February 18, 2013 Papeete, Tahiti (French Polynesia) 8:00a to 8:00p

Absolutely a PERFECT DAY!!!!

Tahiti is Polynesia's largest and most populated Tropical Island of the 118 islands and atolls and home to its unique capital city of Papeete. The name Papeete means "water from a basket".

Today I had planned a Motu on the island of Moorea. We will take a ferry from Papeete to the island of Moorea where we will meet for our Motu. A motu simply means islet/ private island.

Here is a description of our tour with Hiro Tours:

“Liki Tiki Motu Picnic

WWW.hirotour.com

We will tour the beautiful Cook’s and Opunohu Bays, swim and feed the rays on a shallow white sand bar. Sharks and dolphin stop. Then off to the motu where the bar opens and the BBQ is started for fish, steak and chicken and a variety of salads and fruits. After eating there is time to snorkel or swim or just hang out on the beach.

We will meet Hiro on the pier at 8:30 and will take the 9:15 ferry to Moorea. Then we will transfer to the Pearl Resort where Hiro operates the tours from. We will then transfer to the boat landing to take a boat for the tour.

Tour includes:

Shark show & Ray feeding plus dolphin stop and visit a motu.

Sightseeing the barrier reef

Snorkeling and shelling

Huge BBQ buffet with fish, chicken, salad bar, fruits

Open bar included (rum punch, beer, juice, bottled water)

2 bay cruise and photo stops 

Tour ends at 3:15 and we transfer back for the 4:40 ferry arriving back in Papeete at 5:15.” 

The tours don’t normally run on a Monday and as luck would have it that was our scheduled day there. Hiro agreed to run the tour if I could gather a minimum of 15 people. At first I was worried we couldn’t get the minimum, but we now have 33 of us. Many joined after we got on board and some just heard about it from others doing it and wanted to join, so the group grew. The boat holds 60 people, so should be not too crowded.  

We are joined today by:

Marianne, Steve & Karen, Lorraine & Charles, Lois & David, Dennis & Bonnie, Jeff & Julie, Frank & Rita, William & Christina, Ron & Philippa, Cheri, John & Nancy, Tim & Patty, Brigit & Sophia, Margot & Richard, Allen, Frank and some others that I don’t know their names.  

Hugh and Nancy were to join us, but Nancy knew that with her brace the sand and salt water would be an issue and Hugh is having a bit of trouble with his knee and needs to rest it. Another couple opted out as well feeling it might be too strenuous for them. Both couples let us know in advance they weren’t coming. We did have a few others confirmed to come, but they no showed or showed up wanting to join up later in the day…but that was not possible with this tour. Some joined right at the pier with no notice. Phew! Herding cats does not describe how this tour was working out! LOL  

Hiro met us on the pier and collected our money and bought our ferry tickets for us. We then walked the short distance to the ferry that took a scenic 30 minutes to arrive at the island of Moorea. There we met our guide for the day Roger and his young son. We gathered the group together and were boarded onto a comfortable bus that took us to the Pearl Resort. The drive there was breathtaking! Collectives gasps were heard on the bus as we passed one beautiful sight after another.  

 

We then transferred to a boat that holds 60 people, so we were quite comfortable with only 38 of us. The water was the most beautiful shade of aqua I have ever seen. The green and jagged hills were stunning. We passed many of the hotel huts over the water each with their own porch with ladder into the ocean for snorkeling.  

 our guide

 

We saw spinner dolphins along the way and we stopped to watch them play and had some photo stops at both bays. Then it was time to snorkel with the sting rays and the black tipped reef sharks. We have snorkeled with rays before (and it never gets old), but these were particularly friendly and unlike in the past once they were fed they swam away, these kept hanging around. The highlight for me was one really large one came up behind me and I could feel it on my legs, back and neck. I thought he was going to climb right over me! Then, I shrieked as with the suction of the most powerful Hoover vacuum, its’ mouth latched onto my butt! OUCH! Left a knot the size of a golf ball and it was bruised. Just left a giant hickey on my butt. Of course I had to show everyone on the boat. Today it is much better. The knot is pretty much gone and just a small bruise.  

 

 Black-tipped Reef Sharks

 Greg & Stingray

 

 



 

Then, we headed to our Motu for the picnic on the beach. We had time to snorkel while one guy cooked the meats on the grill and a lady prepared fresh salad. The boat captain was showing everyone how to husk a coconut and then asked for a couple volunteers to compete for who could do it the fastest. He then grated the fresh coconut and passed it around. There was a demonstration on how to tie a sarong in numerous ways. Rum punch and beer were flowing! We then watched while they cut up the raw tuna and “cook” it with lemon juice, lime juice, fresh squeezed coconut milk and spices and they tossed it into the salad the lady had been preparing.  

 

Along with some very tasty rice and a pasta salad and it was time to eat! Very good beef and chicken. Not sure what they were marinated in, but they were tender and flavorful.  

There was time left to snorkel or swim or hang out and of course too soon it was time to head back to the ferry to take us back to the island of Tahiti. Hiro met us at the ferry station and made sure we all had a great time. Roger and his crew made our day one we will never forget. If ever you are looking for a tour operator for Moorea definitely book with Hiro! 

 

 Hiro

 

We heard from other passengers that it had rained several times on Tahiti, but we had none on Moorea. It seemed everyone really enjoyed the tour. I’m glad the weather cooperated and the tour people were just super! Add to that the beautiful scenery and crystal clear waters of Moorea , and it was a success! Very nice group of CC friends as well! 

We arrived back in Tahiti around 5:30 and we quickly dropped our snorkel stuff on the ship and headed out to see a bit of the town of Papeete. The market was already closed except for a few ladies selling their beautiful flowers. I did find a couple souvenir stores open to pick up a couple trinkets. We walked around and looked at a craft market and the food trucks that smelled so good, but it was time to go back aboard and we grabbed pizza and salad and then came back and showered and went to the evening entertainment which was Timothy Hyde who is billed as Austrlia’s Magician of the Mind. He was interesting, but we both were kind of nodding off. We unfortunately missed the Tahiti Ora Folkloric Show that started at 5:00 on the ship. They record it so we were able to see it today on TV. We saw them packing up and leaving the ship as we boarding. 

 

 

There was an Island Night Deck party after that with music, dancing under the stars and Sweet Treats Buffet. They had picked up some fresh fruits in Tahiti and we had fresh strawberries, chocolate dipped strawberries and tons of fresh tropical fruits and other desserts as well. 

 

 

Now for 5 relaxing sea days before arrival in Auckland, New Zealand.