Islands
Aitutaki
The idyllic uninhabited islands of Motorakau (home to ‘the Sharks’) and Rapota (home to ‘the Tigers’) are located half a mile apart in the remote tropical paradise of the Aitutaki atoll. This is part of The Cook Islands deep in heart of the South Pacific. The tropical climate, palm fringed white-sand beaches and crystal-clear turquoise waters packed full of multicoloured corals and tropical fish, means the Shipwrecked experience will undoubtedly be a memorable one.
Motorakau and Rapota: terrain and vegetation
Motorakau is small but perfectly formed with a beach on either side of a main clearing, a higher interior, a rocky outcrop, and ‘Plato’s Platform’ – a secluded cliff top with a fantastic view. The neighbouring island of Rapota is slightly larger and more rugged in appearance. It has one more beach and inland the terrain gets much steeper with denser vegetation on the higher ground. On the north side, a group of large black rocks offers an ideal place to get away from it all.
Both islands are covered with palm trees meaning unlimited coconuts and fronds (leaves) for weaving a shelter roof and walls. There is a scattering of fruit trees (bananas, limes and mangoes) but the majority bear very little fruit. Although there is nothing dangerous on the islands, there are plenty of creepy crawlies such as hermit crabs, gecko lizards, spiders, flies, and harmless scorpions; easily capable of scaring the unwary!
Lagoon life
The Aitutaki atoll consists of a reef surrounding the main inhabited island of Aitutaki and 21 uninhabited ‘motu’ or small islands which include our two Shipwrecked islands, Motorakau and Rapota. The stunning turquoise lagoon is enormous at 12km wide and15km long and averages 10.5m in depth. There are plenty of edible fish in the lagoon from tiny whitebait to barracuda – so as long as the castaways can work out how to catch them they won’t go hungry!
The majority of marine life in the lagoon is completely harmless, but the castaways must wear the reef shoes provided at all times when swimming or climbing around rock and reef areas. The hard soles on the shoes protect feet from sharp corals and potentially hazardous creatures like stone fish and sea snakes (although incidents are extremely rare.)
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