Moorea - General Info
Where is Moorea?
Just a short sail from Tahiti, Moorea is the dream of a tropical island with its green mountains, white sandy beaches, and clear blue water.
Entrance Notes and Cautions for Moorea:
There are several passes to choose from through which to enter the lagoon encircling the island.
Cruiser Highlights for Moorea:
The road around Moorea is in great shape so a tour by bike or a hike up to Belvedere Point is recommended. E-bikes are recommended as a great way to explore the island. Visit the underwater tikis and Stingray City – but go early to avoid the tourist boats.
There is no local VHF Cruisers net here, so experienced FP cruiser Chuck Houlihan of SY Jacaranda put together a very useful services guide for Tahiti – which unfortunately was retired in August 2024. You may still be able to download a pdf copy of the last version at https://www.tahiticruisersguide.com/ – although this website will be taken down at some point.
Position:
17°33’05.77″S, 149°47’23.75″ W (Afareaitu)
17°28.60’S, 149°49.51’W (entrance to Cook’s Bay)
Last updated: June 2024
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Related to following destinations: French Polynesia, Moorea, Tahiti
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Through 2022 and 2023 we have visited many places throughout French Polynesia.
Comments and feedback have been compiled into one report with some brief notes below.
https://www.noonsite.com/report/french-polynesia-cruiser-report-from-maria/
Moorea – November 2022
We went to Opunohu Bay, it has a very muddy bottom so we decided to anchor on the right side of the pass near the Tiki snorkelling site. There is enough room for around 5 boats to anchor here, but be careful as it’s shallower around the edges.
Posted on behalf of Andrew Collenette
We were boarded last night at around 2.45am anchored off Oponuhu Beach, Moorea. Luckily we caught the person in the cockpit and he jumped on his paddleboard without taking anything or doing any physical harm. Just to let others know if they are in the area.
He had a race style SUPand it was banging on the boat which I thought initially was a coconut noise. Then I saw a torch in the cockpit. Initially I thought he was an innocent cruiser getting on the wrong boat. I was watching from the other side deck. He then proceeded to look around the cockpit with the torch. I went right up behind him within 1ft, but when I confronted him he looked really scared and left as fast as he could saying something in French. He was very timid and scared when I started shouting at him – I didn’t feel threatened in any way. Despite this it has really had a big impact on all of us. The children were awake through it all.
Point Vaipahu anchorage second visit
September 2019
We walked to the Moorea Tropical Garden, had lunch at 1500 each ( including a juice drink, Then we walked to the waterfall through the tropical gardens, we had flip flops on and it was relatively easy.
There a small cafe opposite the road that leads to Mo’orea tropical gardens. There is also a mini mart, selling eggs, frozen meat , potatoes, onions etc.
If you walk towards the Hilton hotel there’s a coffee shop on the the other side of the road.
There a few boats that are anchored here, they seem to be a permanent feature. The boat called Le Flamboyant ( red hull ) is anchored but he also has a line attached to some old chain and debris on the bottom of the seabed. Because of this he doesn’t swing like the other boats at anchor.
Cooks Bay – anchorage by Maharepa town
October 2019
This is the anchorage mentioned in my previous post but last time we didn’t go ashore. Don’t anchor too close to the private jetty as the owner will come and ask you to move. Apparently he’s been known to call the police . You can take your dinghy and put it on the small beach next to the Moorea Beach Bar ( yellow flags outside) . To get through the coral there is a small channel directly in front of the beach bar , take the dinghy straight ahead and pass between the two white mooring buoys towards the beach club dinghy dock, turn right to put in on the beach. You can only use the dinghy dock if you are eating at the restaurant or getting take away from MBC Next Door.
There were some bins for rubbish by the beach. No recycling but someone had left their recycling in a bag next to the bins.
This is a nice little tourist town , small but well stocked supermarket, 3 banks and numerous snack bars and restaurants.
Our friends on another boat locked their bikes up near the beach club but they were stolen. Admittedly they’d locked them to a bush but someone had dug the bush out. They think someone had a truck and had lifted them on because the wheels were locked together.
Mo’orea
Vaiare Bay
August 2019
We anchored in Vaiare Bay, near to the Sofitel Hotel. There’s also a mooring buoy here and it was picked up by a local catamaran when we were there. The buoy wasn’t that obvious.
You can take the dinghy to the public beach, there are toilets and outside showers here. No where for rubbish.
We then anchored in the southern anchorage near to the marina. You can use the fisherman’s dock in the marina for the dinghy, we didn’t lock ours which turned out to be a good thing because when we came back the fishing boat was there and they had moved our dinghy around the other side of the dock. There is a place for rubbish in a concrete shed just before you exit the marina on the right hand side. They also recycle . There’s a new large Supermarket on the Main Street ( turn left from the marina) and a nice pizza restaurant , turn right out of the marina.
Cooks Bay
We went here purely to fill up with diesel. There is a Dinghy dock with petrol and diesel hoses. Just go to the garage and tell them what you want, we filled up our cans using 3 trips and then went back and paid. They also have an intercom on the dock. We were not sure about the depth for taking your boat alongside.
Further into the town there is a dinghy dock right next to the super u and there’s also a snack bar.
We then anchored near to the reef opposite the yacht club . We didn’t venture a shore but our friends went to the yacht club for dinner, they said it was a little pricey and lots of well dressed holiday makers. But if you’re eating here you can use the dinghy dock.
Point Vaipahu anchorage .
Public beach here with toilets. We took the paddle board to the beach because of the coral reef surrounding it but there is a place to put your dinghy a little further to the side , it’s just a piece of concrete and you can tie your dinghy to a tree and walk to the beach.
We took the dinghy from here to Stingray city ( follow the channel markets) and tied up on a buoy here with the tour boats.
If we’ve missed something then it may be on our website :www.untilthebuttermelts.com