Heaven Sandbar

I found something new to nerd 🤓 out to! Drone photography opens up a whole new world of photographic possibilities!! Took this shot from One Foot Island after flying out to the famous Heaven sandbar.... What an unreal view! Incredible day out on the water and still pinching myself 😁 Aitutaki is pure magic...

Palm lined shores of One Foot Island

I first learned about Aitutaki's lagoon when Oneea bought me a book the week after our honeymoon called "1001 Natural Wonders: You Must See Before You Die." With one thousand places to see, the one that stuck out the most to me was Aitutaki's lagoon. It just looked so incredible....so, you can imagine the joy I felt when we first set foot on Aitutaki's most famous motu, One Foot Island. Such a fun experience and one that did not disappoint! The island is pristine, and beautiful beyond words. During our 7 days in Aitutaki, we hired boats 3 different days so that we could spend as much time as possible at One Foot.

Alex enjoying a tropical "stop light" drink at Muri Beach in Rarotonga

Alex is such a joy to travel with! He never complains, is always up for an adventure and his positive energy is infectious :) Oneea and I cherish these moments and hope that they continue for a long, long time.

High Above Muri Lagoon, Rarotonga

While the idea of drone photography intrigued me, I always had reasons why I thought it wouldn't work. Well, I can say with confidence now that buying a drone was one of the best purchases I've ever made. It has opened up a whole new world of photography to me...providing so many more perspectives than I imagined. Took this shot on my last flight in Rarotonga...with the hope of capturing our snorkel island where Alex, Oneea and I went every day by kayak to snorkel. Mission accomplished :)

Pink Hibiscus flower after the rain

The gardens at Pacific Resort Rarotonga are amazing! We had a couple days of rain, which wasn't good for swimming and beach'ing....but it sure did make the gardens happy. I wandered around one day after a downpour admiring all the work that has clearly gone into the grounds.

Just the 3 of us, Pacific Resort Aitutaki

Walking to dinner, I of course made the family stop for the obligatory family shot at Golden hour. They are both pretty used to this drill by now, and thankfully cooperate for me :) We have similar pictures from other beaches...but it seems someone keeps getting taller with every fam photo!

One Foot Island Palms

I could spend a month on One Foot Island taking pictures the entire time.... and never get bored. Every square inch of this beautiful island is a photographer's dream.

Love these two

Loved our family dinners at Rapae Bay Restaurant at Pacific Resort Aitutaki. We always had a table with a view, and what a view it was. The food and service were both excellent, the wine and spirits always cold, and the company fantastic.

My first glimpse of One Foot Island

After many years of waiting, I had finally gotten my first glimpse of the famous One Foot Island in Aitutaki's lagoon. Even though I had seen many pictures, I wasn't prepared for how spectacular the scenery was in person. It's a tropical paradise like no other.

Mr Alex hanging at the Pacific Resort pool

With only 27 bungalows at Pacific Resort Aitutaki, the resort never felt busy or crowded. Alex spent a lot of time in the pool, and many times had it all to himself. The smile on his face says it all :) Alex, at 9 years old, has been to over 15 countries...and at the end of this trip, we asked him what's his #1 favorite..and his answer was immediate...Aitutaki!

One Foot Island Paradise

Every day, boat tours descend on One Foot Island to show off one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We visited on 3 separate days with 3 separate boat tours (the Vaka, Kia Orana, and a Water Taxi). All of the tours were great, with each offering different agendas and vibes. But my favorite of the tours was our last one...the water taxi. We beelined it for One Foot at 10am and spent the next 4.5 hours enjoying the island and sand bars. The hotel packed us a "picnic hamper" complete with food, cold water and of course white wine :) It was the perfect day and gave us the most time (and also the least amount of people) on One Foot Island.

Pacific Resort Rarotonga

The beautiful gardens found at the Pacific Resort Rarotonga. Tropical islands aren't always sunshine and beaches. We had 2 straight days of rain, and several more cloudy days...but we still found plenty to do. Walking thru the gardens was amazing, and I have a newfound respect for all the folks who spend hours every day keeping the grounds looking so beautiful! And even with the rainy weather, we still "braved" the rain and snorkeled and SUP'ed the lagoon. It was actually beautiful, and because the weather was so crummy, we had the whole lagoon to ourselves!

One Foot Island from the DJI P4P+

Every time we visited One Foot Island, the first thing I did was go for a flight! The only thing better than the view from the beach is the view from the air :)

Oneea and Alex playing in Heaven

We walked 10 minutes across the lagoon (was low tide and only ankle/shin deep) from One Foot Island to the stunningly beautiful sandbar aptly named "Heaven". For the next hour, we played in the water, took lots of pics, and drank some wine. Alex was his usual silly self...having just watched Jurassic Park for the first time at the hotel, he turned into a T-Rex at Heaven and was "attacking" us in the water with his Giant T-Rex roars :) It was absolutely perfect and a memory I'll never forget.

Dinner time at Pacific Resort Aitutaki

Typical day included French Toast at Breakfast, Fresh fish for lunch, and Beef Tenderloin for dinner. Will probably take a couple weeks to work off all the good food, but wow was it worth it :) To lessen the guilt factor, Alex typically ate half my steak (he calls it "Steak Bites") to go with his butter noodles.

2 Lonely Coconuts

On our last day, we took a water taxi directly over to One Foot Island around 10am so that we could arrive before all the tour boats arrive around noon. The plan worked perfectly and we were the only ones on the island for the first hour. What we did find was 2 lonely coconuts sitting on the beach holding down the fort :)

Sunset at Pacific Resort Aitutaki

I can't say enough good things about the Pacific Resort Aitutaki. It is an incredibly well run resort and totally deserves it's 5 star rating. Our bungalow was beautiful, clean and serviced twice daily. We had a fully stocked minibar along with powerful A/C (it gets really hot here!) and a nice flat screen TV that had access to hundreds of free movies (Alex loved watching movies whenever we were taking a break from the beach and lagoon). Outside, we had a beautiful patio that looked right out onto this beautiful beach. We also had a private hammock and our own set of beach chairs. I could go on and on, because no detail goes unnoticed here. It's a wonderful place, and we're already thinking about when we can get back here :)

I caught a "Ghost of the Flats"

Aitutaki is world renowned for it's Bonefishing. I had never tried, but was really eager to give it a shot because it's basically saltwater fly-fishing. And over the past couple years, I've become obsessed with fly-fishing. I booked a trip with E2 Bonefishing, and spent a morning out on the lagoon learning how to bonefish. Unfortunately, it was a windy day...so no sight-fishing on the flats :( Instead we fished "the milk", which basically means you drop a sinker "fly" and drift in the boat with the fly dragging along the bottom. If you're lucky, a bonefish will see it and take the fly. After 4 hours, I had 4 fish hit the fly....3 got away for various reasons (at least 2 were due to my rookie mistakes), but the last one I landed...and wow what a fight this guy put up. He was probably 4-5 lbs, but these fish are strong!! Their unique tails give them serious power/speed, and they run fast. After a 10 minute battle, we brought him onboard for a quick picture and then returned him back to his little slice of paradise. I am now totally hooked on bone fishing!

Just another boat in paradise

Boats typically make a quick stop at Heaven sandbar before heading over around lunchtime to One Foot Island. It was fun to watch people step onto the sandbar for the first time...that look of pure happiness was present on every person I saw :)

Baby Lovebird

One of the motus we visited had some nesting "lovebirds." They look like white doves and apparently mate for life with their love. As we were walking thru the interior of the island, we found a couple baby lovebirds just hanging out on the trees. We didn't get too close as Mom and Dad were carefully watching over us...but these little guys were too darn cut to pass up a picture! This photo was taken by Alex, so he gets all the credit for this one :)

Silliness at Heaven Sandbar

Alex was in prime form during our play time on Heaven Sandbar. I'll never forget those T-Rex roars heard in the middle of the South Pacific.

New Zealand White Wine in Paradise

Our picnic hamper from the resort included a bottle of cold white wine and 2 plastic wine glasses. Hard to get more perfect than sharing a bottle of wine with your family at a place aptly named Heaven (even Alex tested out the wine...just one sip :))

Honeymoon Island from Above

One Foot Island gets most of the attention, but Aitutaki's lagoon is huge, and there are many other jaw-dropping motus to explore. After exploring one side of the lagoon with the Vaka cruise, we decided we'd visit the "other side" of the lagoon the following day with Kia Orana cruise. It was great, and was so cool to see a few lesser visited motus. Honeymoon Island (the sandbar with the green patch of palms) was stunning. We stopped there for a nice walk, and then headed to another motu for lunch (which was just amazing...fresh caught grilled parrotfish!). As soon as we had some time, I busted out "Droney" as Alex calls it, and went looking for still photos of Honeymoon. This was one of my favorites...the colors of the lagoon are just stunning....and always changing with the tides, the weather, etc. Aitutaki really is a photographers dream!