Moorea Island Tour

We rented a car from Avis and went on a tour around the island of Moorea.
You can see the ferry we took over from Papeete, Tahiti. The high speed ferries take about 30 min., and run every hour. We took the Moorea Express, but we couldn't see any difference between the two companies.
From the ferry coming over from Papeete.
Cook's Bay - on the way to the hotel.
Outrigger kayak.
View from our hotel's restaurant.

We stopped for picnic lunch in a public park on the ocean.
Name that church! ianandwendy@ianandwendy.com
Outrigger canoes seen on our drive around the island. Note the ever-present rain clouds.
Opunohu Bay. The 1984 film Bounty was filmed in this bay, which has much less development than other parts of the island.

Mountains in the interior of Moorea
Close to Vaiare, where they are building the new Sofitel Ia Ora
New water bungalows at Sofitel Ia Ora
Mountains on the interior of Moorea
Our Avis rental car which we picked up at Club Bali Hai Moorea
The line of waves is the Moorea reef.

Belvedere Lookout looking towards Opunohu Bay
Belvedere Lookout looking towards Cook's Bay
Us with Opunohu Bay in the background
Finally, sun!
Identify this flower, please. ianandwendy@ianandwendy.com
Mango at the side of the road.
Marae Titiroa. It's the only one we stopped at.
Marae Titiroa
Bromeliads in Moorea growing wild.
On the way back to the boat to get back to Papeete, we were waiting for the public bus. We ended up trying to hitchhike, but finally the bus came.
The ferry ride back to Papeete was very rough. Bring your Dramamine/Gravol!




Pension Motu Iti (Hotel Motu Iti)

We stayed at Pension Motu Iti which is one of the cheap pensions on the island. It was a very nice, clean hotel with a great location next to the Sheraton, but lacked a beach.
The pier and shower.
Hotel Motu Iti.
The view from the restaurant at Hotel Motu Iti, Moorea. It was beautiful eating right on the water, and very peaceful too.
The bathroom in our garden bungalow at Hotel Motu Iti, Moorea was clean, with a nice shower.
The view from the front of Hotel Motu Iti. Unfortunately there wasn't a beach, but you could swim off the pier.
The restaurant at Hotel Motu Iti. It's right over the water.
Kayaks are available free of charge.
View of the garden and beach bungalows at Hotel Motu Iti. You can see a garden bungalow doesn't put you far from the water.
The pier. Bring shoes to wear in the water. There is lots of dead coral.
Sunset over the water bungalows at the Sheraton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa.
Sunset over the Sheraton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa as seen from in front of our hotel, Motu Iti, on Moorea.


Moorea Horseback Riding

We went horseback riding with Ranch Opunohu Valley. It was beautiful and relaxing, even though we have no idea how to ride!
We went horseback riding at Ranch Opunohu Valley. Since Moorea is small, he'll pick you up for free.


Riding through fields of pineapples.



Double rainbows frame Moorea's gorgeous mountains. Our guide was very sweet and excited about taking our photo.
We had a great time, and would recommend it to anyone!

Our guide explained all about the different crops and fruit trees we passed. It wound up being more of a tour than we'd thought! He was also very helpful with riding tips - neither of us had ridden very much before.
We passed a few huge banyan trees.
Sun! At last!

Another double rainbow. The advantage of all that rain!


Whalewatching and Dolphin Watching Cruise

We went on a whalwatching / dolphin watching cruise with Dr. Michael Poole's Whalewatching Tours company.
The first thing we did was to drop our bags and make a mad dash for the Sheraton Pier and Dr. Michael Poole's Dolphin and Whale Watch boat. Luckily he was 10 min. late that morning or we would have missed it!
Dolphins in the foreground and towering mountains in the background. Welcome to Moorea - quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth.
Wow. Cook's Bay Moorea as seen from the water. If nothing else, going out on a dolphin boat will buy you beautiful views.
Dolphins surrounding our boat.
More dolphins.
We took turns going to front of the boat to get a better view.
Spinner dolphins are the only dolphins in the world that do this in the wild.

Finally, some whales.
Humpbacks. Apparently the only kind they see close to shore in Moorea.

Mount Mouaputa is known as the 'pierced mountain' because of the hole on top.
Cook's Bay as seen from the water