Filming has recently taken place in the Cook Islands for the popular Channel 4 reality show Shipwrecked, which will return to E4 in early 2019.
The show was filmed on the motus (small islets) of Aitutaki, which is located 220km, or a 45minute flight from Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands and in the heart of the Pacific, half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.
From the UK, the Cook Islands can be easily accessed via Air New Zealand's direct flight from Los Angeles. Alternatively, Rarotonga is under four hours flight time from Auckland, New Zealand, and six hours from Sydney, Australia.
First aired in 2000, Shipwrecked was the forerunner for reality shows. The Sunday morning ritual of watching the disagreements, challenges and burgeoning relationships between young, tanned castaways can be remembered by many. The new series will bring back the two rival islands, the Shark Island and Tiger Island, with teams battling it out to win over new arrivals.
Neale Simpson, Shipwrecked Executive Producer, comments: “The Cook Islands is the ideal setting for our paradise island adventure. The incredible islands became home to a richly diverse and remarkable group of characters which were the new generation of Sharks and Tigers. The stunning island backdrops are the perfect place to play out the hedonism, heroism and hilarity that the UK public will be able to enjoy once the show airs.”
The Cook Islands was chosen as the location for the series, not because its home to any real sharks or tigers, but due to its spectacular beauty. The palm fringed, white sand beaches, with turquoise blue waters are as near to paradise as you can get, and the most picturesque, Instagram ready, place you can hope to be Shipwrecked.
Halatoa Fua, Cook Islands Tourism Corporation's Chief Executive Officer said. “We were excited to welcome back Shipwrecked to Aitutaki, Cook Islands as the most beautiful lagoon in the world. Shipwrecked has a long history with the Cook Islands and the support from the people of Aitutaki has been tremendous.”
The motus used for filming Shipwrecked can be visited on day trips from Aitutaki, where you can snorkel the clear waters and experience the beauty below the water, relax on the fine sand beach or explore the interior, which is home to a variety of wild animals, birds and spectacular flora and fauna.
The Cook Islands receives around 1,800 visitors from the UK each year, who come to enjoy the authentic Polynesian culture, warm hospitality of the locals, year-round tropical climate, stunning beaches and breathtaking jungle-clad interiors. With no big chain restaurants or hotels and a local law stating that no building be taller than a coconut tree, it is often said to be how Hawaii was 50 years ago.
The locations are so picture perfect, they were also chosen for the thirteenth series of the American show Survivor, which was aired on CBS network in 2006.
The new series of Shipwrecked is sure to raise the profile of the Cook Islands in the UK and hopefully will inspire more Brits to make their own Shipwrecked experience in this slice of paradise in the South Pacific.
