Currency

The Cook Islands use the NZ$, but also have their own coins. You’ll be able to use all NZ coins and notes, but might get Cook Island coins in return that you won’t be able to use or exchange back home (although these make excellent souvenirs of your trip).

You’ll find Cook Island 10, 20, and 50-cent coins, plus interestingly shaped $1, $2 and $5 coins. The $1 coin has ‘pie crust’-type curls around the outside, the $2 coin is a triangle and the $5 coin has 12 flat edges around the outside.

Value-added Tax (VAT)

15% VAT has already been included in the price you see for goods and services – unless stated otherwise.

Costs

The strength of the NZ$ will make perhaps the biggest difference to foreign visitors, but even then the Cook Islands are fairly expensive.

• At the budget end (staying in a hostel, rarely eating out, using the bus and visiting mostly free sights), you might be able to get away with about NZ$70-80/person/day.

• A more average budget for most visitors (staying at standard accommodation, eating out once a day, going to the full range of sights and taking public transport), would be around double that, at NZ$150/person/day.

• Heading upward from there, and NZ$250-300/person/day buys a pretty high-end experience, with smart hotels, meals at the full range of restaurants and a good car rental.

Note that traveling solo will probably raise any of these per-person-costs by at least a third for all except budget travellers.