Moorea Like a Local: Lagoon Cruise Including Snorkeling and Fishing with Polynesian Lunch

Highlight of our trip! We met our guides of Moorea Maori Tours, Sam and his 21 year old nephew Ruitimanu, who let us call him Manu. I am not sure if this is how to spell his name! Sam spoke broken English and was covered in Polynesian tattoos all over his face, chest and arms. Each one had meaning to him almost like a family crest. Manu spoke English very well and was just starting his tattoo collection one of which commemorated his assent to the tall jagged mountain peak he proudly pointed toward in the distance. Even at my fittest, fearless of little, I would not have attempted that climb. We Locked our car on their friend’s property called Mark’s Place, on the side of the main road and grabbed all of our snorkeling gear and walked across the road down a path to the water, where an outrigger canoe was waiting for us. (By the way, Mark’s place is a quaint little compound with several colorfully painted rental villas with gorgeous views of the mountains, perhaps the prettiest view on the whole island.) They carefully carried it the canoe called a Va’a, down over the rocks and into the water. Being the heavier of the two of us, I sat in front, Michaela in the middle and Manu in the back to steer. Sam said goodbye for a while and off we paddled out into the lagoon. As we paddled out into the beautiful water, I could tell this south west side of the island near Ha’apiti was much less crowded than the barely crowded north side. Staying here would give you more of the true feeling of being a local. As we paddled out to sea, I did not know where to look! Should I marvel at the miles of untouched coral heads I knew surrounded the entire island? Should I stand awestruck buy the 15 foot waves that looked like ominous dark moving hills that suddenly broke into a turquoise and white wave any serious surfer would question his sanity on? I knew the massive reef that created the lagoon was breaking the waves and creating this quieter sea where we were, but to the the power of these waves made me overwhelmed about those early settlers who came by Polynesian rafts and other ancient vessels that braved these waves to come ashore, with rocks and reefs on every side ready to dash your boat to pieces. Should I turn around and see the mountains against the shoreline with beauty more incredible than even Opunahu Bay? We were so much closer to them from this side of the island. It was truly overwhelming to try to take it all in. What dumbfounded me even more was to see a small 15 foot aluminum motor boat head almost to the pass, anchor and then see the two men dive into the churning water! “Manu, what are they doing.” He says back to me, “They are spear fishing! They dive under the waves holding their breath and when they see a fish surfing the wave into the lagoon, they body surf alongside the fish and spear it, and then reel in the injured fish. But then the current starts pulling them out to sea in this pass, and they have to wait for another wave to come so they can body surf back toward their boat, fish in tow. They have to hold their breath about 60-90 seconds while swimming deep to keep from being pulled out to sea. It requires very good fitness.” Manu then goes on to tell me he has actually done this and the worst of it is that the sharks going into and out of the pass like try to steal the speared fish, smelling blood in the water, and THAT is what makes it difficult. One does not want to come home empty handed, in more ways than one! We found our spot, laid anchor, and then set the approximately 80 foot long stationary net in between a series of coral heads. Then we swam about 300 feet up current and kicked and splashed as we made our way to the net. We almost caught a large beauty I don’t know the name of, but after three tries we did catch our lunch, a yellow tail snapper. I think I burned more calories swimming back and forth in the powerful current than I found in meat, but it was fun. Manu said that in the past and now, the whole family will go out together and with more swimmers scaring the fish into the the net they catch more fish. This is how they have fed themselves fish for many generations. We took a break in some shallow water and ate fresh bananas, passion fruit, and drank mint tea. It was so refreshing. As we chatted, Michaela and I learned the Tahitians originally called Bora Bora ...Pora Pora, but the French changed the spelling because they could not pronounce it correctly. As we headed into shore, we surfed our canoe in with the smaller lagoon waves and met up with Sam on shore, and then took everything back to Sam’s truck. He drove us about 1/2 mile to his house, where we were greeted by two friendly dogs, who were very dirty, living outdoors, but still loving a good rub! We freshened up and then went up to the house, taking off our shoes as we entered the outdoor covered kitchen. He we met Sylvie, Sam’s wife. Sylvie was born in France but was Polish by decent, and worked at the same hotel as Sam, who worked hard to woo her heart. The two have been happily married for 11 years as I write this. Now we prepared the food! Sam and Manu brought up four coconuts from the garden. We had to pierce the coconut on a steel rod, and then use our hand in a special motion to break off a piece of the husk and then repeat about five times fo get to the seed in the middle. Shaking the coconut there was certainly milk inside. Once we got the husks off, Manu hit the seam of the coconut and it cracked in half, leaving us with a coconut cup filled with water which we happily drank. Manu has husked a coconut in 6 seconds! His personal record. His people have contests to see who can husk 300 coconuts the fastest. I would certainly loose that one! Then we sat over a metal scraper and for 20 minutes and Manu had to teach me the best way to scrape out the meat in a shredded fashion. I was a slow learner, but eventually got the hang of it. Of course, I was happy to watch Manu do his efficient work much more quickly than I. After we collected a large bowl of shred, Manu put it in cheese cloth and squeezed the milk out of the shred and began to make poisson cru! We made it with cucumbers, onion, ginger, garlic, lime, pepper, raw tuna, and of course, our coconut milk! We sat down all together and Sylvie asked Manu to pray, and then we all shared fellowship and great food! What Michaela and I really loved about this adventure what is the sense of community and family here in the area. Sam’s entire family lives close by and most of them within walking distance of his home. They all were there looking out for each other and helping each other in times of trouble in such a way that even though it was not offered, there was no need for government assistance. After a wonderful meal of the fish we caught, breadfruit from Sam’s garden, along with fried bananas, some kind of orange fruit, rice with garlic gravy and our poisson cru we were stuffed. Of course we also had a desert of cooked bananas mashed with tapioca flour that is baked and then coconut milk is poured over it. Delicious! Sam tends a multi acre garden with a variety of edible fruits and vegetables and we toured it extensively and learned how to grow it and keep the soil healthy. Sam uses the coconut husks to make fertilizer along with duck manure and compost tea from the bananas and vegetables into the garden. He picked us ripe fruit and we took it home with us to enjoy on our hike the next day. As we said our goodbyes, we asked Sylvie about the tipping policy in French Polynesia. In the past it was taboo. It was considered an insult, but since so many Americans are accustomed to tipping, they have come to appreciate it but would feel shame to expect it. It’s best to ask if they would be willing. So we did and they graciously accepted a well deserved tip. We had an amazing time with Moorea Maori Tours. It was a fantastic way to adventure and learn local traditions in French Polynesia. Thank you to our new friends!

Sam and Slyvie were amazing hosts. We highly recommend this if you want an up close and personal look at Moorea. The food was amazing and we were absolutely in love with his garden. I really wish he would do a you tube channel. One of my favorite activities.