MOOREA

Moorea-what a beautiful island with the only black sand beach around-great views.  We headed from Cook's Bay to the Opunohu valley and stopping at Belvedere for some great views of the island.  We had a great lady that gave our tour.  She was born and raised on the island and her mother, a midwife delivered most of the babies for many years for the locals.  From our view point at Belvedere, we saw many motus (little islands with some being no larger than our acreage at home).  We headed over to some impressive Marae's which are sacred areas which are both religious and social.  The people actually would come to these Motus to pray and offer gifts to the Gods.  They were mostly constructed of stones and wood and many left standing are still in pretty decent shape.


Moorea, besides Tahiti has the only hospital, so the locals from other islands need to either fly or take the ferry for any hospital needs.  You can feel very safe renting a car and driving around the island but do remember that there are very limited gas stations (I believe only 2) and are close to the  main town.
Swimming of course is awesome here, but  remember  if you swim where a river meets the ocean do be careful of stone fish.  Not a good thing to step on for sure.  If you are looking to stay in an over water bungalow, try out the Hilton.  You can do day trips to the other islands for more adventure.
See ya on Bora Bora