Mo'orea & the Tuamotus

Swim the Pacific... Dine in Paris

May 9-18, 2024
May 19-28, 2024

What you need to know

Our package...

• 9 nights/10 days
• 3 nights, Tuamotus (incl. all meals)
• 4 nights, Mo'orea boutique accommodation (choose from Garden, Tropical, or Beachfront bungalows, breakfast included)
• 2 nights Pape'ete (breakfast included)
• Swim excursions, Tuamotus
• Programmed water activities, Tuamotus
• All meals, Tuamotus
• Two half-day swim excursions (Mo'orea)
• Island tour (Mo'orea)
• Programmed local transfers (ferry, airport)

Packages from $A5,540 pp twin/double share, or $A6,620 single, depending on configuration and room standard chosen. International and domestic air fares (not included) will also be required.

NB: Package prices are under continuing review in view of exchange rate movements and variations by suppliers. Prices are a little higher in 2024 than in 2023 due to suppliers holding their 2023 prices at pre-covid rates. In 2024, suppliers are adjusting prices to current market conditions. Package also uses a higher standard of accommodation in Pape'ete.

Note that this is a land package from your arrival at and departure from Pape'ete Airport. Guests are responsible for their own international air arrangements to and from Tahiti and domestic flights within French Polynesia. We are happy to advise on flights.

Enquiries and bookings...

Enquiries... Click here

See what others say about our oceanswimsafaris... Click here

Please first check & Terms and Conditions... Click here

To book... Click here

What we'll do

In 2024, we're visiting three islands in the enormous French Polynesian archipelagoes: in and out of Pape'ete, on the island of Tahiti, then two of the territory's most beautiful and, with one of them, remote islands in French Polynesia. We're running two oceanswimsafaris.

In 2024, we'll visit the Tuamotu island group, about 300km north of Tahiti (the main island of French Polynesia), then we'll come back to Mo'orea, just offshore Tahiti itself. Our oceanswimsafaris will be over nine-nights, and we'll see and experience much of exotic French Polynesia.

French Polynesia

Most of us know it just as Tahiti. But Tahiti is just the main island of the greater group that is French Polynesia, an expansive territory sprawling across five archipelagoes in the central Pacific Ocean. Tahiti is part of the Society Islands group. About 300km north of Tahiti lies the Tuamotu group, spread like a belt across the central Pacific. And just offshore Tahiti, also part of the Society Islands, lies the island of Mo'orea, the main 'holiday island' of French Polynesia. The Tuamotus and Mo'orea are the two places we'll be visiting to swim.

French Polynesia offers all the attractions of a tiny, tropical Pacific state: beautiful, clear, warm water, lots of sea life, gentle, lilting breezes sighing through the coconut palms, the world’s most stunning sunsets… But there’s more. The blend of Polynesian heritage with French culture adds a dimension to French Polynesia that makes it unlike the Pacific island states of Melanesian/British or Polynesian/British heritage that most of us are used to. The French influence remains strong, so that an oceanswimsafari in French Polynesia combines the best of swimming in the Pacific, and dining in Paris. Unlike the former British territories, the blend of French and Polynesian culture seems much more strongly defined.

There’s a perception that French Polynesia is expensive. But we’ve found it’s not much different in daily costs from island states much closer to home. This year's oceanswimsafari packages are a little higher than 2019-23, reflecting the extra nights included and the inclusion of the Tuamutos leg.

Photo essay

In 2019, we were accompanied to French Polynesia by our staff snapper, Glistening Dave (David Helsham @glistenrr), who has published a book of his photographs of our visit. To get a good idea of what this oceanswimsafari is like, you can preview Dave's book... Click here

Near digs, Tuamotus. (Pic by David Helsham @ glistenrr)

Our oceanswimsafari

We will spend our first night in Pape'ete, the capital of French Polynesia, on Tahiti, then three nights in the Tuamotus, then four nights on Mo'orea, before our final night back in Pape'ete.

Teahu'upo

There's also an opportunity to extend your tour for a night or two in Pape'ete, perhaps with a day tour around the island (including a visit to the world's most enigmatic surf spot, Teahu'upo). This will also give you a better opportunity to get to know Pape'ete, such as for Tahiti's most exotic export, black pearls.

Tuamotus

The Tuamotus lie about 300km north of Tahiti. We will visit an island at the far western end of this archipelago, an island so small that it carries nothing other than our boutique resort. This very comfortable resort was designed, built, and is run by an Australian, a builder by trade and a swashbuckler by style. No two of the ten bungalows are the same at this resort. All meals, by our French chef, are included, as are water activities. We'll swim each day – outside the reef and inside – and, if we're in luck, we'll get to swim with manta rays, and maybe some other larger fish. It's a terrific spot for watching the sea life.

It's also a surfing resort – our resort owner is a surfer – with excellent right and left handers by The Pass just to the north. There'll be opportunity to surf, if you wish. Our resort carries a large stock of boards of different lengths to suit pretty well any body shape and surfing style, conventional and paipo/lie-down/mats.

This is truly a special and a unique place. We are privileged to know about it and to visit.

We'll have three nights in the Tuamotus.

Evening swim, Tuamotus. (Pic by David Helsham @ glistenrr)

Mo'orea

Mo'orea lies just offshore Tahiti. Along with Bora Bora, it's French Polynesia's best known 'holiday island'. We'll have four nights at our boutique resort. We'll have two mornings of swim excursions, and we'll do a spectacular island tour. Mo'orea is a mountainous island. Development hugs the coastline, while the interior is wild and rugged. We’re staying right on the beach, so lagoon swims over and around coral whenever you like are at your doorstep.

In the evenings on Mo'orea, we have a choice of nearby restaurants – within short walking distance – offering cuisine that ranks with France itself, hence, 'Swim the Pacific, dine in Paris'.

Our resort is at one end of Mo'orea's restaurant strip offering a variety of blends of French and Polynesian cuisine across a spectrum of price bands, everything from takeaway to haute cuisine – or 'fayn dayning', as they say in English. As we say, Swim the Pacific, dine in Paris.

Pape'ete

We will spend our first and last night in Pape'ete, the capital of Tahiti. Arrival is late on the first night, and departure is early on the final morning. We'll have the afternoon of our return from Mo'orea to get to know Pape'ete better. Of course, you can always elect to arrive a day or two early, or to stay on a bit longer, to find out more of what Tahiti has to offer. We can arrange that for you.

Pape'ete has a variety of restaurants and shopping attractions, such as the famed black pearls. Don't buy them from just anywhere. You need to be careful. We can offer advice on that. For dinner, try one of the town's French restaurants – it's like dining in the suburbs of Paris – or perhaps the food trucks on the waterfront, which offer a great variety of food at very good prices.

French Polynesia exists in yesterday: it’s the other side of the international date line, so you probably will arrive in Pape'ete before you left home in Australia or New Zealand.

Accommodation

Bungalow options in the Tuamotus are comfortable and unique across most rooms. Some bungalows are more expensive or less expensive than others, generally reflecting space provided. Prices quoted above are based on the most common options.

Room options on Mo'orea include Garden or Beachfront villas, each accommodating 1-2 people. There is also a family bungalow with two bedrooms accommodating up to six. Bungalows are scattered around a central common bungalow housing sitting room, library, fully-equipped kitchen, and verandah.

We can also arrange other dates to suit your group, if you'd like to travel at a different time of the year.

Note that oceanswimsafaris.com/oceanswims.com are tour operators and we handle all your land arrangements. We do not book airfares for you. We are happy to advise on flights (it's important that you book on particular flights between Pape'ete and the Tuamotus – we will advise).

Tuamotus.

Our goals

We aim for every swim to be a pleasure, not a chore. We are not about swimming the longest distance in the shortest time. We are not about ticking boxes. We are there to soak up the experience of some very special places and moments and some extraordinary water and swim courses. We want everyone to enjoy their swims, no matter their ability. We are not here to satisfy obsessives who just want longer, faster, farther. We are inclusive, not elitist. If you set new, personal benchmarks along the way, then that's good, but it’s not the aim of the group overall.

This is why we build other activities into our oceanswimsfaris. The places we take you are rich in culture, history, cuisine, and character. We want you to sample as much of that as possible. Swimming is the catalyst for our presence, but there's much more to these places than that.

To join us to swim, you need to be able to swim 1km freestyle without stopping. You will find you can actually swim much farther than that once you're in the peloton situation. You don't need to be fast and you don't need to be a world-beater. You might not be a swimmer yourself; you might be accompanying a swimmer. Some people just come along for the ride. There still will be opportunities for you to swim in some locations. But when we're swimming as a group, we cannot afford to be stretched out or held back. If you get into the water to swim, then you must swim. We cannot afford for anyone to hang back admiring a coral head, fascinated by an anenome fish, mooching around in the one spot. If you see something interesting, by all means stop or slow down for a closer look, but don’t dwell too long. This is in the interests of the safety of the group overall.

We generally swim 1.5km - 3km in a session, depending on conditions and the experience and capacity of our group.

Enquiries and bookings

Enquiries... Click here

See what others say about our oceanswimsafaris... Click here

Please first check & Terms and Conditions... Click here

To book... Click here

Swim buddies, Moorea. (Pic by David Helsham @ glistenrr)

Communal house, Moorea (above and below).

It's the water. (Pic by David Helsham @ glistenrr)

Passing traffic.

Gardens.

Sunset, Pape'ete, from our pub.