The search for heaven on earth is a quest that many travellers undertake.

Until a few weeks ago, however, I didn't realize it was as simple as booking a flight to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

While on a catamaran tour of the lagoon at Aitutaki (the second most visited island in the Cooks), we stopped at a tiny sandbar, which many locals call Heaven.

Gentle ripples of water from the turquoise lagoon lapped at the shore. Powder-soft white sand sparkled under the sun. There seemed no doubt about it - this was definitely one place where Mother Nature got it right.

The sense of solitude and serenity here seemed almost mystical; our catamaran captain had taken the boat to a nearby island called One Foot, leaving us alone on the sandbar in the middle of the lagoon.

If heaven were a place on Earth, this could well be it.

It was so peaceful and perfect that I wished everyone could experience a moment like this, here on Heaven - not all at the same time, of course. The sandbar is less than a hectare in size.

I don't know when we would have felt ready to leave this sandy slice of bliss, but it was hunger that eventually drove us toward One Foot. We simply waded 200 or so metres through waist-deep warm water to reach the uninhabited island, where the boat's crew had a barbecue lunch waiting.

Over the years, the remote One Foot Island has become known for being home to one of the world's smallest post offices. When a captain lands on the island, he will open the post office "hut" to sell postcards to his passengers and give them a unique stamp on their passports.

See the article here:

Finding Heaven on Earth in the Cook Islands