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Because of its popularity as a tourist destination and closeness to Tahiti, Moorea Island is quite easily accessable to travelers.As with all other Islands of French Polynesia, unless you own your own yacht, you must begin your journey by getting to the capital city of Papeete in Tahiti first.
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You'll most likely need to get to a good sized city or a Tahiti flight "hub" to fly direct to Papeete on these airlines. Contact them direct to see if they can offer you the connections you need, or consult our travel agent.
CHARTER FLIGHTS/ SMALL PLANES
There are a number of small planes and charter companies regularly flying to Moorea. Air Tahiti is the largest of them with the most regularly scheduled flights, but check the listings below for details.Air services regularly scheduleing flights to Moorea:
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AIR ARCHIPELS (Private Charter Flights) |
AIR MOOREA (Private Charter Flights) |
BY HELICOPTER
These birds are the ultimate island hoppers! The ONLY helicopter service in French Polynesia providing inter-island travel and flightseeing is Polynesia
Helicopteres (formerly known as Heli-Inter).
This company has been doing business in French Polynesia for years and caters to the more... shall we say... "influental" of travelers.
TST says "If you can afford it, go for it!"
POLYNESIA HELICOPTERES
Based out of the Tahiti- Faa'a International Airport
Flights upon request to ALL Polynesian destinations, specializing in the Society Islands of Bora Bora, Moorea, Tupai and the Marquesan island of Nuku Hiva.
P.O. Box 6109- 98 702, Faaa- TAHITI
Tel.(689) 54.87.20, Fax (689) 54.87.21
BY SEA
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Besides for the major cruiselines, (see Tours
and Cruises page for details), there are a handful of large seacraft that make regular (or semi regular) trips to Moorea island from various points
in French Polynesia. Since the island is neighbors to Tahiti, most run out of Papeete,but not all.
(To get to Moorea from OTHER islands, read the details of that islands "getting here" pages)
Note that for Papeete- Moorea trips, scheduling is so often and regular that vigorous pre-planning isn't really necessary. IT'S EASY TO GET TO MOOREA FROM PAPEETE!
But, if you're trying to get to Moorea from another island besides Tahiti, be sure and doublecheck your times and schedules if you're trying to fit a boating plan into a tight vacation timeline.
The best thing to do is check in person at the Papeete and Moorea ferry docks. Large Seacraft currently regularly scheduling trips to Moorea, and beyond:
AREMITI FERRY | AREMITI IV |
TST Comment: |
Access to Moorea and surrounding Islands can also be achieved via various sailing and
private boat charters: See our special SAILING & CHARTER BOATS section for details.
How to Get Around Once You Arrive
The large majority of travelers arriving to Moorea island come by ferry. The quay there is called the Vaiare quay, and it's quite large, with lots of people running around in different directions. Don't get confused!
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Vaiare quay on Moorea- |
If you've already pre-arranged a pickup with your hotel or local Pension- be on the lookout for someone looking for you. Sometimes, their representatives will have signs, and sometimes they will just wait by their car, truck, bus, or minivan with their company logo on it, and wait for you to find them. Most of the high end hotels will send their own vans to collect
you.
If you haven't made arrangements for pickup- then your best bet is to take Le Truck to your hotel. They're easy to find, and will be there for you, since that is their mission- to take the ferry people to the various hotels and pensions around the island.
Other options for traveling around Moorea include rental cars, scooters and bicycles, taxis, walking, and hitchhiking.
SEE THE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS
BELOW FOR DETAILS ON ALL THESE OPTIONS.
The BEST WAY TO GET AROUND THE ISLAND- (that provides you the most freedom), is to rent a car, scooter, bicycle, or walk. Hitchhiking isn't really a good option. (see note below for details).
Note: Some places that provide rentals are listed below, however ALL hotels, and most Pensions will be able to do the arranging for you. (Depending on your chosen accomodations,
some will charge a nominal fee for this service).
For most, this is
the easiest and fastest way to get your rental going. For those penny
pinchers and self arrangers, you may save a buck or two, but you'll
definately have to work for it.
RENTAL CARS
In the opinion of TST, Rental cars on Moorea are the best way of getting around
the island. The value of the freedom your own car affords most certainly offsets the price. Not really "cheap", but rather the same as with
the other islands of Polynesia, we feel rental cars offer the best dollar for dollar value of any of your transportation options, not including walking, of
course...
When you have a car, you can really setup your own schedules, stop and explore whatever you want, and have a dry place to store your gear all the
while.
The ever present EUROPCAR is here, of course, along with a few other local businesses listed below. They all are fairly competitive with the others as far as price goes, so it's really a matter of where you end up locationwise or who has available cars on the day you need them as to which
one you will choose.
EUROPCAR MOOREA | ALBERT RENT- A- CAR |
AVIS PACIFICAR |
Note: Many of the places listed above also rent motorscooters by the day, or by the week.
SCOOTERS/ BICYCLES, & MINI CARS
A great way to experience Moorea island is by scooter, bicycle, or a special little 3 wheeled car that really has no official name. Some people call them "Sun cars" or "Fun cars". We just call them funky mini cars.
Anyway, the scooters are quick, the bicycles
generally kept in good condition, and the little cars all run good. A relatively flat, good quality, paved road circling the entire island make these forms
of transportation probably the best combination of price versus functionality on Moorea.
*TST thinks that these forms of transportation are the ultimate forms of transportation
on the islands when the weather is good!
They can be rented at the local car rental places, listed above, or here:
TEIHOTU LOCATION |
Ground Taxi Service/ Minibuses
You will sometimes see small vans or minibuses cruising around, but they generally won't pick you up unless you're staying with the hotels they represent. If you can catch them when they're stopped and smile a lot, you may convince
them to take you to where you're going, but they simply aren't reliable.
Local Taxi service is another option, and quite good. It can be a bit weighty on your
budget for regular daily island travel, but you can't beat it for convenience.
Here's
the listing:
MOOREA TAXI SERVICE |
Walking
Walking around on Moorea island is quite lovely.You may not end up walking around the entire island (as it has over 30 km of island encompassing road), but you will definately enjoy walking around and exploring the areas you are staying in by foot. This is the best way to meet locals and really see and
appreciate the relaxed lifestyle of the islanders.
Walking is also one of
best ways to appreciate the beauty of Moorea. Not only will you be able
to stare in awe at your surroundings, but nobody will be hurrying or distracting
you either. This is also the time to pull out your camera and get the best
shots of your trip. Bring a daypack and make a full or 1/2 day out of it.
If you pack a towel and a snorkel, you can also "dip when necessary"
along the way!
Hitchhiking
Every traveler knows how, or has had an experience with hitchhiking. For fairly small, enclosed islands such as Moorea, the
danger factor, (every hitchhikers most important concern) is rather low. Unfortunately, this form of travel on Moorea isn't really a great option.
(in our opinion...). The problem on this island is that you can't really depend on getting picked up. (in our experience...)
Perhaps if you are a ravishingly beautiful girl traveling alone you may be able o entice the locals to pull over by displaying a little leg or other body part... but most others will have to get more creative or lucky than that. The drivers will usually simply ignore you. Whether
this is a French thing, or possibly a Tahitian phenomenon, is unknown, but
the point to remember is: hitching rides on Moorea can be tough! The same holds
true for Bora Bora and Tahiti.
On these islands, if you plan on making
this form of travel you're # 1 mode of transportation, you may end up walking
a healthy distance before realizing the truth... In general, the smaller
and more remote islands in French Polynesia offer the hitchhiker much better
possibilities for covering distance than the most heavily touristed.
Note: Different people over the years may have had better or worse hitchhiking experiences than ours on Moorea.... we're not telling you to give up on the idea of hitching, just in our opinion, to not count on it...
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