The Shipwrecked 2019 islands: where is Aitutaki and how can you get there?

If, like me, you’re unashamedly and only half-ironically planning to watch every episode of E4’s Shipwrecked – the show where beautiful people battle it out for the prize of more airtime, only this time it’s on a remote island – you’ll have noticed the true star of the show is that stunning backdrop.

Where did they film Shipwrecked 2019?

Incredibly, that bright turquoise water, powdery white sand and untouched wilderness are real. Shipwrecked was filmed in Aitutaki, which is one of the Cook Islands, a group of Polynesian islands in the South Pacific. It’s northeast of New Zealand, between French Polynesia and American Samoa – about the same distance south of the equator as Hawaii is north of it.

Aitutaki itself is made up of a main island and a string of 15 islets, called motu, dotted around the edge of a lagoon. Most are tiny and uninhabited. The two that were home to the Shark and Tiger tribes in Shipwrecked are Moturakau and Ripota, neighbouring islands near the southeast corner of the lagoon.

Flights to the Cook Islands

So, yes, it’s far. But the good news is you can go there – you could even have one of the Shipwrecked islands all to yourself!

First, you’ll need to fly to Rarotonga. Rarotonga is the main island of the Cook Islands, where the international airport is. There are several flights a week from Auckland (with Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia), and weekly direct flights from Sydney and Los Angeles (again with Air New Zealand). There’s also a weekly flight from Tahiti in French Polynesia (with Air Tahiti), and flights from Australia via Auckland with Jetstar.

From London, we flew via LA to Rarotonga, and via Auckland and Singapore on the way back. It took 25-30 hours in each direction, including stopovers, but Air New Zealand was comfortable.

Use Skyscanner to find the best route from your nearest airport, and try different dates to check for more convenient options. The weekly flight from LA is on a Saturday night, so we left London on a Saturday afternoon.

The day tour vs a longer stay

From Rarotonga, there are several daily flights to Aitutaki. Check Air Rarotonga for times and costs – they have a monopoly on the route, and it’s not cheap for such a short flight (£200-£300 return), but it’s worth it. The flight takes 50 minutes.

One of Air Rarotonga’s options is an Aitutaki day tour. This includes a morning flight to Aitutaki, a tour of the island and boat tour of the lagoon – which stops at several of the islets, including Moturakau – and an afternoon flight back to Rarotonga.

I strongly recommend staying longer though. At least three days, but if you’re the kind of person who can happily lie on the beach all day without getting bored, you could probably spend a couple of weeks in Aitutaki.

It’s friendly and safe, and the infrastructure for tourists is excellent. There are no big chain hotels, but several boutique luxury resorts, mid-range bungalows and self-catering holiday homes. There are some great restaurants and low-key bars for afternoon beers. You’ll struggle to find much nightlife, but apparently the locals party at the golf club on Saturday nights.

Getting to the Shipwrecked islands

The best way to get to Moturakau or Ripota from the main island of Aitutaki is to hire a water taxi. It’s effectively a man with a boat, who’ll take you anywhere in the lagoon you want to go, drop you off, and pick you up again at an agreed time. There aren’t many tourists here, so you’ll probably be completely alone – a real castaway experience.

We used Mona’s Water Taxi. Contact them in advance, either by email or in person once you’re there. The boat ride takes around 20 minutes, and costs NZ$50-80 (the Cook Islands use New Zealand dollars), per person, return. They’ll also pick you up and drop you off at your accommodation.

If you want to see more of the lagoon, though, you can also charter a boat. That means you’ll have a boat and guide at your disposal, so you can tick off all the islets or chase the best snorkelling if that’s what you’re into. Mona’s and Bishop’s Cruises are the cheapest we found, charging NZ$350 for half a day and NZ$500 for a full day.

If you don’t want to spend that much, join a group lagoon tour. These follow a set course to a few islets and the best snorkelling spots, usually for NZ$125 per person. There are a few that I know include one of the Shipwrecked islands on their tour: Kia Orana Cruise and the bigger Vaka Cruise stop at Moturakau, and Teking Lagoon Tours passes Ripota.

The other islands

Shipwrecked was actually being filmed while we were in Aitutaki in September 2018, so we weren’t allowed anywhere near Moturakau and Ripota.

Fortunately, there are 13 other stunning islets to choose from. Our favourites:

• One Foot Island (or Tapuaetai) is generally considered the most beautiful, and it really is striking. Most lagoon tours drop you off 15 minutes’ walk away from the island, and you’ll wade through knee-deep, crystal clear water to reach it. The sandbanks here are endlessly Instagrammable. One Foot Island is popular, though, and it’s a lunch stop for some of the tours, so you’re less likely to have it all to yourself.
• Akaiami is where we chose to go with our water taxi. It’s one of the bigger islands, but we had its long beach all to ourselves – and it’s probably the prettiest beach I’ve ever seen.
• Honeymoon and Maina both have a big advantage: no mosquitos. They’re further from the others, in the southwest corner of the lagoon.
• Angarei and Ee are nearest to the main island, so on a calm day you could kayak to them from the east side of Aitutaki. We didn’t, but I heard they’re just as pretty and secluded as the Shipwrecked islands.

Read more about Aitutaki and the Cook Islands