Category Archives: French Polynesia

French Polynesia islands including: Marquesas, Society, Astrolls, Tuamotus, and Gambiers

Resting turtle

Turtle Diving in Mo’orea

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Diving in Mo’orea brings us up close and personal with over a dozen turtles and many curious fish.   It had been a long time since I dove.  Like almost 3.5 years, since Galapagos.  I was more than a bit anxious, but I was diving with Matt and two of our friends who each have hundreds of dives and safety certifications.  Our goal was to find Rachel’s friend “Sonny” who is a racoon butterfly fish and a turtle or 12.

We load all the dive gear in Sweetie and head to the pass.  There are a few floats to tie our dinghies.  We jump in and my stomach is full of butterflies.  We descend slowly and I can see the coral bottom clearly.  It is not far, maybe 20 meters (60’).  Once I remember to stop exhaling through my nose, I get a little more comfortable.  The air exhaled through my nose caused my mask to separate from my face which leaked water down my cheeks.  It was a back and forth I played with my mask before I figured it out.  Yep, a little out of practice.

Sonny immediately comes out to join us.  He is a raccoon butterfly fish that Rachel met 2 years ago.  Every time she dives this spot, she has an interaction with him.  It is really quite amazing to see their relationship in person as I’ve watched it blossom on her Instagram account (moore_rachel).  He is a curious little guy and thoroughly checked out Matt before returning to Rachel.

Turtles, Turtles, Turtles everywhere

We don’t have to swim far to spot our first turtle as they are everywhere!  They are perched on top of the coral…see the yellow fish hiding under his back flipper?

Just hanging out, resting

Resting their little heads on top of the coral as if it were a comfy pillow


This just doesn’t look comfortable to me…but he is clearly in the “zone.”

Resting turtle

Resting turtle

Some blend in with the coral

And others sandwich themselves under the coral. I wonder how he will get out of this predicament?

We caught a few as they were heading up to get a sip of air.

We also come across a beautiful porcupine puffer who seemed to be challenging Matt.

Rachel and Josh from Agape (Voyages of Agape).

Rachel and Josh, Agape

Rachel and Josh, Agape

You might remember my blog about the very special Turtle Sanctuary, Te Mana O Te Moana.  They rescue turtles from all over French Polynesia.  I wonder if any of these beauties are around as a result of their rescue mission.

We jam Cruiser style in our last blog.  Events from this blog post occurred the end of September.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Polynesian Jam Session: Cruiser Style

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Our friends, Steve and Lili from the boat Liward came back to French Polynesia after being stateside for the past 10 months.  Steve is a fantastic musician and has put on many jam sessions around French Polynesia.  Our last jam session was called “Rock the Barge” and was held in Huahine.

This time we had to do things a little different.  Technically, no live music is allowed during our confinement.  So, Steve thought, well we can host an impromptu jam session off the back of his boat.  We were all technically respecting the 1 meter distance and we are all vaccinated.

Steve has an all in one guitar which can be used as an electric or acoustic guitar.  He uses a luper where he can record himself playing and then play over it at the same time.  It is amazing to watch and listen to!  Steve plays a lot of Polynesian music and some American rock. 

 

We had about 8 dinghies show up carrying 22 people.  All from the Opunohu anchorage.

Some close ups of our friends.

It started right around dusk and lasted a few hours.  Super cool  We had a beautiful sunset to go with the amazing musical talents of our friend Steve.

Sugar Shack is right next door.  We could have easily seen and heard the music from our boat but it would not have been nearly as fun!

We take the ferry to Tahiti and are duly impressed with the Aremiti 2, the last blog.  Events from this blog post occurred the end of September.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

eBike Circumnavigation Around Mo’orea

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On our second day of liberation we go on a bike ride.  But not just any bike ride, an eBike ride.  I have never ridden an eBike before but how hard could it be?   We met this amazing couple Jesse and Audrey who rent eBikes for 6000xpf ($60 a day) and deliver them to you.  After a short briefing, we were off.  Now, these are e-assist bikes meaning you have to peddle, continuously in order to make it around the entire island.

 it is 60 kilometers or 38 miles to circumnavigate Mo’orea.  It is a relatively flat road with a dedicated bike lane almost around the entire island.  Hmmm, we thought, ok we can do this in 3 hours or we could do this slowly and check out the sites along the way.  The later won out.  We followed the road around the water’s edge.

Ready, set, peddle

To start, we decided to head south around the island as we had not seen that side of the island (it is the bottom of the island (the pointy part).  We have not really seen much of the east, south, or west side.  Most of our time in Mo’orea has been in the north (by Cooks Bay and Opunohu Bay).  So, while we were “fresh” we could see new areas.  Matt took the lead and set the pace so this was my view most of the time.

We had a lot of amazing views alongside the south west coast.  We were both super surprised to see a lot of sea front real estate open. Some of it was parks, some preserves, some just open beautiful grassy area.

We stopped at a few good photo op places – Matt my sweet poser.

Passed by a lot of beautiful churches

Just a super cool mosaic and tiki on the side of the road.  The tiki is taller than me.

Painapo Beach aka Tiki Island

We stumbled upon a pretty little beach lined with dozens of tikis.  The beach is called Painapo Beach, Moorea and evidently it is permanently closed.  There used to be a restaurant, dancing and lots of festivities here before it closed.  Evidently, they closed in April 2019 when the owner/manager got sick with covid and they have not reopened since.

I love this photo. There is a HUGE tiki that welcome’s visitors.  Then just below it is a rock with two carvings.  A man that faces the street and a woman that faces the entry.

Many tikis line the walkway that delivers you to the heart of the beach.  I just loved their facial expressions.  I learned that tikis with their eyes closed are from Mo’orea.  Tikis with their eyes open (large or wide) are from Marquesas.

In the center of the beach is a circle of tikis…

Matt inspired me to be a little silly.  Smiles matter!

Hangry

By the time we made it around the top of the island or the “W” we were famished, tired, and a wee bit cranky.  Who knew riding an eBike around an island would do that?  We decided to stop at one of our favorite eateries, Snack Mahana.  We lucked out with a table on the water and enjoyed grilled mahi mahi and a tuna burger.

Once we enjoyed the feeling of sitting on a real chair, we couldn’t stop.  We were not ready to subject our butts to more miles on the ebike.  So, we decided to have a drink at a little place we passed earlier.  It was a 3 mile backtrack, worth it to go to a new place for an after-lunch cocktail.  The place is called Le No Stress and it was lovely.

After a huge lunch and many beverages, we hopped back on the eBikes.  We still had 18 miles to get back to Vaiare Bay.  I must say, my butt was screaming at me.  It was not a fan of the seat.  But forge ahead we must. 

With about 8 miles to go we came to the largest and longest incline of the entire trip.  Whom I kidding, it was a HILL.  Crap! Lucky for me I could use the e-assist and boy did I need it!  But at the top we had a lovely view over the Intercontinental Hotel.  If you look super close, to the right between the 2nd and 3rd palm trees and close to the reef you can see Sugar Shack.

eBike Ride Results

We certainly took our time to enjoy the tour around Mo’orea.  It was a truly fun adventure and one that I would highly recommend.  I would however, advise actually using the e-assist!  We “saved” our battery and in retrospect should have used it a lot more.  Maybe we would not be as sore the next day.  As it was, I used the lowest mode “eco” for 60 of the 75 kilometers.  On the 3 hills I used “standard”.  Then toward the end of our ride, I used “standard” for the last 15 kilometers.  I was beat and just did not have it in me.  I still had “high” to use but felt like that was cheating just too much.  Regardless of what mode you used you still had to peddle (except downhill).  These were just “e-assist” so a day of exercise is what we got.

Stats:

  • 7 hours on the eBike
  • 75 kilometers
  • Average speed was 18.8 kilometers
  • Top speed was 40.0 kilometers

If you find yourself in Mo’orea and want to rent eBikes, we highly recommend “eBike Moorea.”  The owners, Jesse, and Audrey speak wonderful English and will deliver and pick up the eBikes to you.  The cost is 6000xpf ($60) for the entire day.  They can be reached at ebikemoorea@gmail.com or +689 89 35 56 36.

In the last blog, we hike to Taraieie Peak.  Events from this blog post occurred during the third week of August, 2021.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.