2026 French Polynesia - January - Day 05 - Moorea Day of Snorkeling.

 Monday, January 19, 2026

We woke up this morning to very gray skies and steady rain.  I was a bit bummed out.  But hey, we are in the South Pacific and the weather changes every 10 minutes.  So we hung out in the flat until it started to ease up and the sky getting lighter.  Around 10 AM’ish, we walked across the street, down the rock steps to the gully and over to the beach.  It was very calm, very little wind.  The skies were a bit gray is all.  Denise came to snorkel too and she has progressed so much!  At points in the day, she was swimming by herself!  That is really overcoming one’s fear.  Proud of her to try this.  We were both proud of ourselves for not screaming when we popped up for a quick rest and noticed a black tipped fin passing in the water about 30 yards from us.  Clearly it was a black tipped reef shark that are so popular in these parts.  I immediately went underwater to try and see if I could see it.  But it was too far away and probably was swimming pretty quick.  I never saw it.  It’s was the second time I’ve seen a black tipped fin in this area.

We snorkeled for probably an hour or more and then came back to the flat.  Our hopes were that the sun would come out and that we would head to the spoke our host has kayaks and then go kayaking.  A little after lunch time, the skies seemed to part and sun was seen.  So we gathered up our stuff jumped in the car heading to the kayak spot.  But as we drove north we could see a big ominous cloud that began to rain and then dump the rain.  Nonetheless, we drove into his area where his bungalow is and kayaks are stored and then stayed in the car for about 10 minutes.  The cloud passed, the sun began to come out and we headed to the kayak.  Jeanro, our host, had placed the 2-person kayak in the water and had it all ready for us.  He popped, surpringly, out of the bungalow and said it should be sunny for a while and then took off.  So off we went, kayaking in a very shallow lagoon.  We thought we’d head over to one of the two islands across the lagoon but we became nervous as the skies still had some thunder head looking clouds that seemed like they were headed our way.  So we went out about 10 minutes and then turned around and came back.  We can at least say we kayaked near Moorea.  

After putting the kayak away, we decided to go snorkel a bit in the lagoon.  It was somewhat challenging in that it was quite shallow in parts.  But lots of pretty fish.  The interesting thing about this lagoon was the current.  It was sweeping through this lagoon that sat between mainland Moorea and a couple of islands a few hundred meters away.  It make made swimming tough, especially without fins.  I did not put on fins.  What would have been fun would be to enter the water up current and then just float down.  I know that some people do this.  That would be much fun.  Anyway, we were there for a couple of hours is all before heading back to the flat to look at the pictures I had taken on the GoPro.

Well, our trip is coming to a close.  Our host has told us that no one is coming in tomorrow and that we can stay until we need to leave for the ferry, which is at 3:30 PM.  Plan is to maybe snorkel again in the morning, get dressed for the temple, take the ferry over and go over to the temple where we have a 5:30 endowment session lined up.  After that, it’s off the the airport for our redeye flight back to the USA.

The food on the island is ok.  It is quite pricey.  But what will cost us the most is the rental car.  I could have rented a car here on the island instead of ferrying a car over.  But we were not quite sure what we would do the last day if we had to be out of our flat early.  I don’t know, using taxi’s in Papeete to get around would have cost a bit, I hear.  I think it will be wash cost wise in the end.  I got the car much cheaper at the airport.  But I’m paying for mileage and ferry transport.  It is what it is.

Here are some pictures:

A cruise ship passing having probably left Cook’s Bay.

Chillin like villains.  Amazingly relaxing day.

Those are the two islands that we thought we’d kayak too.  But the weather was to concerning so we punted.  Kayaked a bit, but not long.

The kayaker!  The pictures are from my GoPro and I think it has some water causing blurriness.

Getting ready for the big plunge.  So amazing she is to conquer a huge fear.  

Snorkeling!  

Kayaking!  She’s a woman of many talents!

An underwater shot of some of the fish and seabed in a shallow area.

Don’t the clouds look angry.  We were concerned about them as the wind usually kicks up as they pass by.  The rain would be no big deal.  We’re wet already.  But the wind…problem it would be.

Nervous, but happy, kayaker.

A few more underwater shots.  Pretty shallow in the afternoon.  Fun nonetheless.  Love it.

To finish the day, we went to eat at a place called O2 Cocos.  It’s a legitimate restaurant with a nice ambiance.  We shared some fish and chips.  They were pretty good.

Well tomorrow will be a long day as we do a few things and then begin our journey home.  It’s been a unique trip here on Moorea.  We really experienced what island life can truly be on a rather small island.  Kids just loitering around, slow pace and everyone wearing swimsuits and no shirts.  Pretty chill!