My travels: South Pacific - Moorea & Bora Bora

Moorea is a part of Society Islands, 17 km northwest of Tahiti. The true spelling of Moorea is Mo'ore'a, which means "yellow lizard". There are ferries connect Moorea to other islands. From Papeete, there is Aremiti Ferry to get to this island. Slow ferry takes 45 minutes and fast ferry take 30 minutes. For Golden Princess, it sailed at 3:30 AM and arrived at 8:00 AM. Large ship has to keep away from shallow area and keep away from coral reef area.

Because of its stunning scenery and accessibility to Pape'ete, Mo'orea is visited by many western tourists who travel to French Polynesia. Especially popular as honeymoon destination, Mo'orea can often be seen in advertisements in American wedding magazines.

My Moorea visit is mainly to get to their beach. At wharf, there are taxi can take you to beach. Here taxi is a large van, it will take off when seats are taken. One way is USD $5. Beach is private, so $3 per person. At private beach, they have beer, $5 per can. I believe they really do not know how to do business, beer is not like champagne it should not be over priced to $5 per can. Most tourist countries along Pacific or Atlantic side, they sell $2 per can. They have one garden hose for shower and a toilet to change clothes. Beach is beautiful, but floor has too many reef stones, not easy to walk. Water is too shallow, you really have to walk for a long distance to swim.

Moorea

Bora Bora

Bora Bora is another island belongs to French Polynesia Society Islands. It locates about 230 km northwest of Papeete, is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the centre of the island are the remnants of an extinct vvolcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu.

Bora Bora is a major international tourist destination, famous for its aqua-centric luxury resorts. Today the island's economy is driven almost solely by tourism. Hotel Bora Bora built the first over-the-water bungalows on stilts over the lagoon and today, over-water bungalows are a standard feature of most Bora Bora resorts. The quality of those bungalows ranges from comparably cheap, basic accommodations to very luxurious and expensive places to stay.

I have noticed hotels on the beach side - Hotel Intercontinental, Hotel Sofitel, etc. are in luxury category. This island has population about 8,800, there is no public transportation. The way to get to somewhere is by taxi. Taxi can be any vehicle that can take people, such as a van or open air truck style.

We used taxi to take us to the famous Matira beach, the fare is USD $5 one way. The beach is a public beach, so it is free. Also, there is free shower. A different experience from Moorea. See the photos, you will be impressed by turquoise colour water. To get there, you can fly to Papeete, then take ferry or small plane.

Bora Bora Map