We walked about 10 minutes to catch the Terevau Ferry that was scheduled to depart at 8:10 am. As a pedestrian riding the ferry, we paid 1160 XPF - close to $15 each to ride from Papeete to Moorea. There is another ferry company called Aremiti that runs to Moorea as well - but it is a little slower and costs more.
Once on the beautiful island of Moorea, we asked a few LC’s,s what admission cost to snorkel at the Lagoonarium - and nobody knew the answer. We had identified a snorkel at the lagoonarium as a wonderful day trip from Papeete - but we had written down the admission cost that was off by a factor of 10! We bit the bullet, and paid a taxi driver 1500 XPF ($20 CAD) to drive 10 minutes down the road to the Lagoonarium.
When you arrive there, one finds a small huts down a parking lot. Once inside, we learned the admission was 3900 XPF ($50 CAD pp). Though this seems expensive - they have done an amazing job developing the lagoon so that one can enjoy snorkelling in and around the coral.
Once we paid admission we walked to above our knees in water to load into the outrigger boat that drove us over to a moth (island). It was maybe a 4 minute boat ride. Once on the motu, we were given a guided tour and shown to our hut - assigned to us for the day. We could put our backpacks here while we snorkelled. We are well versed on what to wear on days like this one. Two piece bathing suit for me, a long sleeve rasher and board shorts overtop. I swapped my Keen sandals for rock shoes upon wading through the water to board the boat.
Also included in our admission was access to drinking water and coffee, tea and hot chocolate. There was also a flush toilet ( totally unexpected) and primitive showers today! The snorkelling was set up with a rope course which I rarely let go of because of the strong currents and winds! Kayaks were available to paddle for free - but J, who is an experienced kayaker was uncomfortable borrowing a kayak due to the wind and waves. J and I happily snorkelling around the Lagoonarium circuit for about an hour, holding on to the ropes that were anchored every 50 feet or so.
We returned to our hut to get a break from the sun and Jesus from the Canary Islands cane to visit with us. What a delightful man! Well travelled and multilingual. At 11:30 am they invited us to the shallows to watch fish and bird feedings. We got up close and personal with a number of rays. They felt smooth and muscular! Many black tipped reef sharks cam up close and huge frigate birds dove down from the sky to pick up fresh fish out of the staff hands. The feeding gradually moved deeper and deeper into the water. We, the viewers were always on one side of the rope and the staff member was on the other side. The whole feeding demonstration lasted about 30 minutes. We carried on and did another snorkel round. I was so thankful for the rope system to protect the coral from my wayward kicks of the fin!
Jesus took this picture of us as we were leaving the Lagoonarium riding the outrigger boat.
Our friend, Jesus (pronounced Hay- soos) offered to drive us back to the ferry terminal! We tried to pay him some money but he wouldn’t consider it as he was driving past the terminal to return his rental car. We had an hour to pass before the 2:45 pm ferry back to Papeete. Hunger pangs were setting in so we bought a mango from the fruit stand at the ferry. I walked across the street to the Shell station and surveyed the food options. I decided to buy a 250 ml container of chocolate ice cream - with a spoon included! That would tie us over till supper time!
And wonder of all wonders- while fishing out my watch from a pocket of my backpack, I found a long lost set of beautiful earrings - misplaced about 5 years about! What a great day!
The ferry ride back to Papeete was exceptionaly rough. We sat outside, at the back, but facing forward. The waves were splashing over onto the deck and soaking us! There were about 10 people out on deck and the rest were inside! But I didn’t get sick! Go me! I fair better in rough seas outside rather than inside.
We were surprised to see the Oceania Marina I’m dock when we returned. During our walk back to the hotel we met some cruisers who told us that rough weather had made them miss their Huahine port so they docked a day early in Papeete.
Once back at the hotel, we cleaned up our gear, showered off the salt, then changed for supper. Back to the food trucks we went. Tonight we had a grilled tuna with green beans and a dish of pad Thai. We found a little room for a dessert crepe. Delicious! We met up with quite a few people who will be boarding the Marina tomorrow. We will see if we remember their names!
Back at the hotel J has already repacked his bags. He did this while I published the post, so must turn around and get cracking on that myself. Apologies that there are no Moorea photos for you to enjoy. I didn’t have the right conversion pack to charge my phone at the hotel and thus didn’t take it today. J had the waterproof camera so there eventually will be photos to upload - but not for a number of weeks!
Despite wearing SPF 45 - I still got a bit of s burn on my hands - so I will treat them with aloe Vera tonight!
Tomorrow is embarkation day!
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