Moorea, the name means “Yellow Lizard”. The legend of the name is that a large lizard opened the 2 bays with its tail. The island is also known as the sister island to Tahiti as they are only 10 miles apart and both can be seen clearly from the other.
When you arrive in Papeete, it is very easy to transfer to Moorea. You can transfer from the airport to the ferry terminal and take the Aremiti 5 ferry for a 30 minute ride or take a plane. Personally, I like the ferry. It is a beautiful ride and sometimes you can spot dolphins in the pass. The ferry lands at Vaiare where you then transfer to your resort. A quick story about taking the ferry and your luggage. When you check into the ferry, you toss your bags into these metal bins with wheels. The bins are rolled on to the ferry and at the other end, they roll them off and it is a grab and go. It’s like the scene from the most recent “Parent Trap” movie when the kids bags are tossed into a pile, and you try and grab your bag before it gets to the bottom. You need to just go with it, and look at it as an adventure. Your luggage won’t come down a chute and go around until you get it, you have to work for it and laugh along the way.
We had Albert Tours pick us up at the ferry and take us to the resort. Please take advantage of the opportunities you are given with the locals. They are friendly and love sharing their island with you. We chatted with our driver all the way to the resort to get a lay of the island, what there is to do, what we shouldn’t miss, and where to eat like a local.
Moorea, is breathtaking. The island is lush and is home to Cook’s bay and Opunohu bay. A funny story about Cook’s bay, it is not the bay where Cook anchored. He actually anchored in Opunohu, but it already was named by the locals, so they named the other bay after the explorer. The pure white sand beaches are beautiful, the crystal clear turquoise waters are full of tropical fish, and other unusual creatures making snorkeling an adventure.
Their are several resorts on the island and I had the opportunity to see two of them. We stayed at the Intercontinental Moorea, and loved it. The Legends resort is located on a hill across the road from the Intercontinental. The Hilton, is another beautiful property and the Sofitel. There is so much information about them all, it won’t fit in to today’s post, so meet me back here tomorrow to talk about the hotels and what your options are.