Moorea

Bienvenue a Mo’orea!

We’re up before sunrise to navigate thru Tiputa Pass to leave the Tuamotus at sunrise. We are heading to the magical island of Moorea and Susie gets to go on her first-ever overnight sail. As usual the waters in the pass are “angry” but overall the conditions are good. We all got a good night’s sleep between our watches and we arrive to Moorea noonish the next day.

Tahiti’s “little sister,” Moorea is about 10 miles from Tahiti - just a

quick 30 minute ferry or 10 minute plane ride away - an easy tourist destination. With a population about the size of Beaver Dam, Moorea is more developed than other islands we have visited recently yet it is still low-key, offering visitors a good variety of local guesthouses and swanky resorts. Known for its jagged volcanic mountains and sandy beaches, there are 2 bays on the north shore: Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay – where we anchor overlooked by Mount Rotui and surrounded by shallow water with coral reef and amazing snorkeling.

Mana takes us on a half-day tour of this magnificent island. He first takes us up one of the many mountains to Belvedere Lookout with a magnificent view of both bays, mountains, valleys and fields. This is quite a productive agricultural island with pineapple, banana and vanilla plantations. Some small family farms continue to produce copra in the traditional way. Breadfruit, yams, taro, sweet potatoes,

bananas, coconuts, almonds and other tropical and subtropical fruits are grown for home consumption and hotel kitchens. We are treated to a fresh "marshmallow" - another of natrue's perfect snacks. Fishing continues to play an important, though declining, role in the island's economy. Finally, we visit the Manutea Tahiti-Rotui juice and rum factory. Manuia! Of course, we couldn’t leave without tasting and buying some delicious local products!

After a few days at Opunohu Bay we move over to Cook’s Bay, aka Pao Pao, also surrounded by reef and incredible snorkeling right off the back of Nutmeg. On one easy snorkel we saw the trifecta of a large 6’ shark casually swimming along the reef, an elegant eagle ray “flying” gracefully through the water and a gigantic eel (largest we have ever seen!) hiding tucked into a large coral head, along with so many other lagoon fish and corals. Happy as a kid in a candy store.

Both bays are busy with Polynesian tour boats, jet-skis for the tourists, ferrys to bring them here plus many locals fishing for their dinner or paddling their outrigger canoes, practicing for inter-island competitions. I wish this was my backyard with over 500 species of coral fish to visit at my whim plus inland hiking trails winding through rainforests on the mountain slopes and valleys. Loving the relaxed vibe and welcoming spirit of all these islands!

XO XO
Gma & Gpa