The glorious island of Moorea! I booked a morning 4wd island tour and it turned out a nice couple from Vancouver who were on my my Marquesas tour were also on it! 8 of us in total, originally all in the back of a pickup truck converted to an open-air bus with 2 rows of seats lining the bed of the truck. Our first stop was a viewpoint up a very steep and bumpy road and one poor little old lady could barely keep from sliding off onto the floor so she rode in the cab the rest of the day. All the jarring was worth the spectacular view:

There was another cruise ship in the other bay to the Jewel – the exclusive “Paul Gauguin”. It’s actually based in Tahiti and makes one week trips around the Society Islands all season. We stopped for a photo op on our way to a tropical garden/vanilla farm, then a pineapple factory/gift store.

Next we drove through a pineapple plantation on another rough, rutted track. Pineapple is the 2nd largest industry on the island after tourism and most of it is grown at a higher elevation inside the caldera of the extinct volcano that formed the island. Rich soil, plenty of rain, and protection from strong winds make it an ideal location.

Several of us asked our driver to drop us off at a beach at the end of our tour. This lovely beach was the one he chose. Popular with cruise ship passengers it offers a small beach, fun restaurant overlooking the water, a shallow, warm lagoon for swimming, and incredible views!

We set sail right at sunset and the whole ship seemed to have turned out to watch us depart this magic island!