Our flight to Tahiti came in late at night and we went back the Manava, the same hotel we used when we arrived from Los Angeles. Unfortunately, they did not upgrade us to a beach front room this time. Still, the room was nice and we literraly only slept there. We were on the the road by 8-9 o'clock, headed for the ferry terminal, to get to the island of Moorea.
A 20-30 minute ride takes you to the island of Moorea. We picked up a short term rental car (nice Ford Focus) and started on a quick tour around the island.
Me on the ferry to Moorea.
This is the Tahiti of your dreams. Clear blue water and luxury accomodations.
This is the Sofitel Moorea Beach Resort. It is very near the ferry terminal and looks back on the island of Tahiti.
On our tour, we drove up one of the mountains to a lookout. This was the view. Along the way we saw pine trees planted at a agricultural station. To us, it looked just like California in places.
After our 2-3 hour island tour (it's not that big), we returned our car and they drove us back to the resort, the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa.
After checking in, we were taken to our room, one of the over water bungalows. We decided that if we were going all the way to "Tahiti", we might as well do it right. We were glad we did. The rooms are beautiful and relatively private and quiet.
This was our deck/balcony.
This was the view from our deck.
The first thing I did was jump in the water, directly from our deck.
We went for a snorkel shortly afterwards. The snorkeling was fantastic. We have done some in the Caribbean, but this was at least as good if not better than any of the places there. Plus all you had to do was walk down the stairs and jump in.
This picture was actually taken on our last day there. The lighting conditions seemed to make the water sparkle even more that day and we got several great pictures of the resort and the water.
A good shot of the balconies with stairs down to the water.
Our days ended with colourful sunsets.
Our days started with a beautiful sunrises.
Me looking at the fish on the way to breakfast.
This is the dining room, where breakfast was served.
Another view of the dining room.
We got up each morning to watch the sun rise. This was one of them.
Among the fish, we saw several rays swimming under the boardwalks. We also saw some small sharks in there, more at night around the lighted water around the crepe bar.
This a view of our room from the balcony.
It is not always sunshine and good times in paradise. This downpour lasted 20-30 minutes and then it was back to sunshine on the deck.
Our room had a see-through floor to allow you to watch the water from your couch. This is me under the room.
Another sunrise.
The water under the boardwalks teemed with fish of all kinds. You just had to lean over an look down. No need to get wet. On one of the mornings coming back from breakfast, we saw this school of fish. There where hundreds of them and they swam around in unison.
This is the crepe bar, open only at night while we where there. Underneath this area of the boardwalk they are running some experiments on trying to encourage coral growth, so some of the water has been fenced off to keep the snorkelers out. This is where we usually saw the sharks, attracted by the fish, which were probably attracted by the lights at night.
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So that is pretty much the end of our trip. We flew back to Los Angeles overnight, spent a couple of hours at LAX and then arrived home in the evening.
One aside though, if you are ever at LAX for a couple of hours and want something to do, try a meal at the restaurant there. The view is nice, food is great and resaonably priced. You also get to sit in the iconic structure that represents LAX. The interior is decorated in a futuristic Jetsons manner. While you are there, don't forget to check out the washrooms.
Restaurant at LAX.
Interior of restaurant.
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