Moorea’s Lagoonarium – swimming with sharks & sting rays

Firstly, I need to start off with, WE GOT A FAN! Our host must have read my blog!

She definitely didn’t but she must have guessed as I look like a melted candle every time she has seen me the past few days. Next, I have to mention that today was incredible! From start to finish it really encapsulated why we decided to do this trip and if every day was like today then we will a couple of happy pandas.

We started off with breakfast which was actually a disaster as our host ran out of gas so we had to boil our eggs this morning just from kettle water (didn’t think possible) and no with toaster we ended up with semi cooked eggs with fridge bread. YUMMMMY! #budgetholiday
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Next, we headed to the infamous Lagoonarium of Moorea, which had come highly recommended and is probably the most popular thing to do on the island. Essentially, it’s a lagoon but with thousands of beautiful fish, sting rays, sharks and you can swim with all of them. I wasn’t so sure to begin with but after being in the water for about 30 seconds, I was convinced that it was truly special. It costs 3900francs which is just shy of $60NZD and to be honest is totally worth it as once you are on the island that the magic takes place you can stay the entire day. There is also free coffee/hot choco and tea and if you go in low season then you are given a little tiki hut to store your stuff and chill for the day. 

We stayed from 10am until 3.30pm as this was enough time to enjoy both feedings for the marine life, take far too many photos and get some wicked drone footage. Oh, and it was also enough time to poorly re-apply sunscreen so we have what is the basis of some potential tanning (Me more than Leo as he is already bronzed after being in the sun for about 7 minutes).

We overall really enjoyed the Lagoonarium and it was a great value for money day out. I would however, hate to come in peak season as the island is small and there are only 6-7 tiki huts and not much shade. There are also a whole heap of dogs on the island which it doesn’t tell you on the website, so be prepared if this something you panic over. 

We got back to our Air B n B via hitchhiking again, decided to blow a whole heap of money on a scooter so we could drive round the full island tomorrow and also go to the Sofitel in the evening to see a Tahitian show. If you are in Moorea, definitely get a scooter, our costs 6000francs which is $90NZD for 24 hours. Pretty expensive but worth it for the freedom we will get tomorrow. 

In Moorea every Wednesday night the Sofitel runs a free Tahitian night which is filled with 1 hour of traditional dancing, singing and live music. For those budget conscious, definitely make this a stop on your list and happy hour is between 4.30pm and 6.30pm where you can pick up a draft Tahitian beer for 500francs ($7.50NZD) - well worth the money to see a show as well.
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The show itself is pretty awesome, and was extremely special to see the similarities between French Polynesia and New Zealand. What is even better is that they choose some random people from the audience to go up and dance at the end and guess who went up? Yup, me! It was the highlight of my day getting to shake my booty in front of a room of complete strangers - Hooray!!

​Last note of the day - It is day 2 and already I am panicking about my diet since being here – Tahiti is French which means that everything is on, in or with a baguette and if not then it’s a pizza. We are trying, I say we, Leo doesn’t care but I really miss salads and smoothies.