Our overall review of Moorea

As our 6 days/ 5 nights comes to a close, we have to say Moorea stole our hearts. From the warm, friendly welcoming Tahitian people to the crystal clear water surrounding the island teaming with an abundance of amazing marine life– it is truly paradise here.

I have attached a rough budget of out costs once we got here as we did prepay for flights and this was a stopover as well as 3 x nights accommodation beforehand.

Accommodation: $45NZD per night, we extended and stayed 2 extra nights.
Internet : $15NZD for the week – Our Air B n B host charged for WIFI as it is very scarce on the island.
Ferry to and from Moorea : Aremeti ferry - $45NZD return per person. Takes 30 minutes and runs throughout the day. You can buy tickets at the terminal unless taking a car then it’s recommended to book online.
Lagoonarium : $60NZD pp – we walked there and hitch-hiked back.
Food costs for 6 days / 5 nights : Around $300NZD and we ate out twice for dinner. Once in the Sofitel so we could watch the Tahitian show and once in Vai’are pizzeria for the open mic night. For a pizza, side salad and 3 local beers expect to pay around $65-70NZD.
Hire of the Scooter : $100NZD - $90NZD + $10NZD on gas.

That’s pretty much it. It cost us $715NZD for 6days/5nights in Moorea for 2 people. If you were to come here on your honeymoon or just for a holiday then it can cost a lot more, depending on the accommodation you stay, food you eat and activities that you want to do. With that said, we also could have saved probably $100NZD on food if we hadn’t eaten out twice, but we are on holiday so that’s what our savings are for.

Some of the main things we loved in Moorea:

• The people, hospitality and kindness. This was probably one of the main highlights.
• How easy it is to hitch-hike as over the space of a week we did this about 10 times
• How incredibly beautiful the whole island the variety of beaches, jungles and places to explore.
• The wide variety of marine life at your fingertips including rays, sharks, tropical fish – all just meters from the beach.
• The Pizza’s – The Sofitel pizza was probably the best pizza we have ever had in our lives even though it blew our budget.
• The amazing juice that they make here on the island – so tasty and you can pick up a carton for less than 300francs, around $4NZD.
• The freedom to explore as the island is in one looped road so easily accessible to walk portions, hire a bike, or a scooter.​
  

Things we didn’t like and to watch out for when you arrive:
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• The lack of rubbish bins!! Man, this annoyed us the whole time we were exploring, as there is litter everywhere. The island only had 19,000 people living here but with a few extra bins the litter problem would literally be abolished.
• The stray dogs and cats. I love animals, I really do but these are a complete pest. They are everywhere all over the island and as much as they seem friendly enough, how friendly can a stray dog be? We didn’t enjoy having to watch over our shoulders all time when they started to follow us.
• The price of food – It is pricey here which is understandable but what we didn’t understand was the quality of what you got for your money. For a burger and chips this would cost you upwards of $30NZD but the quality looks less than McDonalds.
• The lack of healthy options in restaurants. If like me, you are a salad enthusiast then you will struggle here. It took us until last night to be able to order a side salad with our meal. If you do like pizza’s, bread and cheese then Moorea is your place.
• Mosquitoes – these are totally normal in every hot country but make sure you have sufficient deet with you.
• Everyone is on island time, which is great but don’t expect anything to be on time. Service is vary laid back, busses do not run to a timetable and when you ask for anything, expect to have to ask again.

We absolutely loved our stay here, we didn’t come here for a 5* holiday or excellent service, we came to explore paradise and for that,  we 100% accomplished what we came here for. Feel free to message either of us for more info if you are planning a trip here as we would be more than happy to help!
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Māuruuru!