But then I started thinking. He has a good point. The tropical island-inspired Catamaran has everything a kid and his family loves. It offers a big, beautiful swimming pool, a sandy beach, spacious rooms and suites, bike rentals, a video arcade, an onsite restaurant, and lots of opportunities to make new friends. 

Our getaway to the Catamaran Resort began recently when we checked into a gorgeous Bayfront Suite overlooking San Diego’s stunning Mission Bay. Spanning 438 sq-ft, the room was highlighted by a large patio that is literally steps from the sandy beach. 

The suite also boasts a big private bedroom, with two queen beds and a large TV; a separate living area with another big TV, a pull-out sofa, a wet bar with a refrigerator, and a dining area. A large, spacious bathroom with a walk-in shower, completes the room’s layout. 

Beyond the suite, the rest of the property is just as impressive. Featuring 310 rooms, the sprawling Polynesian-themed resort is surrounded by palm trees, waterfalls, koi ponds, exotic birds and lush vegetation.

The hotel is located in San Diego’s Pacific Beach community and sits on the shores of Mission Bay, a large, artificial saltwater bay created for recreational activities such as wakeboarding, jet skiing, sailing, camping, cycling, jogging, roller skating, skateboarding, and sunbathing. 

One of my family’s favorite spots at the resort was Mission Bay’s sandy beach, located steps from our patio. Here the kids made sand castles and played in the water, while we relaxed in lawn chairs, soaking rays and admiring the coastline.

The beach was also where we rented a 21-ft Hurricane powerboat and cruised around the bay for a fun-filled hour. We got the boat from Action Sports Rentals (www.actionsportrentals.com/catamaran-resort-hotel-spa/), which has a booth on the dock in front of the Catamaran Resort. 

It was an epic voyage. After learning how to control the vessel and the proper speed for the bay, we cruised into the morning sun. Along the way, we waved to boaters and paddle boarders, sailed beneath an old bridge and past expensive condos and luxury hotels. The boat was easy to maneuver, had lots of seating and shade, and was a perfect family outing for the afternoon. 

After mooring the boat, we went to the resort’s large pool area, where my kids played in the water and made new friends. Secluded behind tall palm trees, the pool is a tropical oasis, with lots of seating, a Jacuzzi, and a bar. Each day, the pool area offers a free kids program for hotel guests. 

Next to the pool is also a video arcade, full of free games for kids and their parents. My son and I had a great time here, shooting basketballs, racing cars and playing foosball. 

From the pool, we walked along a lush, tropical path to Oceana Coastal Kitchen, the resort’s onsite signature restaurant. Boasting beachfront dining, with spectacular views of Mission Bay, Oceana serves creative, coastal California dishes with an eclectic flare. The restaurant, led by Executive Chef Paul Arias, won TripAdvisor’s 2023 Travelers’ Choice “Best of the Best” Restaurants for Everyday Eats, ranking 10^th best in the U.S. 

Our dinner at Oceana began with a delicious bowl of New England style clam chowder, with bacon, red bliss potato, thyme, cream, and steamed little neck clams on top and mixed in. I am a major chowder fan and this bowl had the perfect amount of creaminess, along with clam and potato ratio, making it one of the best I’ve had. 

The restaurant also specializes in sushi and when we sampled the Oceana House Roll, we fell in love. The rolls are exquisitely filled with eel, tempura shrimp, crab, nori, avocado and unagi sauce. This dish is a work of culinary art. 

We completed our dinner at Oceana with a succulent grilled prime hanger steak with smoked potato puree, watercress, cippolini and macadamia chimichurri; and  a tasty Hawaiian style pad thai with stir fried vegetables, tofu, pineapple, chili, macadamia nuts, cilantro and soy. 

After dinner we strolled along the beach and watched the sun fall into Mission Bay. 

The next morning we had potatoes and eggs, and a plate of Chilaquiles for breakfast at Oceana, and then rented a surrey bike from Action Sports Rentals. We then pedaled around the bay. Along the way we saw sailboarders fling over waves, and then stopped at a park for the kids to play. 

Back at the resort we watched a demonstration featuring the hotel’s exotic parrots,  

including vibrant macaws, beautiful cockatoos, and a lilac-crowned amazon. Some of the birds talk and can say things like “hi,” “hello” and “goodbye.” The parrots are available to view outside daily, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. pacific time, depending on the weather.

We concluded the day at the resort’s Sunset Luau. Held on the shores of Mission Bay, the luaus are a festive celebration of Polynesian food, music, and dances perfect for family and friends. The party begins with a lei with real flowers and a delicious Mai Tai. This was followed by an all-you-can-eat buffet with Hawaiian-inspired rice and salads and various succulent meats, including pork, chicken and fish. 

Local luau group Pride of Polynesia provided authentic island music and dance, featuring hula and fiery torch dancers. Kids also got a chance to hula dance and participate in activities at the Kids Corner, where they made flowered leis, festive crafts, colored and played with stick-on tattoos.

Catamaran Resort and Spa is located at 3999 Mission Boulevard, San Diego Ca 92109. For more information and reservations call 858. 488-1081 or visit: www.catamaranresort.com

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RARATONGA, Cook Islands – It was a quiet afternoon on Raratonga, in the Cook Islands, when Lydia Nga heard the news. With the stroke of a pen, her homeland, 15 scattered islets west of Tahiti, a country smaller than Detroit, had grown exponentially, reborn as a 690,000 square-mile nation.
But it wasn’t the islands that grew. In 1982, the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ruled that coastal nations had jurisdiction over their own “exclusive economic zone,” defined as 200 miles of the ocean floor, measured from the shore. Most nations welcomed the ruling. For a group of tiny islets like the Cooks, population 17,600, it was a passport to the future.

Fast forward to my second visit to Rarotonga, lured by memories of blue lagoons, warm breezes and fewer annual tourists than DisneyWorld sees in a holiday weekend.

“How’s the economy doing?” asked my editor at the newspaper. “Has big money spoiled Rarotonga’s Polynesian charms? The last time we looked the Cooks were like Hawaii in the 1960s, 50 years behind everybody else.”

I wondered myself. And as the overnight flight from Los Angeles descended above a group of low, volcanic peaks, the lagoon and its sandy shoreline, framed by rows of palms and scattered houses, came into view. Adjusting to a new time zone, I figured I’d start the day on the beach with a stroll and a swim. But Nga, head of the tourist office, better known as Auntie Lydia, greeted me with a resounding “welcome” and a request.

“I hope you can stop at the Marae Moana office to meet our ocean specialist,” she said. “He’s the one who can explain what the Marine Park conservation project is all about.” Greeting us at the door, the speaker, a tall man in shorts, waved us toward a couple of empty seats behind a dozen high school kids then turned back to the chart on the screen up front.

“Marae Moana means ocean domaine,” he said. “It’s a mind-set, an idea, a shift in the way we see ourselves,” he added, clicking through a series of charts listing each of the Cook’s 15 islands and regulations including fishing areas, no-fish areas and sea-bed limits. “We’re may be from different islands, but we’re one marine nation,” he said. “As conservators of 690,000 square miles of ocean floor, including known and untapped resources, we need to know that the government will be conducting a detailed survey of it all.”

Slipping out, I headed to the nearest ocean-side café for a grilled fish sandwich, and sharing a table, I made two new friends. Friendly and curious, they explained that the Cooks have a historic connection with New Zealand, and many have families there. Yearly visits are the norm and most college-bound students choose a school in New Zealand or Australia.

Later, at dinner at the Moorings Café, I learned that New Zealand’s Maoris originally came from Rarotonga. Falling out with a rival clan, they loaded their families onto canoes – ocean-going “vakas” – and headed west, eventually settling New Zealand. Meanwhile, curious about the menu, I learned that the sea slugs listed under “Seafood,” squishy marine dwellers commonly found in shallow water, are not only a favorite snack but are often eaten raw.

At Charlie’s Café, I found myself sitting with a group speaking a mix of English (for my benefit) and Maori, one of the few Polynesian languages still in common use. A required subject in school, they told me, it lives on in the Cook Islands despite colonial rule, foreign tourists and cell phones.

The next day and ready to explore, I rented a bicycle for a jaunt on the famous “outer-circle” road, 20 miles around and “a good way to get your bearings,” according to my guidebook. I could have hurried – the road is paved – but it was more fun to stop at viewpoints, wander through craft shops and wave at passing motorcyclists. Teens, moms, grandpas, men with fishing rods, everybody was riding a motorcycle.

The tour was so rewarding that I signed up for another bike tour, this one on the “inner-circle” road, the “Ara Metua,” an ancient road said to be 1,000 years old. Guides Dave and Tami Furnell, the owners of Storytellers Eco-Cycle Tours, led the group on a sometimes-paved, mostly grassy, occasionally gravelly road encircling the base of the mountains.

Staying inland and taking frequent detours between forests and farm fields, I discovered why the food in Raratonga’s restaurants is so fresh. It’s because it’s grown locally. Rows of taro (the edible leaf variety) grew next to salad greens, tomatoes, pumpkins, red peppers, onions, pineapples and passion fruit. Blocks of orchards produced limes, oranges, papaya, mangoes and star fruit. Stopping at the noni orchard, Tami stopped to explain that the noni, reputed to be a health tonic, is one of the few fruits grown for export. Picking a ripe one, mushy, smelly and dripping juice, she held it out. “Go ahead, try it,” she said, laughing. “They’re a popular mosquito repellent.” Pulling it into pieces and handing chunks around – to a chorus of laughs and “yuck, icky, sticky” – she dared us to smear a little on.

Since no Cook Island is complete without a visit to the neighboring island Aitutaki (eye-too-TOC-kee), famed for its enormous lagoon, I grabbed a seat on the next flight, took a bus to the lagoon and checked into an over-water bungalow at the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort. Popular with families, children, girlfriends and newly-weds, the bungalows include kitchenettes and sleep up to six people. Walking paths circle the property and the restaurant serves three meals a day. With a deck and a ladder five feet away, outside my door, I had to get into the water and float around.

Since the only way to explore the Lagoon is by boat, the resort concierge suggested a cruise with Tere (pronounced Terry), an enterprising islander and owner of Te King Lagoon Cruises, one of several local outfits. Packing ten of us (from the U.S., Italy and Australia) into his boat, he circled the lagoon, speeding through deep water and rounding the motus (coral islets) on the rim. Reaching shallower water, we slowed down to drift-speed for a closer look at the spectacular coral gardens, reef fish, and all of a sudden, a couple of massive four-footers, big fish cruising among the smaller ones.

Circling again, heading for lunch at One Foot Island, we climbed out on an enormous sand bar for the trek to shore. Greeted by the smell of grilled chicken, we found the lunch crew working in the shade, flipping wings and breasts and laying out plates of fresh fruit, green salads, potatoes, bread and chips. I discovered why we’d been told to bring our passports. Those who did – including me – came away with One Foot’s  famous “been there, loved it” stamp.

Speeding back to the pier, leaving a wake behind, I found myself marveling at every other South Pacific lagoon, each a unique biome inside Pacific lagoons, ecological wonders inside a coral reef. Protected from the wind and tides but continually refreshed by water spilling over the edge, lagoons are worlds unto themselves, populated by birds, fish, crabs, clams, mollusks, coral and insects. And people.

On my last evening, I was invited to dinner at Plantation House, a colonial home and the property of Louis Enoka, a former restaurant owner and international businessman. The dinner, with Chef Minar Henderson cooking, is held just once a month and seats 20 to 26 diners guests at a single table. Equally important is the pre-dinner cocktail hour, a rare opportunity for diners to wear a gown or put on a tie, introduce themselves and socialize. And it gives Henderson a chance to finish dozens of different dishes at the same time: A remarkable feast, with heaping platters of chicken, fish, pork and pasta, and plates piled with fruit, island-grown vegetables and spices. But the event has a larger purpose. It’s an opportunity for those with a world view people, whether islanders or visitors, to share their views on politics, international business, technology and science, and ancient cultures.

Filling my plate and heading to a designated chair, I was amazed to find the former Prime Minister, Henry Pun, sitting next to me. After studying law in New Zealand and Australia, he said, he turned to politics. But with dinner in front of us, serious conversation gave way to the meal, and comparing the prawns with lemongrass to the coconut-flavored rice and the spiced pork and couscous with kaffir lime. Eventually the conversation turned to pearl farming near on Manihiki (his birthplace) and the current underwater search for rare-earth minerals.

Commenting on the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (which former President Trump dropped and which President George W. Biden has now rejoined), Puna reminisced about hosting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom he described as delightful, intelligent and well informed. But it was the pan-seared mahi mahi with ginger and garlic that finally turned the conversation to global warming and the ocean.

“That former president, Trump, he doesn’t believe in clean energy,” he said, noting that melting ice means rising sea levels, threatening Aitutaki and the Cook Islands’ other atolls. “And yes, we’re worried,” he said, “but we’re doing our part. Right now 50 percent of these islands’ electric power comes from solar installations. In another four years our islands will be 100 percent solar.” Well, I said to myself, if only the rest of the world could say that.

THE NITTY GRITTY:

COOK ISLANDS TOURISM: Hotels and resorts are listed at www.cookislands.travels.

WEATHER: June through September is warm and dry. December through March, the rainy season, is hotter and more humid. Shoulder months – April, May October and November – are variable.

GETTING AROUND: You may not need to rent a car. Most activities, cafes and beaches can be reached by cab or bicycle. For tours or expeditions see outfitters like Tik e-tours (www.tik-etours.com) and Storytellers Eco Cycle Tours www.storytellers.co.ck.

FLIGHTS: Limited flights may make it hard to choose a date. At the present, Air New Zealand operates the only non-stop flight from the U.S. to Rarotonga, a nine-to-ten-hour flight. Choose economy, premium business, and beds. Rates are geared to New Zealand’s holiday seasons.

For more, follow veteran traveler Anne Cooke on Facebook at “Anne Z. Cooke” and on Twitter at @anneontheroad.

The post When the Cook Islands Grew: Coming of Age in the 21st Century appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Hamana Kalili was there to greet me, his right hand extended in the gentle shaka wave of welcome. His statue stands at the entrance of the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North Shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. A descendant of Hawaiian ali’i (chiefs), Kalili (1882-1958) lost the middle, index and ring fingers of his right hand in an accident at a sugar mill. Reassigned to oversee train safety, he would wave his right hand with the middle three fingers missing, indicating to the train conductor that all is clear and the train is ready to go. For this, Kalili is considered the originator of the iconic shaka. Hawaiian children and surfers would emulate the shaka, and soon the whole world seemed to be doing it. His statue was not there on my last visit to the PCC, and I was excited to see more of the other enthralling changes at the Center.

Back Story — Polynesia and the Polynesian Cultural Center

Polynesia (many islands) covers a triangular-shaped geographical area of the Pacific Ocean, known as the Polynesian Triangle, which consists of Aotearoa (New Zealand), Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Hawaii, with the islands of the Marquesas, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and Fiji in between. All of the island cultures share similar traditions, arts and religion. In the mid-1800s, the village of Laie on the North Shore of Oahu became a place of refuge for villagers who had broken the laws of the king of Hawaii. The lifeblood of the community was the Hukilau, a form of net fishing invented by the ancient Hawaiians. This evolved into a festival, open to everyone. In 1865, the Church of Latter Day Saints purchased the land, making it a “gathering place” for all. As settlers from other Polynesian islands arrived, a church and relief society was created, where inhabitants grew food and made handicrafts. In 1963 the Church of LDS and the adjacent Brigham Young University-Hawaii established the 42-acre Polynesian Cultural Center to keep alive the rich history and traditions of the indigenous island cultures of Polynesia. The Center also helps defray educational expenses by providing work experience for BYU-Hawaii students who are employed as tour guides and docents.

What’s New at the Polynesian Cultural Center

After I returned Kalili’s shaka wave, I decided to wander around the entrance’s new 119,000-square-foot Hukilau Marketplace that features restaurants, food tucks, bakeries, and venues that offer Polynesian arts and crafts – many of which almost doubling as mini museums. Sticking to the theme of a “gathering place,” I was impressed that it was not at all touristic, and that prices are kept low so that it can be enjoyed by locals as well.

I soon passed though the entrance gate which depicts a carved presentation of Kupe, who Maori oral history christened the name Aotearoa, or what Europeans later renamed New Zealand. A few yards further there was another statue; this one a life-size bronze statue of Laie’s Joseph Kekuku, inventor of the Hawaiian steel guitar. His mission was to share the steel guitar’s distinctive sound around globe. As history goes, once while practicing on the mainland, a nail fell onto his electric guitar and the sound was born.

First stop was the Samoan Village whose activity consisted of our group participating in making lunch for the day. The most popular event at the Center, we learned how to create fire by rubbing two sticks together, peeling unripe bananas, and wrapping taro roots and kalua pig (soaked in coconut milk) in leaves. We then made our own plates by braiding coconut leaves together. The Samoans refer to the coconut tree as the tree of life. The food items are placed on top of hot rocks (they do not bury the ingredients as in the imu-style) then cover them with coconut leaves. It was great fun, but it was painfully obvious that I would never make it as a cast member on Survivor. After we returned from touring another village our lunch was ready.

The drums were pounding at the Aotearoa Village and so was my heart. Two tattooed Maori warriors worked in unison as they commenced in the pulsating beat of the Haka war dance. The tattooed men were powerful; not tall, but compactly built and intimidating. If I were a NFL quarterback I would want them on my offensive line. Members of the crowd were asked to join them on the stage. Later we learned the symbolism of their intricately carved meeting house and unique facial tattoos. We soon tested our dexterity by twirling balls and playing tititorea, a Maori stick game designed to develop hand-eye coordination.

Our schedule was tight, but somehow I manage to get a quick overview of other villages that included the islands of Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii, and Fiji (though technically part of Melanesia, Fiji is included due to a strong Polynesian influence).

A must-see event is the Rainbows of Paradise canoe pageant, where traditionally clad Polynesians float down the Center’s tropical lagoon atop double-hulled canoes, showcasing traditional dances and music. Later our group paddled around the lagoon in our own native-style outrigger canoes.

Our evening was spent enjoying the Center’s arena-size luau. Despite its massive scope, the food was fresh and delectable, and featured Kalua Pig (cooked whole in an ‘imU’ underground oven), Mahi Mahi, Lomi Lomi Salmon (cold diced salmon, tomatoes and onion), sweet potatoes, Poke (generally fresh cubes of ahi/tuna), Taro Dinner Rolls, Hapuia (a coconut flavored desert) and, of course, Poi (a thick, purple-colored paste made by pounding taro roots, now used more to absorb the saltiness in some dishes as opposed to a staple).

The luau was followed by Oahu’s largest evening show spectacle — Ha: Breath of Life — which covers the entire circle of life of a Polynesian family.

Once again I was reminded why the Polynesian Cultural Center is the number-one paid attraction in Oahu. It’s a family-friendly venue, with an opportunity to teach children (and adults) about geography, culture, ethnic diversity and tolerance. My heart began to pound again as I thought about my next trip to the PCC; where I’ll have an opportunity to enjoy more time to experience the other remarkable, culturally vibrant transitions at the villages.

Where to Stay

For many, the iconic Turtle Bay Hotel is the North Shore of Oahu. Nestled on 880 ocean-front acres, the 5 star, full-service luxury property offers spacious rooms with views, balconies and beaches on both sides. Guests enjoy kayaking amongst sea turtles, keiki water adventures (surfing, canoe surfing, etc), snorkeling, hiking trails as well as large kid friendly pool area.

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