We did the S route, hitting Palmerston, Beveridge reef, Nuie and then on to
Tonga. We loved it and Beveridge and Nuie remain in our top destinations on our (so far) 5 year trip. Palmerston is a weird place (you have to go to know), but completely worth stopping there. We didn't stop at other
Cook Islands because they were
charging ridiculous
fees for entry/ harbor fees- although I think they were working on undoing this, so check to see the
current situation. Palmerston is sort of an entity all its own, and they charge a very reasonable fee. The whales at Nuie were amazing and the
water clarity at Beveridge was the best I've ever seen, approaching close to 100m (it was literally like looking through air).
Other boats we knew did the North route. They seemed to enjoy it and they reported that Suwarrow was amazing. But every
single one of them got beat up by
weather at some point and most sustained some damage. We had nice
weather the whole time, which could have just been luck, but I think staying further south and out of the convergence zone increases your chance of pleasant sailing.