The Ferry to Mo'orea

One day back in October we decided to try taking the ferry to Mo'orea for the day. We needed to know how it worked, so we could tell any of our wedding guests how to do it and we had to meet with some of our wedding vendors. Many people commute between Mo'orea and Tahiti (Mo'orea is like the suburbs) for both school and work. So the ferries run many times a day.

From the view of the harbor at the Shell station on the hill, you can see the ferry building on the left side, Papeete Marina is hidden in the right corner (but you can see the masts) and the big red and white striped pole is one of the range markers used when entering the harbor from the sea.

This photo shows the inter-island supply boats and the container shipping docks with the big cranes.

Just to the left of those docks is the pass through the reef, which starts again immediately on the other side. (stay between the channel markers and make sure you are lined up with the range markers!)

That is one of the big ferries headed to Mo'orea and a sailboat underway in the channel inside the reef.

We decided to take the Terevau fast red ferry.

This ferry only takes small cars and motorcycles in the lower decks. The larger Aramiti white ferry takes big trucks and larger vehicles. I think that is why it is slower too.

The French Navy docks are right next to the ferry terminal.

Headed out the pass, you can see the marina tucked in the corner and that the range markers are lined up.

This is Mount Orohena (2241 meters high) the tallest mountain in Tahiti.

Miguel with the wind of the ferry speed in his hair!

The spray from the ferry created its own rainbow. And yes that is really the color blue of the ocean around here.

We passed the Aramiti ferry headed back to Tahiti. All of the ferries are catamarans.

Ahhh, the beauty and tranquility of Mo'orea!

Entering the Vaiare Pass through the reef.

The ferry terminal welcomes us to Mo'orea.

The captain lines up the ship with the ramp to unload the cars.

Looking across the channel at Tahiti.

The spray takes off from behind the ferry as we head back to Tahiti with Mouaputa pointing to the sky behind us.

It was a beautiful clear day and Tahiti looks spectacular!

Headed back to the ferry building, we see the Windstar sailing cruise ship is back in town.

And a big shipping container boat is loading and unloading goods. It is how most everything gets here.

The captain very carefully docks the boat and the crew pulls in on the lines with a wench.