Water activity, Moorea

This tour allowed us to walk on the bottom of the lagoon and view fish and coral right up close. As we descended down a ladder from the boat, a helmet was placed on our shoulders. It provided oxygen and a 180o view. The water was crystal clear. A certified diving instructor was with us the entire time. The water was about nine feet deep but we felt no discomfort from the pressure. Our whole adventure was vidioed and available for purchase. We enjoyed it immensely as you could never see all of these fish while snorkeling.

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This is a Motu specially built up for snorkeling. Its has changing rooms, drinks and shower on the island. In the water the paths are laid out with rope guides to help prevent you drifting out with the current.

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This was easily the most enjoyable day spent on Moorea. Our tour guide was Ziggy,a native with dreadlocks and the ability to speak fluently in at least five different languages (we heard English, Tahitian, French, Japanese and Spanish on our trip). Another crewman, Henry, recorded our experience on DVD which was then available to purchase at the end of the trip. Our excursion included a tour around Cook's Bay and Oponohu Bay.

Our first stop was in an area of ocean about ten to twenty feet deep. Ziggy tied a rope to an anchor, and then everyone got off the boat and held onto the rope as the rest of the crew fed the black tipped reef sharks swimming in the area. Amazing!

Next we stopped in a shallow area to feed sting rays. Ziggy lets tourists feed the rays, or he holds fish in front of you to encourage the sting ray to swim up on you. The rays are very friendly and extremely soft. They are quite docile creatures. In light of the unfortunate death of Steve Irwin shortly before our trip, some people were quite afraid to get in the water, but we had no injuries or problems of any kind.

Our last stop was a Motu for a picnic lunch, coconut demonstration and snorkeling. Ziggy demonstrated how to make fresh Poison Cru, a traditional Tahitian meal, and they cooked chicken on a grill. There was a fresh lettuce based salad with tuna in it, and lots of fresh pineapple. We had Hinano Tahiti beer, rum punch, fruit punch and bottled water to drink. The Poison Cru was the BEST I sampled anywhere on the island.

Ziggy taught us how to pick a good coconut, peel the outside off and crack it open. We were then given some time to snorkel the area. There were a lot of fish and coral in the area which made the snorkeling superb. Masks and snorkels were provided by Albert's, but they were not in very good condition.

Ziggy and his group dropped off guests at their hotel's docks. All in all it was a fantastic trip, definitely educational, and VERY fun. I highly recommend it.

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The big resorts have free use of their non-powered water equipment, so you can spend all day with a canoe or outrigger just paddling around the lagoon.
It's protected by the outer reef which runs around the island, inside the reef is a shallow lagoon, plenty of coral and fish and tiny mutus, uninhabited islands. You can take some food & drinks with you and simply paddle to your own deserted little island for a picnic.

Mark and I looked at the activity list in our hotel and the circle island tour sounded great... and it was! We were picked up at the pier at our hotel and joined a few other people on a small boat that toured us around the whole island and then took us to a little island motu that wasn't too crowded.

Here, we could go swimming and snorkeling in the clear, blue water... and there were manta rays that our guide brought up for us to pet (see picture).

The trip also included a lunch that was very tasty! The guide showed us how to make poisson cru and it was so fresh and yummy! I had no idea how the acid in lime juice could cook the fish! There was a variety of other foods that were all good and there was plenty of it!

Then we had awhile to just swim and lounge and relax on the island and in the water! I definitely recommend a circle island tour on Moorea!

There are two common ways to see Moorea, the first is by land, the second is by sea. Since we were here for multiple nights, Sarah and I decided to try both. Early in the morning we were picked up on the dock of our hotel for a wonderful little trip around the island. Sarah and I had the opportunity to see the entire island on a parasailing boat, which was also loaded with other passengers from nearby Club Med. There were some beautiful picture opportunities on this boat, including seeing some overwater bungalows, like the ones we were staying in, the private motus (small islands) and of course plenty of sea life. We also went and picnicked at a private motu. The snorkelling was wonderful here, although it was not quite as vivid as in Bora Bora.

I tried snorkling for the first time and I loved it!!! You only have to wade out into the crystal clear water and glide slowely around to see the most gorgeous coloured fish. We went snorkling every day.

This is also at the Lagoonarium (I explain more about it in one of my General tips).

Another one of the things you can do there is swim with Sharks. There were around six or seven sharks kept in the water pens with the turtles and other fish at the Lagoonarium. These pens are deep enough that you can wade out and start swimming and be quite a long way off the bottom.

The sharks are much harder to find than the turtles as they will swim away as you get near them. I have a little underwater film camera with a fixed 35mm lens (i.e. no zoom), and it was quite a struggle to get some shots like this one as I normally only got to see a back end, and it was swimming much faster than I could!