Making the Most of Our One Night in Moorea

You know how some people make emphatic statements such as: “Don’t go to  destination so and so, unless  you can spend 7 nights there” ? As opposed to what, 6 nights? I can’t imagine that your enjoyment level will be severely compromised if you cut off a day. I say that’s a bunch of nonsense.

If you can only spend a few nights (or even one) at your dream destination, take it! If I listened to all the Tahiti experts who say you should allot this much time, I would skip that destination altogether. And it would be a shame. Obviously, not everyone enjoys a fast paced trip, and some compromises will have to be made. If you have small kids, you’ll have no choice but take it easy.

My husband is the opposite of me. His idea of a vacation is to go somewhere and spend a whole week. Or better yet, stay home and take several naps per day. But even he admitted that he enjoyed our recent two-week  trip (Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia)  immensely. He told me the other day: “You have enriched my life in so many ways. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have experienced the world.” I just about choked on my cheerios.

It would be nice to take months exploring all the incredible places this planet has to offer. But with limited vacation time you have to take what you can get. Some people think I’m nuts for flying to Bora Bora for only two nights and adding Moorea on top of it. But I have no regrets.

A compromise

I decided to skip tours and instead hire a driver for few hours before our flight to the main island of Tahiti. It was scheduled to leave at 3:15 PM, so I figured we would check out at noon and go see some Moorea sights. That would give us a chance to relax at our Hilton resort, go out to dinner and snorkel the following morning. 

My husband hates renting cars in foreign countries, so this wasn’t a viable option. However, finding someone who was willing to drive us for few hours was easier said than done. Moorea is a relatively small island and doesn’t have a lot of tour companies or taxi drivers. In addition, July is a time when many residents in Tahiti go on vacation.

Several people I’ve emailed to pointed me to organized tours that were set to leave at 8:00 AM in the morning. It would be fine by me, but I knew my husband wouldn’t approve. He already put up with so much craziness on this trip, I didn’t think it would be fair. Plus, I really wanted to enjoy our limited time at the resort.

Finally, I got a response from Torea Nui company (email address is enttoreanui@gmail.com) The owner said they would be happy to offer a customized itinerary. The driver would take us to Hilton Moorea resort after our flight from Bora Bora, pick us up at noon the following day, and drop us off at the airport after two hours for $140 total. I’ll take it!

I reconfirmed with them a week before the trip, and they were prompt in their reply. The company has a stand in Moorea airport, and there was a person waiting for us when we landed. So far so good.

Setting off on our two-hour (ish) adventure

After checking out from Hilton at noon (I requested an extra hour), we went to the lobby where the Torea Nui driver was already waiting for us. Her name was Mami and she was one feisty lady (in a good way). She was born and raised in Moorea, so I was happy to chat with the local. She kept ranting about Bora Bora and how Moorea is so much better. That’s debatable, but OK.

She mentioned that Moorea residents depend on tourism and the jobs it creates, and that she hopes that  FrenchBee airline low-cost flights from San Francisco will bring an influx of new visitors. Moorea is definitely more accessible than Bora Bora, and coming here requires only a cheap ferry crossing from the main island of Tahiti.

Mami drove us through some local neighborhoods, while we admired the spectacular scenery all around us. I’ve heard the expression that Moorea is like “Kauai on crack”, whatever that means. I do think the islands are quite similar, with Moorea being more rural and exotic of the two.

Something I really  wanted to do  was go to famous Belvedere lookout, located up a steep narrow road:

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p style=”text-align: center;”>The weather was a bit overcast, but it didn’t rain.  Mami was gracious enough to let us take a picture of her

It was neat to see a local family having a picnic at the summit. They were actually communicating with each other in native Tahitian language rather than French! The mother let me take a photo of the kids. 

Afterwards we stopped at Marae, which used to be a sacred site for ancient Tahitians. The site had several upright stones, which were presumably the forerunners of Easter island statues. 

After touring the Marae site, we went for a drive along the coast, stopping at several spots along the way. 

Paul Gauguin cruise ship in the distance (the fare costs $5k per person for a weeklong voyage)

Here is the photo of  famous Cook’s Bay, one of the most picturesque spots in the South Pacific:

Here is  a Sofitel resort which you can not get on points (I think?):

And of course, chickens. Just like in Kauai, they are everywhere.

Our tour guide asked me if we would like to stop at a pineapple plantation. I said sure, and she pulled up in a… pineapple field:

You really need a 4X4 to explore the interior of the island, so we didn’t actually venture that far. But I was very happy with what we saw. In hindsight, I wish we added a detour in order to take some  pictures of Intercontinental Moorea resort, but oh well. The tour didn’t quite clock in at two hours (more like 1 hour 45 minutes), but I didn’t mind. Mami did a fine job and I gave her a fat tip, plus a bottle of wine I got from Hilton. She was thrilled with both.

We pulled into Moorea airport and found out the flight was delayed by 45 minutes. Once again, I wasn’t too upset because it meant we could relax and drink some cold Hinano beer. Life was/is good.

Entrance to the “terminal”

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