Week 564 · Moorea, French Polynesia
Moorea is the adjacent island to Tahiti — a 45-minute ferry. As you approach, the clear difference from Tahiti is immediately visible: the reef, white sand, and blue water.
The websites were confusing — after the travel debacle getting there, we became a little more aggressive and just got in a ferry line with the car, not knowing if it was the correct ferry and without a ticket. The girls ran up and bought a ticket and we were in the right line. We had booked a snorkel trip with humpback whales, but the tour was cancelled right as we were leaving the condo — the whales had migrated past a month earlier and the tour should probably have been pulled from Viator.
We just started driving and following YouTuber tips with a snorkel map. We first found the Moorea Beach Café for breakfast — great location on the reef. We met the Brazilian woman who owned the place with her French husband. After 12 years of "island time" they were looking to speed up the pace and move to New York City. I was thinking they could work their way up gradually on the pace of life — but she said Manhattan is where they want to be.
We moved up the coast and kept turning down beach access roads that ended in dead ends. We found a tour guide whose tour had already left, but he directed us back a mile to the "do not enter" sign and said there was a hotel that allows beach access and has water sport rentals. We figured out the "do not enter" meant park across the street. We decided on "Locaboats" — small boats we piloted ourselves — and rented snorkel gear. They gave a lot of instructions, let us take a picture of a map, and said "don't feed the sharks."
We started in the area where stingrays and sharks are seen. Annelise jumped in first and — because the water is not as clear as you would think — we immediately saw a 6–8 foot shark. The black tip fin sharks are supposedly vegetarian and pretty much ignore you. The only incidents are people bitten while feeding by hand — not the sharks' fault. We all got in. Alex was chasing them and Annelise saw them constantly just standing in the water. Saw stingrays too.
"Don't feed the sharks." Annelise jumped in first and we immediately saw a 6–8 foot shark.
We finished with a drive around the island — pretty laid back — and headed back to the ferry. I would recommend spending more time in Moorea than Tahiti if you are seeking water-related activities. There are many places to stay.
