Moorea

Moorea, only about 30 minutes from Papeete by ferry, equals Huahine in beauty. It's mountainous interior may have even more spectacular silhouettes.

Moorea seen from the top of the arriving ferry.

We arrived on Easter weekend when the island and the Hilton resort were at their capacity. We had to wait a few hours to get into our second over-the-water bungalow of the trip. But we managed to change in the fitness center and get into the water for some decent snorkeling for about an hour.

The bungalow was excellent, both in location and design. Number 73 on the map, with sunrise, unobstructed lagoon and land view and no other bungalows in sight or sound.

But the walk on the boardwalk was a few city blocks.

There are opportunities for exercise along the way.

Entering the well air-conditioned bungalow is a reward.

Our bungalow had a nice deck with water access.

 
Snorkeling was easy and extensive in front of the bungalow.
 

Alone in an underwater universe

But the snorkeling at the Hilton, good as it was, did not compare with a place about 30 minutes away, called the Lagoonarium. A small motu (islet) reached by a 5-minute boat ride where the corals are rich and loaded with sea life, including non-aggressive black-tip sharks and manta rays. It's a private operation, costing about $35 a person. The large snorkeling area is criss-crossed with ropes, allowing one to move about without the stress of fighting the currents - which are probably a constant in the area. Without the ropes one could probably last only ten to 15 minutes at most. But with the ropes we were able to stay in for an hour and a half. Although we do not approve of fish-feeding, I must say the crowd of sharks and rays when they fed them about noon was a sight to behold. Big sharks five to six  feet, moving all around us as we hung on to a rope line in the water. Here are three images from the Lagoonarium from Google images:

You can see part of the rope system being held by these two snorkelers. It extends over a wide area and is marked by round floats some of which can be seen in the back, in front of the surf.

Black-tip sharks at the Lagoonarium

Sting ray

Our deck gave us a good view of some interesting local activities.

A groom being transported to his wedding.

Racing team practice

Trash burning

 We avoided the hotel restaurants. We had a good dinner at Rudy's on the first night. Good parrotfish stuffed with crab and good curried shrimp.

Rudy poses with a guest

One of the many varieties of parrotfish we see while snorkeling.

A "Chinese-water-torture" dinner at Te Honu Iti was our fate on the second night.

That's a buoy on the left.

The beautiful view from the restaurant and the convenience of being picked up and returned by the restaurant's air-conditioned car (a common practice here) did not make up for the fact that, notwithstanding being only the second table to arrive, it took 45 minutes to get our tuna carpaccio appetizer and another hour to get a bowl of fish soup and a plate of ravioli. I will not go into the ordinariness of the food. You win some, you lose some.

I'm happy to report that regular administration of the oxygenated water obtained in a Papeete pharmacy a few days ago has cleared up the water-in-the-ear problem caused by too much snorkeling. After you put it in the ear with an eyedropper it feels and sounds like champagne fizzing in the ear canal, a rather pleasant sensation.

Tomorrow we take the ferry to Papeete for one night before our flight to LA the next day. We are hopeful for the meal at the Moorea Beach Cafe tonight.

Addendum: The evening of our last full day was made extra-special by the sighting of a rare eagle ray right below us as we walked on the boardwalk from our over-the-water bungalow. It was feeding for a few minutes, allowing me to take photos of it from the boardwalk down through the shallow, clear water.

 

The dinner at Moorea Beach Cafe was one of our best meals - no surprise after we found out it was owned by Bruno Jamais who was the maitre d' at Daniel Boloud's restaurant in New York for many years and also had his own fancy restaurant there for a while.

Emma and Bruno Jamais at Moorea Beach Cafe

In a little boutique attached to the restaurant I found yet another proof of the worldwide influence of Milton Glaser.

Finally, this morning, on the day of our departure we had the first fully rainy weather of our trip, proving how lucky we were in the month we were here.