Moorea on a budget.
Who doesn’t want to see the appropriately named “Magical Island” of Moorea on a budget? With majestic peaks rising from a lush valley surrounded by sandy beaches, how can you resist? Beautiful blue water, ranging from shades of delicate turquoise to a deep Prussian blue invite you to enjoy any number of water activities.
We visited Moorea, along with Tahiti and Bora Bora, for our 10th anniversary. It is perfect for a honeymoon, anniversary or to just recharge your batteries. Although only 10 nautical miles from Tahiti, Moorea offers a much slower, friendlier vibe with a wonderfully rural feel. While there is no major town, the tiny villages that dot the irregular coastline are perfect for exploration. Never fear, however, there is plenty to do, see, and places to eat, on this Magical Island.
Now that you are inspired to go, let’s talk about the budget. Moorea on a budget is easily accomplished, with a little planning.
However, many travelers tend to think French Polynesia, in general, is “very expensive.” We found that, like most other places, you can also enjoy it for much less! After all, we did do a “budget” Galapagos and found several free things to do on Santa Cruz, and also visited Bora Bora if these are also on your bucket list.)
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Fly first to Tahiti.
No matter what your final destination is, all flights arrive into Faa’a (Fa-ah-ah) International Airport (airport code PPT), which is located a few miles west of the French Polynesian capital of Papeete (Pa-pay-et-tay) on the Island of Tahiti. For us, with Hawaiian Air it’s an easy 5+ hour direct flight South from Honolulu. If flying from elsewhere, just click here to find your best flight options. There is no other way to get to the outer Islands without first flying into Tahiti!
A budget hotel at the airport.
We stayed at the Tahiti Airport Hotel which can be seen from the Airport parking lot. Located up a hill, it is a short but challenging 5-10 minute walk. Just head out across the parking lot, up two short flight of stairs to the sidewalk, across the street then up the steep motel driveway. We went there on foot but you can easily take a cab and save yourself the uphill climb, especially if arriving after dark. It is our hotel choice for location and price. Breakfast is included along with a private room and bathroom for around $125. Click here to view availability.
Our onward journey the following morning is by air, but if you are taking the ferry, you may want to choose a hotel in Papeete by the ferry terminal. If you don’t mind a shared bathroom, the Mahana Lodge Hotel and Backpacker is only .7 miles from the ferry terminal. Also, it is highly rated at 8.5 and offers a double room for around $70. For more privacy, the Ery Apartments is rated at 8.8. In addition, it offers a bedroom + living room for approximately $110 and it is only 1 mile from the terminal. Click here to choose your preferred Papeete lodging.
Getting to Moorea.
Moorea is only a 15-minute flight from Tahiti. We flew on Air Tahiti (the only domestic airline which serves 46 of the French Polynesian Islands) but discovered there is a better “budget Moorea” transport option, the ferry!
We did not know about the ferries!
Aremiti has two ferries, with several daily trips to and from Moorea from the ferry terminal in Papeete. Priced at $3,000 XPF (French Polynesia Francs) round trip it is considerably less than the $10,781 XPF Air Tahiti airfare. Here is Aremiti’s website with the schedule and fares.
It’s easy to take a taxi to the ferry terminal and travel 30 to 45 minutes, depending on which ferry you are on, to Moorea. (For easy conversion to the USD, just move the decimal two places to the left of the XFP amount. ex $10,781 XPF is approximately $107.81 USD.)
Lodging is often a budget nightmare!
Between Airbnb & Booking.com, we keep lodging on Moorea and elsewhere within our budget. For this excursion, we chose the “Temae beach local bungalow,” priced @ $83 USD a night on Airbnb. The hostess, Maevaj, picks you up at the airport (or ferry) for a small fee and will take you to the market to collect some groceries. She suggested which fish to purchase for a BBQ on their fire that night, which was lovely and tasty!
If you are unsure how to select an Airbnb rental, click here to see the criteria we used to rent a unit in Mexico.
Our tropical holiday lodging.
The Temae beach local bungalow is a traditional tropical home with windows and sliders that open fully to the outside. It is wonderful.
To view it in detail, watch the above video. The bungalow is a 3-minute walk to the beach which has breathtaking sunrises and a 7-minute walk to an awesome snorkel/swimming beach down the road.
Maevaj brought over her activity book and spent time describing the various opportunities, along with recommendations. She is also the one who told us about the ferry. She is a hostess “par ex·cel·lence!”
Budget worthy Moorea activities.
The first fun thing to do is totally free! Take advantage of the location! Walking down the path by the bungalow, we discover a beautiful beach, with not a soul in sight. You can walk for hours in either direction, which is what we did.
Although not a swimmable beach due to the rocky bottom, there are tidepools filled with fish, sea cucumbers, and what looked like “alien hands” to us. No kidding. We think they are baby sea cucumbers. To look at them in the water, they look like black arms with tiny fingers. Check out our video and let us know what you think.
We returned to this beach two more times for sunrise views. It’s an “early rise” to get out there in time, but you will be treated to a multi-colored skyline, sometimes with silhouetted fishermen in the distance.
Take a budget scooter ride.
Rent a scooter for the day and tour the entire Island. We casually scooted along 36 miles of coastal road and took one road inland to Belevede lookout. Even with several stops, we easily toured the Island in one afternoon.
Maevaj has all the information in her guest book or you can contact Moorea Fun Bike on their Facebook page for more information. We decided to rent a 50CC scooter for $5,000 XPF / 24 hours. You can rent for less time but the cost for 24 hours is just slightly more, so we went for the whole day. With the slower Island pace, we had no worries about traffic or safety on the road.
Honestly, we didn’t get very far before spotting the Moorea Beach Cafe along the way. The oceanfront location was too inviting to pass by.
Eat great food.
We only ate out a few times, but our lunch at the Moorea Beach Cafe fed us for lunch and dinner. We both ordered a sandwich, mine was chicken and Jack had fish. However, we could have easily just ordered one. Priced at $2,350 XPF each they are certainly not budget. But, we could have easily split one between us and been quite satisfied.
In addition to healthy portions, the restaurant is right on the water and offers views as good as the food! We ended up taking a quick ride back to the fare (fah-rey-typical Tahitian house) to put “dinner” in the refrigerator then took off down the road.
Exploring Moorea on a budget.
The coastline of Moorea is irregular with soft green-clad peaks and ridges jutting up from the lush interior. As a result, breathtaking views are ever-changing as you circumvent the Island. It’s hard to choose a favorite vantage point. There’s plenty of time to stop in the various small villages and shops during your tour. However, make time for a trip up to the Belvedere lookout. It is a “must.” Even more fun is the short 30-minute hike to the top of the Belvedere lookout.
Belvedere lookout.
The Northside of the island is graced with two beautiful Bays, Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay. The road to the Belvedere Lookout originates from the top of Opunohu Bay and heads inland. It is one of the few paved roads that head that way. Be advised, the road, while fully paved, has several tight switchbacks near the top. It’s not dangerous, just something to be aware of while on the scooter especially if buses are coming the other way.
A short distance down the road on the left, you’ll find a parking area with a large display map of the overlook and hiking trails. Interestingly, this same map is NOT up at the overlook itself. We did as Maevaj suggested, and stopped to take a picture of the map for future reference!
Although the views of the valley and peaks going in are noteworthy, the viewpoint at the top is incredible. You are treated to a panoramic vista of Cook’s Bay, Opunohu Bay, Mount Rotui and the fertile Opunohu Valley.
The “Loop” trail.
If you wish to do further exploration, there is a moderate “loop” hiking trail that takes off from the top of the parking area. Since you brought your map with you, there should be no problem. It is the “red” trail seen at the lower right on the map by the “P” for a parking lot.
The beginning of the hike is truly enchanting, traversing through giant trees with huge roots into the earth. The viewpoint of the trail offers views of the mountain, bays, and valleys which are unsurpassed.
Wear sturdy shoes, preferably hiking shoes, especially if you take the turnoff at “col des 3 cocotiers” (neck of three coconut palms) which, when we were there, was a short muddy trail down to a series of small waterfalls. Also beautiful and worth the detour. The loop and side tour to the waterfalls took us about 45-55 minutes.
You can, of course, book a guided tour to the lookout but it is easy to find. We came back down, hopped on our scooter and continued on our way. BTW, the scooter will be delivered and picked up at your lodging, complete with helmets for both riders and room to store things on the scooter. If scooters aren’t your thing, ATV’s are also a fun option. Viator offers several fun options.
Snorkeling at the public beach.
A seven-minute walk from our Fare is a beautiful swimmable public beach. We went in on the left and allowed the current to carry us gently to the right, as Maevaj had indicated. The water is a translucent color of blue and, so warm! Set against the white sand bottom it is truly breathtaking.
A short distance before the Sofitel La Ora Resort we discovered an area with coral and plentiful fish. We’d brought our snorkel masks with us, and had a great time in this area. Between the swimming, snorkeling, and sun, it was an awesome afternoon.
Other budget Moorea activities.
There are many other activities available on Moorea, enough to keep you busy for days. One which was recommended is the Lagoonarium. Priced at $3,900 XPF p/p, we opted not to do it as we had a similar experience on a prior trip to Bora Bora. However, if this had been our first trip to French Polynesia, it would have been an exciting experience. It is rated as the #2 activity on Moorea right behind the Belvedere lookout.
We were only there for a short time, otherwise, I’m sure we would have tried the horseback riding I spotted as we rode up toward Belvedere. Again, many of the tours can be done on your own, with a little initiative and a good map app like the one we use.
We saw many little food stands which were much less expensive than our initial meal. Also, we enjoyed fish two nights; once on Maevaj’s BBQ and the second time we cooked in our fare.
Final thoughts on Moorea on a budget.
Although we didn’t need it, we do recommend mosquito repellant, just in case. Plenty of reef-safe sunscreen is a must. It is much less expensive to purchase these items at home. Since we were packing little more than shorts, swimsuits and a casual dress or slacks, there was room for our own snorkel masks. (Maevaj does not have masks or fins.) This made it very easy to snorkel with no cost or worries about where to get equipment.
You will find that both Tahitian and French are spoken on Moorea. Here are a few useful and common Tahitian words.
La Orana (yo-rah-nah) – Hello.
Maeva (mah-yeh-vah) – Welcome.
Mauruuru (mah-roo-roo) – Thank you.
Nana (nah-nah) – Bye/ See you later.
Yes, we had a great time on Moorea and will undoubtedly come back for a longer visit. There is so much to see and do, we can’t wait to try more of the inland hiking trails and seek out new areas for snorkeling.
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