Turquoise lagoon and motu islets of Aitutaki, Cook Islands

The Lagoon More Beautiful Than Bora Bora (That Almost Nobody Visits)

Overshadowed on Purpose

Ask a travel photographer to name the most beautiful lagoon in the Pacific, and plenty will skip right past Bora Bora and say Aitutaki instead — a triangular reef in the Cook Islands enclosing water so many shades of blue that early aerial surveyors reportedly had trouble naming them all. It has none of French Polynesia's price tag or crowds, and almost all of the beauty. Fewer flights in means fewer people finding out.

A Different Kind of Pacific

The Cook Islands run on Polynesian time and Polynesian culture, not resort-brand polish. Villages are small, reef fish outnumber tourists, and the motu — the tiny uninhabited islets scattered around the lagoon — are usually reachable only by the kind of small boat that requires you to ask a local for a ride.

The Thread Through the Collection

Our Pacific Collection connects the coastlines and island cultures that define life along the Pacific Rim — the famous stops and the ones still waiting to be discovered. Aitutaki is proof there's always another shade of blue nobody's told you about yet.

Curated for the journey.

Explore the Pacific Collection →


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