Moorea

IslandsWindward Islands,French Polynesia

Eight saw-toothed ridges rising from a lagoon in French Polynesia, two deep bays cut into a heart-shaped island, and reef sharks you can wade among.

September·Peaking now

Aug–Oct

Moorea at its fullest: the driest, clearest months with the calmest lagoon, and the humpback peak — licensed boats report roughly 80% sighting rates August–October and carry swimmers out to the calving whales just beyond the reef.

Year-round The green ridges and turquoise lagoon, with its resident reef sharks and rays, are here year-round; the humpbacks come July to November.

Moorea is a heart-shaped island in French Polynesia, a thirty-minute ferry ride from Tahiti, where eight saw-toothed ridges of green volcanic rock rise out of a lagoon and two deep bays cut into the northern coast side by side. The skyline is the first thing: the crossing from Tahiti ends with Moorea's jagged peaks lifting straight out of the sea, usually trailing a collar of cloud, and among them Mou'aputa, the pierced mountain, with a hole punched clean through its summit. In the Tahitian story the hero Pai threw his spear from Tautira, some fifty-five kilometres away on Tahiti, and drove it through the peak. A road winds up into the green interior to the Belvedere lookout, where Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay open side by side below you, split by the sharp ridge of Mount Rotui, with pineapple fields on the valley floor and the reef drawn as a white line around it all. The lagoon is where the days go. On the north shore you wade waist-deep into sandy shallows where blacktip reef sharks slip past your legs and broad stingrays glide over your feet, unafraid, because they have been fed here for years; the water is warm and clear to the bottom, and the reef beyond keeps it flat. From July to November humpback whales come in from the open ocean to rest and nurse their calves just outside the barrier reef, close enough that licensed boats carry swimmers out to float beside a mother and calf in the blue. Trails climb from the valley floor into the saw-toothed interior toward Mou'aputa and the ridges, through forest and past the stone platforms of old temples. The reef itself is one of the most closely watched on Earth; a long-term study set up in 2004 has followed how it copes with storms, bleaching and recovery. Moorea is the island Tahitians go to for the weekend, and its lagoon is the reason.

Worth knowing

Good to know

The lagoon is calmest early — go out for snorkelling or the shark-and-ray shallows in the morning, before the afternoon trade wind ruffles the surface and clouds the water.
Drive up to Belvedere under a clear sky — the high peaks trap cloud by late morning, so go early or you may find the two bays lost in grey.
The reef sharks and rays are harmless but wild — don't chase or feed them; keep still in the shallows and let them drift up to you rather than joining a feeding tour.
Moorea is a thirty-minute ferry from Papeete — rent a car or scooter at the wharf, because the single coast road and the inland lookouts aren't walkable from where the boat lands.
May to October is the dry, cooler season — comfortable humidity and little rain; from November the air turns hot and sticky with heavy afternoon downpours.

Things to do

1
Swim with reef sharks and rays
Wade waist-deep into the sandy shallows of the north-shore lagoon, where blacktip reef sharks slip past and broad stingrays glide over your feet. The water is warm and clear, the animals wild but unbothered — no cage, no boat, just the reef floor underfoot and the peaks rising behind you.
2
Look down on both bays from Belvedere
A road winds up into the green interior to the Belvedere lookout, where Cook's and Opunohu bays open side by side, split by the sharp ridge of Mount Rotui. It is the one place you grasp the whole shape of the island at once — the twin bays, the reef, and the peaks behind.
3
Hike toward the pierced peak of Mou'aputa
Trails climb from the valley floor into Moorea's saw-toothed interior, toward Mou'aputa, the peak with a hole punched clean through its summit. The forest is thick and humid, loud with birds, and the higher clearings suddenly open onto the reef and lagoon far below.
4
Watch the ridge rise on the ferry from Tahiti
The thirty-minute crossing from Tahiti ends with Moorea's jagged skyline lifting straight out of the sea, its peaks usually trailing a collar of cloud. Watching that wall of green grow across the channel is the island's oldest and best first impression.
5
Swim out to the humpback whales
From July to November humpback whales come in from the open ocean to rest and nurse their calves just beyond Moorea's reef. Licensed boats carry a few swimmers at a time to slip quietly into the blue as a mother and calf drift past below. Getting into the water with whales is banned outright in most countries; here it is permitted under licence, and the rules keep the group small.

Watch

Nearby

153 km