Tahiti and Bungalows in Mo’orea

The Resort Experience

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After sailing for the first part of our Tahiti trip, my husband, two friends, and I were excited about heading to a resort to relax. Sailing is fun, but it is also work! Since the Moorings base where we chartered our sailboat was on the island of Raiatea, we had to take an inter-island flight on Air Tahiti Nui back to Tahiti, then wait for 2 hours at the Fa’a’a International airport for the short flight to Mo’orea.

The airports on the islands, are small open-air airports and you walk out on the tarmac and climb a flight of stairs to get into the small high wing airplanes. There are no seat assignments, so people will quickly line up to board the plane.

During our 2 hours layover at the International airport, we purchased some food for lunch. The options are McDonald’s or a couple of local stands where they sell hotdogs or quiches. There is also the Atrium, which has more healthy offerings like salads, soups, and also a hot plate lunch area.

After getting food, find a table with chair at the front of the airport where you can people watch as passengers — tourists and locals — arrive and depart.

While we were eating, we saw some of the wild chickens that you see roaming around the islands. It was amusing to see them outside of their normal habitat of the shrubs, grass, dirt, and trees, and instead on the hard tiled floors of the airport.

As we flew to Mo’orea, we went right over the north part of the island where we could see the Hilton Mo’orea resort with the three “prongs” of bungalows over the water. We wondered which bungalow will be ours!

Once we arrived, we hired a taxi to take us to the Hilton Mo’orea resort. On our way, we asked the driver if he could stop by a grocery store so that we can pick up some snacks and wine. Our driver was very friendly, he took us to a store and patiently waited for us to shop. It was a scenic drive to the resort as we passed the lush green tropical forests and the tall mountains farther inland.

I had always wanted to stay in a bungalow over the water and was excited to see our bungalow where we would spend the next few nights. A golf cart took us with our luggage down the long dock and veered left at the crépe bar with a cone shaped roof. We eventually arrived at our bungalow.

We walked in to see the coffee table with a welcoming bottle of sparkling wine and cookies. The table was set over a glass window in the floor, where you could look to see the fish and coral under the bungalow!

The room had a nice large bed, and the large bathroom had a walk-in shower and a claw foot tub. The best part was the balcony right outside of the room and just down a few steps, the swim deck with a ladder that went into the lagoon.

The back of our bungalow faced west, so we had a spectacular view of the sunset.

For dinner we met up with our friends at the Toatea Créperie & Bar, which is in the center of the bungalow area. We had a delightful meal of various savory crépes, like the Moana which was a buckwheat crépe filled with tuna and a cheesy white sauce. The crépes came with a romaine salad dressed with a tangy passion fruit vinaigrette. We were too full for dessert this evening, but on another day we did stop by for a yummy sweet crépe Suzette.

One of the reasons to come by and sit around the crépe bar is to see the sharks. In the evening, you can see the blacktip reef sharks swim around among other colorful fish. It’s easy to spend hours watching the sleek swimmers glide around.

The next day, after eating at the breakfast buffet, we borrowed two paddleboards and paddled around the lagoon. The resort has paddleboards, kayaks, and snorkel gear available to use, which allows you to enjoy the lagoon in a different way than just swimming.

We were originally planning to go to the Lilikoi Café — within walking distance from the resort — for lunch, but there was a huge deluge of rain. We tried to wait it out, but it didn’t seem to be letting up and we eventually decided to go to the Rotui Grill and Bar — one of the restaurants at the resort — located next to the lagoon and the swimming pool. We enjoyed a refreshing cocktail and tasty lunch.

One of the things you can do at the resort is to have a romantic sunset beach dinner, which we made reservations for several weeks in advance. We checked in at our appointed time at the restaurant, then was led to a cozy table set in the sand by the lagoon and decorated with red tropical flowers and lanterns. When we checked into the hotel they had given us the menu so that we could select what we wanted for our several course meal. As we were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and trying to eat as much fresh fish as we could, we opted for the seafood meal. Our main course was tuna four ways: sashimi, sesame crusted and seared, poisson cru (like ceviche with coconut milk), and diced with watermelon.

The next day we were doing a tour of the island, which we had signed up for at the resort activity desk the day before. We were curious to see the tropical forests and see the view of the shore and ocean from a high spot on the island. We were part of a small tour group with just my husband and I from the Hilton, then we drove nearly to the other side of the island to pick up another couple.

Our first stop was Opunohu Bay with a black sand beach. This site is famous for being where Captain James Cook landed in the late 1700’s.

Next stop was Belvedere, the highest point that we went to on the island. From there you have a spectacular view north toward the two bays of Opunohu Bay and Cook’s Bay. There were many other visitors at this site, and all slapping mosquitos off their face, neck and arms. Use bug repellant if you go inland!

As we drove down, we drove past pineapple fields, where spiky green plants with growing fruits embedded in them were surrounded by the peaks of old volcano craters. It was enchanting scenery!

While we were off on our inland tour, our friends had gone on a tour where they took jetskis to an area of the lagoon where they were able to meet rays up close. They thoroughly enjoyed this experience and it is another great activity you can choose to do.

When we returned to the resort, we were hot and sweaty after the high humidity inland, so it was time for a dip. It is so convenient to be able to get in the lagoon straight from the bungalow! After a swim, there was a shower right on the deck where you could rinse the salty seawater off!

We were starving by now and it was time for lunch! We ordered room service since we wanted to relax on the balcony and enjoy the view while we ate. There was nothing like this scenery anywhere in the world! The food was delivered on a golf cart and the plates were covered with plastic wrap, as the birds will pick the food off the plates otherwise. We kept the plates covered as well until we were ready to sit down, which makes for a funny photo. We still had the wine that we picked up at the store on the way to the resort and it was time to open it!

Our last morning at the resort, we enjoyed the view while we ate breakfast at the restaurant. It was fun to sit and see our bungalow (third from the left in the photo below).

It was sad to leave such a marvelous place. We were happy to have had experiences that went beyond our expectations of traveling through Tahiti and other islands of French Polynesia. We all agreed that we would definitely visit again!

This was the second part of our Tahiti trip, the first part of the trip was a bareboat sailing adventure that took us to the islands of Bora Bora and Taha’a.