humid and wet
otherwise what about going south to Tassie??

I can 110% recommend Tasmania. Despite the utter tripe you see in the media, it is not covered with a permafrost or unnaturally cold. In Hobart it frequently rises above 25-30c in summer. The east coast beaches are awesome, and there are about 1000 other things I could recommend. But I guess that's potentially OT.

Can definitely recommend NZ too.

Thanks Rols, keep the suggestions coming :) Melanie, where did you stay? I see that in January many of the pacific islands are below 30 which is perfect... we did consider NZ, but we'll go there for a skiing holiday some time, John is a skiing nut :) So it was on our list, thanks ;)

Yep, I was going to recommend Tasmania too.
Cooler, you get the plane ride (or boat ride), mmm and the fudge...

OMG @ the fudge... I got some from my MIL's cousin and it was sooo good. Even found a website and have it bookmarked for future reference ;)

Kelly - We went to Vanuatu for New Year and it was fabulous..Even though it was wet season it only rained once and that was late in the afternoon. It was only DP and I (no kids) and we got an all inclusive package with meals, accom and flights for about $1400 pp. There aint much nightlife at all there, but after you have been cruising around the islands all day and drinking at happy hour you just want to fall into bed.. I can highly recomment Iririkki - the little ferry taking you to the mainland runs 24/7 and only takes a couple of minutes.. The town itself is pretty dirty, but the beaches and the snorkelling are superb..

Vanuatu is stunning but it does get really hot and muggy there during our summer months. We went in January and it was really sticky. I would highly reccommend it though it is a great relaxing holiday and the people are really lovely.

Kelly, in Port Vila we stayed at Le Meridien for a pretty similar all inclusive cost per person as Nicambhar. Le Meridien is about 10 minutes out of town but easily accessible via the public transport I mentioned or by hire car. I'd highly recommend Le Meridien, especially with kids as all the activities they provide are free (small catamarans, canoes, sailboats etc). Iririki resort is also very well regarded and closer to the centre of Vila.

You can use Vila as a base to explore Efate, the main Vanuatu island, and also as the air base to visit some of the other 93 odd islands, including Tanna where the amazing Mt Yasur volcano is. Just depends how much you want to spend.

Don't discount places like Samoa and Tonga either. Very laid back and unaffected by tourism. And of course there is Fiji but that is a bit more set up specifically for tourists.

As for Tassie, I wont start on that big spiel unless you are interested...

We stayed at Le Lagon just out of Vila. We decided to stay on the mainland to avoid too many boat trips with the two boys, but with kids a bit older it would be easily manageable. Having said that Le Lagon was absolutely fantastic - it was so kid friendly and there was plenty to do and a good base for day trips, exploring town etc. As I said food was exxy (not just at the resorts but in town too), but the flights and accomodation were reasonable and the kids eat for free at the resort. You can also get meal packages which seem really expensive up front but include some alcohol. We did pay less for food and drinks then the package price, but not much less and I wasn't drinking and therefore DH didn't drink much either. The food package would probably be worth it if you are going to be drinking. Food is much cheaper at places other than Vila - DH has also stayed in Santo for a week on a diving trip - he also loved it there and the food was really cheap, but we didn't think it would be so kid friendly for a family holiday.

We were also there in Jan and found the weather was quite ok - we do live in Brissy of course though! It only rained once at night too, and wasn't as muggy as other places I've been. Living in Melb though, you might feel it more.

Kelly - have you been to the Whitsundays? It's beeeautiful up in north queensland in the islands... i used to be a travel consultant for tourism QLD so if you want to know about QLD destinations i can help you :)

Daydream Island is great for families - whitsundays.... it will be warm in January but then just about everywhere is unless you go over to Canada!!! you will get -40 degrees celcius then in January! trust me, its cold!!!!! stick to warm places ;)

How hot would it be in the Whitsundays though? Over 30 wouldn't it...

Dreadfully hot Kelly. But you will be in a pool or in the ocean most of the time I suppose so you just won't feel the heat as much..

Are there any cooler islands around here that time of year? You wouldn't want to travel too far with kids I imagine?

LOL just ask Cailin, I feel it before 33C :cryinglaugh: I have british blood as my nanna would say ;) My family are english and I just like the cold better - love spring weather more than anything :).

Yep exactly Cai...

Yep and next to me she's even more tolerant... 23 and I complain LMAO!

oOoOOooh 23 would be PERFECT!!! WOOT! If it was 23 all summer I would be in heaven. I don't really like it at 26+ but it takes a day around that much for me to remember how warm it is. Hate sweating, stickiness and stuffiness LOL

Tasmania? that's nice in January isnt it? below 30? Not sure :dunno: i havent been to Tassy but it would be great to visit there!!

what about Norfolk or Lord Howe. I haven't been there myself, but seeing Lord Howe on Getaway made me really want to go. It looks like some tropical island with stunning beaches.

Maybe we should go to tassie in jan... Although we've been thinking of somewhere local.

I think the perfect climate for me is Canada... now if only marc could find a job there... and my friends would not disown me... :P

We went to the Cook Islands for our honeymoon and is was DIVINE (actually there isnt a word strong or perfect enough to descrbge how wonderful the cook islands are LOL). We stayed on two islands - the first being the main island of raratonga and the second was Aitutaki. Raratonga had a nice mix of the commercial side of the lifestyle as well as the traditional and secluded side of things. There was heaps to do - mostly outdoor stuff (well thats what we focused on). Aitutaki was perfect. It is only small and was quiet and was postcard perfect eg white sand and blue blue water. The islanders were lovely people and I would recommend it to anyone as a holiday destination.

LOL Kelly, looks like you might have to think about NZ - Invercagill might suit you nicely PMSL!! I don't know about Jan, but my ILs are in NZ now and got really cheap flights - there seem to be really good deals there most of the time now. Otherwise, if you don't want something over 30 (and I'm tipping you don't really want muggy either), then maybe Tassie isn't such a silly idea either. I think you probably need to give tropical a miss in Jan - unless you are in the water all the time as Nic said!

Yep, well Tassie weather in summer is absolute bliss.

We got married in Vanuatu at Iririki. Absolutely loved our time there.
The weather was fantastic, the people are friendly, the water is clear and warm (perfect for snorkelling) and I would love to go back. I'm not sure if it is still the same (we were there in 2003), but Iririki is a kid free island/resort. It's more of a honeymooners accommodation, but from what I hear there are other great kid friendly places to stay.

We went to Vanuatu for our honeymoon, and we absolutely LOVED it. We were there in February last year, and the weather was perfect. Ok, maybe it did rain on the Wednesday, the day that we got in a tiny little 8 seater plane and flew from Efate (the main island) to Tanna to see Mt Yasur (an active volcano), and that scared the pants off me (i'm not great with heights!) - but it still was a fabulous day, and is now one of our highlights of the trip!

We stayed at Le Meridien, and it was great - the view from our room overlooked the pool and lagoon, and was amazing. While the place looked old and a little worn, it was still very clean and the staff were fantastic! They have a door greeter guy that is dressed in traditional clothes, and was very sweet - we had never gone away anywhere before, and when he offered to carry our bags to the room for us, and we declined, he still stalked us to our room, and turn on the A/C and pointed things out. He was great - I had to get a photo with him before we left! He was a bit of a looker too!

When we went 100 Vatu was about 80 Aussie cents. A bus trip (first on first off - unless it is on the way) was 100 Vatu each, and the system was great - let you see a bit more of the island than if you were in a taxi which was 400 Vatu, and sometimes if the driver was nice, would point out things on the way - the jail for instance (it was tiny!).

The Le Meridien is very kid friendly with a separate pool for children if you want to have them swim in shallow water, and the other pool has a swim-up bar - nothing better than a margarita in a pool!

It also has 1 of only 2 golf courses in the country, and that was also very funny - full of holes from the coconut crabs, and they expect you to lose the balls - however we found 4 while we attempted to play!

They also have a tennis/basketball court, and a beach volleyball court, and run activities all day (usually free) and then some nights they have dinners on the beach, that you have to book into and gets charged to your room - at the Melanesian feast we tried Kava and it wa so gross - like peppery muddy water - but it really numbed your mouth. They had paw paw next to it (which I hate) for you to get the taste out of your mouth, and I had to have some coz the Kava was that disgusting, and I couldn't taste the paw paw at all! Then they gave us pina coladas in coconuts - mmmmm.....

We went for a day trip to Hideaway Island to snorkel, and while you can stay there, I don't recommend it. It was a very cute place, and was great for snorkelling, but we were talking to some people who were staying there, and they didn't have air con, and were soooooo hot they slept on the chairs on the beach instead of on their rooms.

The weather wasn't too hot for us - we are Brisbanites, but hate the hot - but I would recommend staying somewhere with air con for the night time, when it did get a bit muggy.

We also went over to Iririki for lunch one day, and walked around the island, and we weren't very impressed. All of there accommodation was individual cabins on the side of a hill, and only the ones at the bottom of the hill really had much of a view. The walkways to the main building where the restaurant, pool, and bar are, is uncovered, so if it does happen to rain, you will get wet trying to get to the building. Le Meridien on the other hand, was all in one building, so if it rains, you can still get to the restaurant, bar and kids room.

I seriiously recommend Vanuatu to anyone who listens, and we both really want to go back one day - it was just soooooooooooooo relaxing!

Well, your advice has been REALLY helpful; we just booked! Its wonderful having something to look forward to! Its been a while since we've had a decent family holiday. So I have taken all of Jan off for birth work and we'll head off for a week with NO COMPUTERS OMG!!! I think I will like it too much ;) But unfortunately for you all I will be back hahahaha :) I'm so excited... 4 months to go!!!!

We're planning on a regular summer and winter holiday every year, we'll be back at the snow in July/Aug again for a new family tradition... ;)

WOOHOOOOOO! Have lots of fun :D You'll have to take lots of pics and upload to your gallery ;)

I sure will!! :) I should put some snow ones in there ;) Can add to it next year :)

Which place did u book??
Vanuata? cook islands? NZ or tassie?