Driving around Moorea

We plan to use our Sunday in Moorea during our pre-cruise stay as a day to drive around the ring road since most stores and attractions are closed. I have a few questions that I hope some of you Moorea experts can help me with…

1) Will the resorts let us come in and walk around the grounds, and possibly buy a drink at a bar or something? It would be fun to see the grounds and common areas of the Sofitel, Hilton, and Intercontinental if they will let us enter when we aren’t guests there.

2) We will definitely want to stop at the Toatea lookout point to see the views of the Sofitel and Tahiti. Does anyone know what time of day will give the best views and photos with the sunlight at the best angle? Is morning or afternoon better? Or does it not matter?

3) We plan to drive up to Belvedere point, the Ag school and Fruit Juice Factory if they are open (we’ll go there on our ATV tour either way), Temae Beach, Ta’ahiamanu Beach, and Robinson's Cove. Is there anywhere else we should make a stop? Anything along the West or South coasts that we should see/do?

4) Is it better to drive around Moorea going clockwise or counterclockwise? Or does it not make a difference?

5) Looking on Google Maps, there are two roads that lead up to Belvedere Point… one from the end of Cook’s Bay and one from the end of Opunohu Bay. Which route is better/easier if we are driving up in a rental car (not a 4x4 or SUV)?

6) Unrelated to our Sunday drive… Has anyone gone to the luau at the Tiki Village? How is the dinner and show? I think it costs about $100- is it work the money?

Thanks in advance! :)

1. Just let the front desk know what you are doing, typically no problem unless they are at capacity.

2. After 3 in the afternoon

3. Les Tipaniers .... go to the beach cafe and enjoy the view. Stop at the IC Moorea and view the turtles. Stop at Tahiti Aromes (close to IC). Tiki Village. Stop along the southwest side of the island and buy some pineapple, the little 'golden' ones, enjoy.

4. Does not make a difference

5. Take the road out of Opunohu Bay. The one out of Cook's is a no no for a rental car.

6. Luau is average but the cultural stuff if interesting.

The Ag school and fruit juice factory won't be open on Sunday. The ATV TOUR is a lot of fun. Done it three times.

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The show at Tiki village was pretty good, but the food was just OK. Unlike other tours we were on where your food is prepared in front of you, the food at Tiki is premade. The pigs they pull out of the ground aren't the ones served that night.

You don't mention how long you will have been on the island before Sunday nor what time zone you're coming from. I only bring that up because the Tiki event is later in the evening. My wife and I were struggling to stay awake during it, despite it being very entertaining, because we were still adjusting to the time zone.

1. Just let the front desk know what you are doing, typically no problem unless they are at capacity.

 

2. After 3 in the afternoon

 

3. Les Tipaniers .... go to the beach cafe and enjoy the view. Stop at the IC Moorea and view the turtles. Stop at Tahiti Aromes (close to IC). Tiki Village. Stop along the southwest side of the island and buy some pineapple, the little 'golden' ones, enjoy.

 

4. Does not make a difference

 

5. Take the road out of Opunohu Bay. The one out of Cook's is a no no for a rental car.

 

6. Luau is average but the cultural stuff if interesting.

Thank you so much! That was very helpful :D

The Ag school and fruit juice factory won't be open on Sunday. The ATV TOUR is a lot of fun. Done it three times.

 

 

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Luckily our ATV tour is Saturday morning, so we will be doing this drive the next day and will already have been to the Ag school and Fruit Juice Factory. In fact, I want us to stop at the Fruit Juice Factory on Friday morning as we are driving to our hotel from the ferry so we can stock our fridge with lots of juices for the week hehe

The show at Tiki village was pretty good, but the food was just OK. Unlike other tours we were on where your food is prepared in front of you, the food at Tiki is premade. The pigs they pull out of the ground aren't the ones served that night.

 

You don't mention how long you will have been on the island before Sunday nor what time zone you're coming from. I only bring that up because the Tiki event is later in the evening. My wife and I were struggling to stay awake during it, despite it being very entertaining, because we were still adjusting to the time zone.

Thanks for your reply! We arrive on Friday morning and plan to go to the Tiki Village on Tuesday, so we should be adjusted to the time change by then. We live in California, so it's only a 2 hour time zone change, but I am actually more concerned about recovering from our redeye flight (since neither of us can sleep well on an airplane). The only thing we have planned to do on Friday is to take the 8am ferry from Tahiti to Moorea, pick up our rental car, and drive over to our hotel on the northwest coast. We will stop at the supermarkets and fruit juice factory along the way, and maybe check out Le Petit Village for lunch or dinner, but other than that, we plan to relax on the beach at our hotel and do just about nothing all day haha And in terms of it ending later in the evening, our hotel is very close to the Tiki Village and the next morning is when we check out of our hotel and make our way back to Tahiti to board the PG, so it's not a morning when we need to wake up super early for a morning excursion and we can sleep a little later if we need to.

I really keep going back and forth about the Tiki Village. My husband has been to Hawaii and gone to a luau there, so this may not be as unique or exciting for him. I have never been to Hawaii and have always wanted to go to a luau, but no one seems to give this place rave reviews. I know there is similar dance performances once we get on the PG, but I assume that won't include the fire dancing since fire on a cruise ship is a big no-no. So that leaves the food part as the only other thing missing on the ship, but if that's only just OK, then is it worth the time and money?

I still can't decide, but at least it is on our last night in Moorea so I could even wait until we are there to make my decision. I assume they don't sell out on a random Tuesday night in September? Or at least I hope that's the case! haha

A big difference between the floor shows at Hawaiian resorts and the casualness of a night in the South Pacific. Here is a link to a show we enjoyed way back when ..... The show was more like being invited to someones backyard for a get together. People were warm, 'show' was intimate as there couldn't of been more than 25 of us guest. Was a great time, one I'll remember all my life. Hawaii receives more visitors in a week than how many go to French Polynesia in a year ...

I went to a Hawaiian luau last year after experiencing the Tahitian events. The Hawaiian one was supposed to be the "must see" luau on Maui. After experiencing the Tahitian one it was quite disappointing. It wasn't bad, but like TBK says, it's a world of difference. Tiki villiage was much more engaged with the audience and much more thrilling. The Hawaiian luau felt more commercial.