And so the sun rose on our final day in Moorea. It is at difficult to believe at once that it has gone so quickly and that we have managed to shoehorn quite so much adventure into four full days on the island.
But now there’s nothing for it but to go through the odds-and-sundry of a travel day at a vacation rental. Making the last breakfast, cleaning out the fridge, emptying garbage and running the dishwasher one last time.
On the bright side, we were granted late check-out today, so we don’t have to leave until 10:30 am to catch our 11:35 am ferry. That seems tight, but everyone is assuring me it will be plenty of time.
So – one last coffee out on the lanai, then it was time to finish packing and be on our way.
Property manager Alix came by a few minutes in advance to collect our travellers’ tax of a whopping US$9, as well as a further US$20 for the quarter-tank of fuel we used in the little Honda Jazz.
Then our taxi arrived – a big one, this time.
We arrived roughly 30 minutes before the ferry was due to depart – the ferry wasn’t even there yet. But that gave us time to speak with the ticket agent, who confirmed that bags could be dropped off at the same point we picked them up earlier, and that we would be boarding on the opposite side of the terminal.
I’d worried about not having enough time, and instead we had close to twenty minutes to kill. It gave me some time to take a few photos:
One last glimpse of the stunning hillsides of Moorea
A ferry awaits, just not our ferry
But mostly we just waited. And while we waited, we had the chance to consider some of our recommendations for travelling to Moorea. In no particular order:
– Tours book up extremely early. Plan to make your tour bookings 9 months to a year in advance, if possible. Earlier still is even better, especially for swimming with the whales.
– Restaurants also book up early. Plan to make your reservations several weeks in advance. You will struggle to find availability if you wait until after you arrive. The earliest reservations for Cocobeach on one of the Motus and Snack Mahana were two weeks after we left.
– Try to rent a car while you are on the island, if possible. Car spots on ferries can be limited, and there are few vehicles available that can carry a large amount of luggage.
– Lagoon tours are an absolute highlight. Strongly consider bringing your own gear, including a shorty wetsuit. Test out your gear before you go. Talk to your friendly neighbourhood dive shop for recommendations. There’s nothing quite so expensive as a cheap mask and snorkel.
– Whale watching is not for the faint of heart (or soft of stomach). If you’re unsure whether you can handle 4 hours on the ocean in 10 to 12 foot swells in a small boat, then we strongly recommend a private tour. Early morning departures are early (think 5:30 departures from the pier) but may be worthwhile if you want a slightly calmer sea state.
– There’s no ‘wrong way’ to explore Moorea. Sure, overwater bungalows are beautiful but anyone with a car is capable of reaching world-class snorkelling, regardless of whether you are on the ocean or set up in the hillside.
– If you want to use a cart at the grocery store, you will need a 50 Pacific franc coin. Plan accordingly! There are free baskets to use within the store but you can’t use them to carry groceries to your car. The anti-theft devices will beep at you. Ask me how I know this…
The Arameti 6 ferry showed up around 11:30 am. Slightly different layout this time, but the general concept was the same – plenty of room available unless you wanted to bring a car onboard.
The sea was rough today – we hit big rollers head on, and some came at us from the side. The spray cut at least twenty to thirty feet in the air. I wondered if any of us were going to feel ill, but we all seemed to have cast iron stomachs.
I even took this opportunity to try some of the dehydrated mandarin that I found in the grocery shop:
Very tasty! Can’t imagine why no one else wanted to try some.
The ferry ride lasted roughly 30 minutes. We were spat out in Tahiti once more, where we were treated to the sight of the bags being unloaded with utmost care:
Seriously, though, the baggage handlers know what they are doing – it’s remarkable how quickly and efficiently they were able to offload.
But with bags now in hand, I was forced to face my greatest fear – a complete absence of taxis at the taxi stand, and a small but growing line-up of ferry passengers looking for rides.
I asked the ticket agent if there was anything we could do – if there were any private shuttles around, or anything like that. She just shrugged and said the taxis would be there soon. Nothing else we could do but wait.
Thankfully we were in shade and there was a cool breeze off the water. And it wasn’t too long before taxis started showing up one at a time. We got ours roughly 20 minutes after we started waiting. Could have been worse. Our driver even managed to fit all of our bags into a single taxi.
Off to the Royal Tahitien – it was perhaps a 15 minute cab ride from the ferry terminal. The cab ride ran US$25 but we tipped him an extra $5. We also asked if he’d be willing to pick us up again tomorrow. And he agreed! We’ll see how that works out, though – we’ve had drivers burn us before, but hopefully he will at least let us know if that’s the case.
The Royal Tahitien is another of our budget options, but it looks pretty decent. Reviews have referred to it as “tired” and “dated” but we found the rooms to be clean and serviceable, particularly at around US$175 per room per night. I found the decorations to be tasteful and understated, and I particularly liked the little lanai area out front.
Otherwise, electricity is tied to the room card – which is a bit irritating when you’re trying to charge devices – and wifi does not stretch all the way to the room. The fluorescent light bulbs also aren’t particularly easy on the eyes. Meals are pricy but it’s a decent restaurant with a great view, and they don’t seem to be particularly more expensive than anywhere else we’ve eaten thus far.
None of these are deal breakers for us, so we dropped our bags and headed to the restaurant.
Photo Credit: RoyalTahitien.com
Our son had the burger for lunch:
Our daughter had the fish and chips:
And my wife and I split the seafood platter:
All very good, though I would say the eggroll and the tuna (raw and seared) stole the show for the seafood platter. If I were to visit again, I’d go for the fish and chips.
We then went off to the pool for a bit:
The water was pleasantly cool, and there was a lovely of the mountains in the distance.
There’s also access to a dark sand beach nearby:
Make no mistake, this is not a Moorea-grade beach but it’s perfectly adequate for a swim or a walk. (Though I mostly just stepped down to have a look around.) You will need your room key to get through the pedestrian gateway separating the Royal Tahitien from the beach.
Back to our rooms to shower and have a bit of downtime, where we enjoyed the view from our mini-lanai:
And then off for dinner. We had a lovely table with a view of the bay and the canoes:
As well as some sailboats that came by later:
We swung by in time for Happy Hour (half-priced drinks) but there was a bit of a mix up in terms of which drinks were supposed to have alcohol.
Anyone fancy a game of Tahitian roulette?
We kept the drinks and eventually managed to figure it out on our own.
We then spent a peaceful half hour chatting and reading, and then it was time to order. My daughter and son both had the beef tenderloin.
We’d wondered about the level of doneness – turns out that “medium” is about medium rare. My daughter had hers rare, and it was almost blue.
My wife had the shrimp curry:
And I had the swordfish:
All very tasty, though honestly there was almost too much swordfish.
For dessert, the kids had the profiteroles:
And the chocolate lava cake:
It was an absolute mountain of food. I stole a bit of the profiteroles, but otherwise the adults were content with our mains. We’ll be in the land of infinite dessert soon enough!
Then we were off to bed – morning will be upon us shortly, and soon it will be time to board the Silver Cloud.