Moorea Small-Group Snorkeling Tour with Dolphin Watching

About This Experience

Moorea Sea Experience, the company behind one of the six-guest whale trips on this site, runs this lagoon and reef snorkel from the parking area of the Coco Beach restaurant at PK 24 in Tiahura, on Moorea's north side. It is a small-group trip, and one reviewer counted six guests on board.

You start at the stingray and shark sandbar, swimming in shallow water as stingrays and blacktip reef sharks move around you. Next is the outer reef drop-off outside the lagoon, where you swim in open water with more blacktips and possibly lemon sharks. The boat then runs to Haapiti in the southwest for about 30 minutes of watching spinner dolphins resting in the lagoon, before heading back north for a drift snorkel with sea turtles and possibly eagle rays. Several guests call the turtle drift their favorite part.

The trip ends with a 30-minute break in the lagoon with a cocktail and freshly cut pineapple, coconut and banana. The Premium option adds lunch at Coco Beach, a restaurant on a small island in the lagoon, with the restaurant shuttle taking you back to the start. The standard option has no lunch, which surprised one guest.

This is a lagoon and reef trip, not a whale tour. Outside whale season, or on a day off the ocean, the rays, sharks, turtles and dolphins are the main attractions, and this trip looks for all of them. Dolphins are not guaranteed, and one guest saw none. The outer reef swim is in open water, so it is not for non-swimmers or people prone to seasickness.

Prices start from $143 per person. It is rated 5.0 from 23 reviews, every one of them five stars. You can cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund.

Highlights

• Early stop at the Tiahura sandbar, which one group had to themselves before other boats arrived
• Open-water swim at the outer reef drop-off with blacktip and possibly lemon sharks
• About 30 minutes watching spinner dolphins resting off Haapiti
• Drift snorkel with sea turtles, the stop reviewers praise most
• A freediving guide who filmed turtles on the bottom for one guest
• Small group; one reviewer counted six guests

What's Included

• ✓ Experienced guide
• ✓ Snorkeling gear
• ✓ Guided stops at the sandbar, the outer reef and the turtle area
• ✓ Dolphin watching
• ✓ Cocktail and fresh tropical fruit
• ✓ Lunch at Coco Beach restaurant and shuttle back (Premium option only)

Not Included

• Transport to the starting point
• Lunch on the standard option

What to Bring

• Swimwear
• Towel
• Sunscreen
• GoPro or waterproof camera

Good to Know & Caveats

• The tour includes swimming in open water, so you need to be comfortable in the sea.
• Touching marine life is not allowed. Feeding sharks is illegal in French Polynesia, and the official Moorea guidance asks visitors not to feed any fish.
• Dolphin sightings are not guaranteed.
• Lunch is only included with the Premium option.
• This is a lagoon and reef snorkeling trip; it is not a whale-watching tour.

Meeting Point

Coco Beach restaurant parking at PK 24, Tiahura, on Moorea's north side.