This was our final destination on our honeymoon in Tahiti. This lush island is absolutely stunning and was our favorite of the two islands not because of its superior beauty, but because of its much more laid back vibe. The weather was unfortunately still not in our favor for our three nights here, and while it wasn’t exactly what I had imagined, we pressed on through activities and had a complete experience nonetheless.

EXPERIENCE

Compared with Bora Bora, this island is about twice as large both in size and population. It is generally less developed for tourism but much more accessible in the sense that the hotels are based on the main island which allows for freedom to easily leave the resort to explore independently. While taxis are expensive, they are much more affordable than the boat transfers of Bora Bora and we also had success with hitchhiking. Many of the popular restaurants do nightly hotel pickups and car rentals another option for those planning to drive around.

While in Mo’orea we continued our adventures while soaking up some sun and taking it easy. There were more coral and fish near the hotel here, on the North Side of the island, so we made use of kayaks and stand up paddleboards right at the property beach. We also rented our own small boat at Locaboat on the Western Side of the island and were able to explore the best coral reef in the area by anchoring between two motus. We were also able to locate the sandbar where many blacktip sharks and stingrays congregate and we swam with them.

One day we did a Polynesian Fishing and Cooking Tour with a local guide named Sam who is starting his own small tour operation called Mo’orea Maori Tours in a less touristy part of the island, his village in Ha’apiti, with his French wife. This experience was really memorable. The day began with rowing a traditional outrigger out to the reef to spearfish while snorkeling for three hours. Fishing is not allowed near the hotels but locals fish parrotfish and blackfish on the reef in other regions. Due to strong winds and currents, we were unable to use nets in the more populated areas, so we had to rely on Sam’s surplus from previous adventures for our lunch. Back at his family home, we showered to warm up and made a traditional Polynesian lunch with his wife. We learned to properly crack coconuts, shave the insides with a special stool and squeeze the milk. With the milk we made poisson cru a la coco lait (a Tahitian raw fish dish made with white tuna, cucumbers and carrots) as well as a papaya tapioca dessert. We also sampled breadfruit, pineapple, mangos and a special garlic and ginger based sashimi sauce. From here we toured Sam’s expansive garden which included every fruit, vegetable, spice and herb imaginable including taro, starfruit, vanillas, etc. We were sent on our way with fresh bananas, a beautiful avocado off the tree and sweet shaved coconut to eat for breakfast the next day.

Since a few of our romantic activities fell through in Bora Bora due to weather, we made time to indulge while here in a half day spa session complete with facials, massages and a rose petal soak.

STAY

Since we were able to get the overwater bungalow stay out of our system in Bora Bora, we changed it up in Mo’orea and stayed at the Hilton with a giant garden suite complete with private pool. This room again exceeded expectations. We had a decent size private pool and deck along with a bar, living room and great shower and tub. This suite was very romantic and judging by the exterior, would opt for this over the overwater bungalow here. This hotel has a much more alive and upbeat feel and we met many wonderful couples throughout our stay here.

EAT

Like any isolated island country, food is expensive in Mo’orea but we made due. As in Bora Bora, we stopped by the grocery store to start our stay and ate pistachios, gouda, Brie and French bread for many meals in the room. We had a great local lunch on our tour with Sam, as mentioned above. Here we really enjoyed the pan fried reef fish, poisson cru au lait de coco and tropical fruits. In Mo’orea it is also considerably easier to venture off the hotel property for a local meal. We really enjoyed the food truck type set up at Lilikoi Garden Cafe, where we enjoyed curries for lunch and mango ice cream and coconut milk creations for dessert. This spot was unique because the owner and chef was recently asked to cook for Obama on his boat trip after leaving office. She was pleasantly surprised when she boarded the boat to also find Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen and Oprah on board and ready for a Polynesian meal.

While in Mo’orea we had a dinner out at Le Rudy’s which came highly recommended. We were not particularly impressed with the food for the prices, but did enjoy the parrotfish and locally farmed shrimp. On our way back through Papeete we had a happy accident as we walked from the ferry terminal to look for a taxi. We stumbled upon our best food find back in  the night roulette (food caravan) market in Place Vaiete! We ate all our favorite Polynesia raw fish dishes, finally at affordable prices before heading to the airport-one last poisson cru au lait de coco.