Day 3 – On the Water with Wilfred!
Before we get into the day, we would be remiss to leave out a key detail of our stay… breakfast at our hotel is endless and delicious. Enough for us to grab start our day full and grab a few snacks for the day, and an incredibly picturesque place to enjoy breakfast and start your day!
Today’s adventure, exploring the lagoon with Miti Tours. Love these experiences when a local shows their passion and pride for their country as we cruise around Moorea. It starts with a pod of dolphins following us on our cruise off the dock. Our Captain, Wilfred, entertains us with music & stories about Moorea’s origins, culture, and traditions.
After leaving Cook’s Bay and learning about Captain Cook’s legacy in Moorea, we were amazed when he pulled out the ukulele and started serenading us on our ride out to the lagoon. Epic!
We arrive at our first stop to simple instructions: don’t put your hands under the stingray, and when the sharks approach, keep your arms close to your body. Needless to say, this.was.awesome!
It’s pretty wild to be that comfortable with black tip sharks swimming around you, but you realize they won’t harm you if you just relax and share the water. This immediately has become a core memory!
After a heart pumping experience, we cruise over to the island to watch Wilfred climb a palm tree in bare feet to cut some palm branches, quite impressive. The palm branches, were quickly whipped into a perfect Tahitian hat by our favorite local, Wilfred.
Our last stop on this half day excursion, the coral gardens. Everywhere we looked there was a new species of fish, a fresh vibrant stack of coral, and another area to explore. It was endless and great to see the coral in this area thriving. It’s no secret that with sea temperatures rising, coral is struggling and coral bleaching is becoming more common. However, in this lagoon, fish and coral are thriving!
Nature spoke for itself, but our local guide made the day even more memorable. Thankful for this experience, and thankful for our first afternoon of relaxing at our hotel.
Dinner and another beautiful sunset, but this time at a pretty cool setting, the Moorea Beach Club. This Veuve inspired and decorated spot should not be missed on a visit to Moorea. Great food, atmosphere, drinks and a great place to relax at the end of the day to enjoy the sunset.
Two quick notes about Moorea:
1. It’s a sleepy island after dark
2. Food & especially drinks = expensive
Before we wrap up this last Moorea post, it’s worth sharing a few pics and some info about our hotel, the Hilton Moorea Lagoon & Spa. We chose to save a few bucks and stay off the water in a room in their ‘garden’ area.
Rooms and grounds are beautiful, but a little dated. Not to sound too picky or fancy, but for the price, it could use a little refresher.
That being said, staff was awesome and friendly, and the coral gardens around the property provided for some incredible snorkeling right from shore!
Before we share about our next stop, enjoy a few drone pics from above Moorea.
We wrap up our too short of a time in Moorea and prep for a ferry ride to a plane flight to Bora Bora in the morning!
Two Wayfaring Wanderers 