Do you want to visit another one of the beautiful islands in French Polynesia? Moorea is the perfect place to go when hopping from island to island. It is only a 15 minute plane ride from Tahiti- the shortest flight from destination to destination in the world – which made it the next best island to travel to for our trip. Moorea is known for it’s volcanic mountains and sandy beaches as well as swimming with sharks.
Where We Stayed:
We loved staying at the InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa for 5 nights. The resort setting was breathtaking; nestled between the mountains, surrounded by coral protected waters. Here we stayed in the Garden Bungalow with a private plunge pool. The bungalow was spacious and it was the perfect home base for us after a full day relaxing or exploring the island. The plunge pool had a good size deck around it with chairs to lounge on. The garden feel was the perfect touch to this bungalow and added privacy from neighboring bungalows. The resort was within walking distance (about 10 minutes) to a grocery store, Magasin Tiahura, where we were able to stock up on some essentials.
Adventure:
Swimming & Snorkeling with Sharks
Our resort offered water sport accessories and we utilized the kayaks to explore the island. The staff at the kiosk were helpful and guided us to an area where you can kayak to see sharks and stingrays – about a 15 minute kayak trip. This was an exhilarating experience because neither one of us have ever been this close to a shark. Quickly, we learned that the sharks in Moorea are harmless and that this is a “must do” activity.
Little did we know, our tour the next day, A Moana Lagoon Excursion, which consisted of snorkeling with sharks and stingrays, would be bringing us to the same location! Luckily, we held off on swimming with the marine life until the tour. We started off the tour visiting Cook’s Bay where we were able to see the mountains from the waterside. After that, we arrived at Opunohu Bay where we went swimming with sharks and stingrays. This was such a cool experience – how often will you get to jump in the water with sharks and stingrays surrounding you? In addition to the snorkeling, we also had a fantastic meal on a private island where we were served a full Polynesian BBQ lunch and taught how to make Poisson Cru, similar to Ceviche. After lunch, we were free to snorkel and swim around the water near the private island before the end of the excursion. This excursion was a highlight of our trip!
Scuba Diving
Miro loves to go scuba diving and couldn’t give up the chance to explore underwater with Moorea Fun Dive. The diving company picked him up at the hotel upon request. There was a total of 8-10 divers on the 4 hour excursion. They dove at two sites. The first dive was Tiki, outside the coral protected waters where two ocean currents meet. The location was highlighted on this dive because sharks linger in the area to feed on fish brought in from the current. The second dive was Tao Toi which featured more elaborate coral formations and dozens of bright, colorful fish. The current was considerably stronger, so it made traversing the underwater scenery a bit more challenging. The dive masters were keen on pointing out the hidden critters in the coral, which made for an educational and rewarding experience.
Culture & Food:
InterContinental Moorea
We enjoyed the food that we ate at the resort, although it was a bit on the pricey side. Our favorite restaurant that we went to on the InterContinental Moorea property was The Shell Restaurant which was a fine dining experience. We made reservations after hearing about the experiences that other guests had shortly after we checked in.
We loved spending an evening at the InterContinental Moorea Polynesian theme night embracing in the culture and tasting traditional Polynesian dishes. The buffet was plentiful and the songs and dances were entertaining. This was a great way to stay at our resort for the evening, while still experiencing all that Moorea has to offer.
Nearby Restaurants
There were several restaurants that we went to outside of the resort that we would highly recommend. It is important to make reservations for these restaurants in advance as they are popular and book up quickly.
Moorea Beach Cafe is the perfect spot for a relaxing date night. The restaurant provided a shuttle to pick us up from our resort and brought us back at the end of the night which was quite convenient. The location is perfect, right on the water, with outdoor seating. We enjoyed timing our dinner around the sunset and had beautiful views our entire meal. The food was delicious as well!
Le Lezard (The Yellow Lizard) is another place where we had great service, refreshing cocktails and a delicious dinner. We loved the concept of this place as many entrees are served on skewers- from fish to beef. The presentation was clever and the food was top notch! We ended with Tahitian vanilla ice cream which was the perfect dessert after a filling meal.
Coco D’isle was our final meal in Moorea. From the outside, this restaurant doesn’t look as nice as it does inside. We were pleasantly surprised once we entered and enjoyed the ambiance because the floor is sand which we thought was unique. There was a wide variety of food to choose from including fish and meat to homemade pizzas. The prices here were affordable which made the restaurant even more appealing. This was a nice way to end our time in Moorea!
Moorea did not disappoint us and we miss seeing this beautiful sunset! Read about our final island that we explored in French Polynesia, Bora Bora.
