Ultimate tropical vacation guide to Moorea Island in French Polynesia. From snorkeling at resort hotels to swimming with whales and sharks. This has to be one of the dreamiest places on Earth.
Moorea Island is the little island 15 kilometers or so from Tahiti and part of the nation of French Polynesia. When we were booking lodging on Moorea, we were concerned that if we didn’t stay at the pricey resorts right on the lagoon, we wouldn’t have access to all the coral wonders. Now that we've been here, we know that's not the case. There are numerous Air BnBs, hotels and cottages priced significantly cheaper than the resort and because of the many public beaches, a budget trip is in the cards.
HILTON MOOREA RESORT
At the Hilton Moorea resort you can stay in a dreamy bungalow right over the lagoon
for around $1200 a night. Or you can do like us and get the room right by a parking lot
for 450 bucks. Snorkeling right off the resort shore, we saw sharks, butterfly fish, batfish, boxfish and Moray eels. Plus tons of chromis, humbugs and wrasses... The works!
The highlight at the Hilton though is the crepery over the water where guests devour
an assortment of delicious crepes while sharks make the rounds below. In our opinion, Sofitel Kia Ora Resort was much nicer and almost half the price. We go into that in the other video.
FARE CLUB HOLIDAY COTTAGE
To avoid filing chapter 11, we relocated to something a little more reasonable. Close to the beach and super relaxed bohemian vibe, the Fare Club Holiday Cottage was $140 a night. Our modest room came with a complimentary mosquito net and pit bull. Complimentary breakfast, of bread, jams, cereal and coffee is served in the local charm.
SWIMMING WITH SHARKS AND RAYS
Boating with a small group to a sandy island beach, we observed several breaching humpback whales. Along the way, our tour guide collecting random floating coconuts that would end up in our lunch. The boat ride was beautiful! On a white sandy shore we got to swim among peaceful rays and black tip reef sharks. On the nearby reef, we saw sunset wrasses, pinktail triggerfish, lagoon triggerfish, sailfin tangs, bristletooths, das’cyllus and raccoon butterfly fish to name a few.
GOLD DUST DAY GECKOS (Phelsuma laticauda)
Moorea translates to "yellow lizard." The island was named after a yellowish nocturnal gecko that is common sticking to to walls and structure ridding the place of what bugs they can snag. A more recent colonizer to the island is the gold dust day gecko. These are originally from Madagascar but might have made their way to Moorea via Hawaii first. Day geckos have smaller eyes than their nocturnal cousins and like us have to turn their heads and look over their shoulders to make sure you’re not up to any mischief. This gives them the cutest little personality and a good bet why the video game Gex and GEICO insurance chose this species over their more mysterious seeming nocturnal cousins.
MOUNTAIN TOURS
To explore the majestic mountains of Moorea, there are ATV tours that caravan you to scenic overlooks, or you can rent a more quiet car like we did and go at your own pace. The iconic mountain with the hole through it is Mou'a Puta which means “pierced mountain” in Tahitian...
Something different in Spanish. For the hardcore climbers and hikers, there is a steep trail
up to the ridge. Beware of changing weather conditions! For the more hobbyist hikers like us, we recommend the 45 minute to 1 hour hike to the top of Magic Mountain. We paid a couple dollars to park at a little shop that sold snacks and nit knacks and hiked to the gorgeous overlook. If there’s a point on the globe that’s the farthest from noisy industrialization and air pollution, this might be it... At least until the ATV tours arrive.
MUSIC CREDITS
Solo Ukulele by Spencer Schyma
"La Male'diction de la Danse du Poulet" - by Pecos Hank
"PillBox" - by Southern Backtones
"How Did You Get To Be So Mean" - by Pecos Hank
Tahitian music recored live at Tiki Village