Mountains from the water
A Moorea mountain lagoon day puts steep green ridges and shallow lagoon water in the same view, and a boat is the easiest place to see both. This guide shows which tours name the bays they cruise, what each one costs and covers, and how to bring the view home in photos. Tours run from $83 per person.
Quick answer
The short answer. No listing names a single peak, so choose by bay. Two tours name Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay: the $129 canoe day, with lunch and pickup in the price, and the $83 cruise with a cooking class, with pickup from your hotel or the ferry. The $113 floating lounge is the one listing that tells you to admire the mountains between swims. Our top pick, the $247 whale swim, runs its whale encounters August to November.
What you see
No listing names a peak. Two name the bays, and one tells you to look up between swims.
From a boat, a Moorea mountain lagoon view comes down to two layers: pale shallow water around you and steep green slopes behind the shore. The photos here come from the listings of these tours: water, a line of palms and roofs, then ridges climbing into cloud.
In those photos, between the Moorea lagoon and mountains there is little more than a strip of palms and a few houses, which is why a Moorea mountain lagoon photo works best from the water.
What the listings do not do is name the summits. None of the Moorea mountain peaks lagoon boats pass beneath is named in any of the twelve listings. The listings name bays: Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay, on two tours. And one listing, the floating lounge, says it plainly: «admire Moorea’s majestic mountains from the lagoon».
From the water
The Moorea lagoon turquoise water in these frames is how the shallows looked on the day each photo was taken. No listing promises a colour.
A small open boat with a shade roof crosses pale green shallows. Behind it, palms and low roofs line the shore, and a deep, steep-sided valley climbs into grey cloud.
Turquoise water ripples over sand in the foreground, a white sailboat lies moored, and the Moorea green mountains lagoon visitors photograph most rise behind the shore.
A coiled line lies on the black deck of the bow as the boat heads across turquoise water over dark coral heads, toward a long green ridge under white cloud.
Coconut palms and dense trees line a sandy shore where a few people stand by the water, with clear green shallows over sand in front.
Tour by tour
Seven Moorea mountain lagoon tours whose listings say where they go or what you see above the water. Prices are per person.
The listing promises to «discover Cook Bay and Opunohu Bay». A canoe for up to 12 people, a coral garden, a barbecue lunch on a motu, and pickup in the price.
Heads to Cook’s Bay or Opunohu Bay, snorkels among coral gardens and stops on a motu for a hands-on poisson cru class. Pickup from your hotel or the ferry, 12 people per boat, and the lowest price on this site.
The listing built around the view: «admire Moorea’s majestic mountains from the lagoon» between swims. First a shallow stop known for stingrays and blacktip reef sharks, then a coral garden; fruits and drinks included.
Works the south-west lagoon with up to 9 people and a stop on a white sandbank. Pickup and refreshments are in the price.
The route lists 30 minutes of «scenic views on the way». Up to 7 people; snorkeling equipment included, photos optional, food not included.
Meets at the tourist office in Paopao, with no more than 6 people aboard. Humpback whale swims run during the season (August to November), and the listing asks you to bring a waterproof camera.
A 17-foot private boat from the public dock in Papetoai, with underwater photos at no extra cost and a fruit platter with fresh juices. It has one review so far.
The two bays
The canoe names both bays. The cooking cruise goes to one of the two.
Only two listings put the bays in writing. The canoe day names both, Cook Bay and Opunohu Bay, in one six-hour outing with a barbecue lunch on a motu. The cooking-class cruise goes to Cook’s Bay or Opunohu Bay, and the listing does not say which one on which day, so ask before you book if one of them matters to you.
For the Moorea Cook’s Bay mountains lagoon boats pass on the way in, these two are the bookable choice. If your Moorea mountain lagoon picture is a bay walled in by green slopes, start with these two; for open lagoon with the ridges at your back, the floating lounge fits better.
The cooking cruise has 21 reviews at 4.8, the canoe 82 reviews at 4.8. Both carry up to 12 people, both include pickup, and both end on a motu.
Every tour here, current fare
Eight Moorea mountain lagoon tours: what each listing puts in the price and where you meet. Prices are per person.
| Tour | Price | Price is for | Length | What the price covers | Where it starts | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruise with a cooking class | $83 | per person | 3 - 6 hours | Raw-fish cooking class on a motu, fruits and drinks, towels | Pickup from your hotel or the ferry | 4.8 · 21 |
| Floating lounge | $113 | per person | 3 hours | Mask, snorkel, fins, life jacket if needed; fruits and drinks | Meeting point at a brown gate, 30 minutes early | 4.9 · 56 |
| Lagoon and reef | $113 | per person | 4 - 6 hours | Drink and snack on board; lunch on the islet as an option | Dock in Tiahura | 4.9 · 171 |
| Canoe with barbecue | $129 | per person | 6 hours | Barbecue lunch on a motu, raw fish workshop, up to 12 people | Pickup included | 4.8 · 82 |
| South-west lagoon cruise | $148 | per person | 4 hours | Guide, refreshments, sandbank stop, up to 9 people | Pickup included | 4.8 · 54 |
| Sea scooter | $159 | per person | 3.5 hours | Sea scooter and snorkeling equipment; photos optional; no food | Meeting point by option; pickup as an option | 4.9 · 101 |
| Whale swim, our top pick | $247 | per person | 3.5 hours | Up to 6 aboard; life jacket, or bring your own wetsuit | Tourist office, Paopao | 4.6 · 142 |
| Private boat with photos | $336 | per person | 3 hours | Private boat, underwater photos at no extra cost, fruit platter | Public boat dock, Papetoai | 1 review |
Photos from the water
Most Moorea mountain lagoon photos are taken from the deck between swims, when the boat sits still in the shallows. The Moorea jagged mountains lagoon snorkelers float beneath look different from every stop, so keep a camera within reach. The whale-swim listing asks you to bring a waterproof camera; the lagoon and reef listing asks for waterproof bags.
Under water, the sea scooter offers optional professional photos; the private boat includes underwater photos at no extra cost. Fiona from France, on the floating lounge: «great guides who were happy to take pictures and show us their lovely island».
The Moorea lush mountains lagoon trips sail beneath stay green to the ridge line in every listing photo here. Jacqueline from Germany, on the lagoon and reef tour, wrote of «wonderful views of Moorea» on her first morning out.
Before you book
A minute on the listing makes your Moorea mountain lagoon morning easier.
The cooking-class cruise goes to Cook’s Bay or Opunohu Bay. If one matters to you, ask before you pay.
Four tours include pickup and the sea scooter offers it as an option; the others meet in Tiahura, Papetoai, Paopao or at the operator’s gate. The ferry from Tahiti is in no price.
The whale swim runs its whale encounters during the season (August to November). What it offers outside those months, the listing does not say.
For Moorea snorkeling clear water depends on the day, and no listing promises it. Two listings run rain or shine.
All twelve listings offer free cancellation. Check the deadline on the booking page before you pay.
Our verdict
Book the canoe day at $129 if the bays are the point: it names Cook Bay and Opunohu Bay, includes pickup and lunch on a motu, and 82 reviewers rate it 4.8. On a budget, the $83 cooking-class cruise visits one of the two bays. For a short morning, the $113 floating lounge. From August to November, our top pick, the $247 whale swim.
Book direct
The canoe day, the lowest price, the floating lounge and our top pick. All four are priced per person.
★ 4.8 · 82 reviews
★ 4.8 · 21 reviews
★ 4.9 · 56 reviews
★ 4.6 · 142 reviews
Common questions
The ferry from Tahiti is not part of any tour here, so you book it yourself. On Moorea, the $83 cooking-class cruise is the one listing that offers pickup from the ferry. Reviewers on other tours mention ferry pickups, but only that listing promises one.
Four include pickup: the canoe day, the cooking-class cruise, the south-west lagoon cruise and the helmet walk. The sea scooter offers pickup as an option. The other seven start at a meeting point.
Three tours start in Tiahura, the private boat leaves the public dock in Papetoai, and the whale swim meets at the tourist office in Paopao. The floating lounge meets at a brown gate, the glass-bottom boat by the road under an orange flag. The other five pick you up or, on the sea scooter, offer pickup as an option.
The sea scooter runs «rain or shine»; the cooking-class cruise runs «rain or shine unless weather conditions are unsafe». On the private boat, unsafe weather means a new date or a full refund. The other listings do not say.
Two: the glass-bottom boat, with a meal on a private motu, and the canoe day, with a barbecue lunch on a motu. The lagoon and reef tour and the small-group tour offer lunch as an option; the cooking-class cruise lists fruits and drinks, not lunch.
The whale swim and the small-group tour take up to 6, the sea scooter 7, the helmet walk 8 and the south-west lagoon cruise 9. The canoe day and the cooking-class cruise carry up to 12. The private boat is yours alone; the other listings give no number.
Your options
The kayak meets on the sand at Tiahura Public Beach, under the Moorea lagoon mountains beach visitors look up at; from a boat the same slopes fill the view. In a Moorea turquoise lagoon mountains look closer than they are.
Moorea lagoon clear water is down to the day, but on any boat the Moorea lush mountains and lagoon come together, and the Moorea island mountains lagoon passengers see from the deck stay with you all morning. A Moorea tropical mountain lagoon day starts at $83 per person: pick your bay, pick your boat, and book your Moorea mountain lagoon seat while places are open.
Go deeper
Lagoon boat days: a glass-bottom boat, a canoe with lunch, a floating lounge.
The lagoonThe lagoon around the island: shallow water, sand bars and the reef edge.
Getting thereReaching Moorea from Tahiti, and where the tours start on the island.
Tours comparedEvery snorkeling tour on Moorea bookable here, side by side: boat, hours, stops and what the price covers.
Moorea Shared Boat Tour Whale Swimming and Snorkeling
★ 4.6 · 142 reviews · 3.5 hours