Moorea, a heart-shaped island located just over 10 miles northwest of Tahiti, is a true geographical marvel. This volcanic island is the remnant of an ancient, half-eroded volcano, resulting in a rugged and mountainous landscape with jagged peaks reaching up to 3,960 feet. The island's triangular shape is adorned with fertile valleys, numerous streams, and two picturesque bays - Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay - that were once part of the volcano's crater.
With a population of around 18,000, Moorea is the second-most populated island in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. The island's main village is Vaiare, and its economy revolves around agriculture, with vanilla, copra, and coffee being the chief crops . Tourism also plays a significant role, as Moorea has become a favored destination for its natural beauty and proximity to Tahiti .
Moorea's rugged mountains, lush valleys, and crystal-clear lagoons create a picturesque setting that has inspired writers like Herman Melville, whose novel "Omoo" was influenced by the villages on Moorea's eastern coast .
We arrived in Papeete early, around 6:00 AM. Our plans were to use the provided ferry tickets to Moorea. We had breakfast in the World Cafe this morning and after a brief stop by our cabin we proceeded to Deck A to debark. This was around 7:20 and the ferry was scheduled to depart at 8:00.
Our ride was waiting
And so were we...
The ferry was surprisingly empty!
When we arrived, we discovered that the ferry terminal was nowhere near town, or anything else really.
There were lots of taxis waiting. After asking around we found that most of them were waiting for a potential tour fare. We eventually decided to do a tour of the coast and inland to a highpoint observation platform.
This is the Moorea Hilton, These may be had for about $1200/night.
The coast was stunning. Beautiful water and beautiful mountains.
Our driver pointed out this mountain, He said it looked like a woman's face.
After rotating the image, it is easily seen,
Another view of the beautiful bay.
We even saw a couple of rays near the shore
Our driver/guide, Fernando, is a native of the islands. He said he was born on Tahiti but considered Moorea home. He has a large extended family on Moorea which operates a transportation/tourist company, Torea Nui Transports. They provide ATV tours, and lagoon tours as well as the taxi service. We very much enjoyed talking with Fernando. He said his heritage was a mixture of Chinese, Pilipino, and native Polynesia. His English was excellent. He said he learned from former relatives in Hawaii. He no longer considered them family because they converted faith to Mormonism. Fernando himself practiced three religions including Catholic, but he couldn't tolerate Mormonism.
After the coast we turned inland and stopped at a pineapple field. This man was working alone and carrying huge bags of the fruit. Fernando said these would be on the 3:00 ferry back to Tahiti.
Proceeding on up the road, we finally reached our last stop at Belvedere. We were at an altitude of about 2500 feet and had a beautiful view.
We had a very enjoyable day until we asked Fernando to stop at an ATM for Carl & Janet to get some local currency to pay Fernando. The first ATM at a mini-market was quite busy so we proceeded to one of the 3 banks on the island. To make a long story short, the card was confiscated by the machine. After about 20 minutes in the bank, they could not retrieve their card from the bank teller because they required an ID. Carl had his passport and drivers license on his phone, but this was not acceptable. Eventually they just destroyed the card in front of Janet after she insisted that she was not going to leave the card in their procession. This was a totally strange situation...
In summary regarding Moorea, we all agreed that it was the most beautiful of any of the Polynesian Islands we have visited. It really pains me that so many people on our cruise were upset that we were not going to Bora Bora that they changed the port calls. It is strange that you hear so much about Tahiti and Bora Bora, but hardly ever hear anything about Moorea. This island has the best roads, is the most well maintained and has the most beauty of any of the three. Perhaps the people of Moorea get as many tourist as they want. I don't blame them.
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