Renting a car in Moorea: one or two days?

[suometar]

We plan to rent a car in Moorea. The question is: whether to keep it for one day or both days? The first day we will definitely want to tour the islands, and stop off at the public beaches and do some shore snorkeling. Would it be worth it to keep the car for a second day?

[Tikiintahiti]

I always keep the car for 2 days on Moorea.

 

Second day is usually about half the cost of day #1

 

Avis/Pacificar will have cars at tender location and a place for you to park over night.

 

PacificCar rentals

http://www.avis.com/car-rental/location/details.ac?LOCATIONCODE=B1A#

Avis Contact: sandrine@avispacificar.pf

www.avis-tahiti.com This site will give you pictures of the cars available

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I on the other hand can't imagine keeping it for two days. We rented one once, but 3-4 hours was plenty to get around and see what we wanted. Depends I guess what you want to do that second day. Do you want to get out on the water, for instance? Lots of opportunities to do that.

[Emdee]

We have also rented for a day.

Now we just call Teva and he picks us up and takes us wherever we want. He even gave me a breadfruit from his tree!

[Tikiintahiti]

Everyone hs there own way of doing things, that is what is nice about this forum, everyone has something to add.

 

For us we like the idea of having a car both days. We prefer to drive around, visit friends, go to the bakery, get ice cream, visit resorts, head over to the back side of the island for pizza ......... all sorts of things to enjoy that are land based. But that's us, some might think the same way, some don't but we still rent a car for 2 days on Moorea and after about 10 times on being on this very pretty island we still find new things to do on land and of course visiting old memories.

 

In general I always tell people "think lagoon on Bora Bora" & "thing land things on Moorea" .......... but that's us

 

BTW, there are some good snorkeling spots that you can drive to or get to the shuttle location to go out to the motus.

 

Heck, for an extra $75 bucks I know I have a car sitting there for day #2, that's nothin when you figure the price of your trip. But as I said, that's us ...

[astrocat]

We rented a car for one day, enjoyed it so much and saw so much that we went back to the 'office' under the tree and rented another the next day!

 

This time, December 2013, we will save money by renting two days at once. Enjoyed this island so much.

[sanne]

I would very much appreciate how you go about booking a car before you get to Moorea. We will be arriving by ferry and returning there 2 days later.

 

Thanks.

[Tikiintahiti]

go look at post #2 ;)

[twin123185]

I have also rented a car though Albert's on Moorea - no problems.

[suometar]

Thanks for all your replies! I think we will take Tiki's advice and keep the car for the second day. I'm sure the first day we'll just get a feel for the "lay of the land" and do some snorkeling, and the second day go back to the places that we loved the first day, or perhaps book an activity.

[Tikiintahiti]

You have it for the evening. One of the best Polynesian Shows in all of French Polynesia is at Tiki Village on Moorea. The food is average but the show is spectacular, only rivaled by the show at the IC Tahiti. You can eat dinner on the ship then just go over there for the evening show which starts around 8:30 pm.

 

Tiki Village

 

[suometar]

The show at Tiki Village does look spectacular, but we will be on Moorea on Thursday overnight and Friday, and according to the website they do not perform on Thursday. We were thinking of stopping by there in the afternoon, but I'm wondering if it's just an excuse for an overpriced gift shop?

[twin123185]

The gift shop is nothing special.

[hrprof]

Is there a maximum age limit for auto rentals?

[Emdee]

hrprof,

Suggest you send an email to Sandrine ( Avis) and ask her. She is really nice.

 

In case you have a problem we know a Taxi driver Teva Wilkes whom we use. I can give you his number and you can make your arrangements with him. I have always found him to be quite reliable and he does take people around the island too. We just use him for drop and pick up at the sofitel.

[Escriteur]

The show at Tiki Village does look spectacular, but we will be on Moorea on Thursday overnight and Friday, and according to the website they do not perform on Thursday. We were thinking of stopping by there in the afternoon, but I'm wondering if it's just an excuse for an overpriced gift shop?

 

We visited Tiki Village on our own during our cruise in July/Aug 2012. I believe they're open from 11am-3pm during the day. It's much more than just a gift shop (though they do have plenty of crafts and things for sale). We a had a guide (Mata) take us around to all of the different exhibits; for example, he showed us all of the uses locals have for coconut trees, a traditional cooking pit, and a small fare with replica Gauguin paintings, and he helped us dye a couple of pareos. We also got to watch the villagers making jewelry, weaving palm fronds, even carving stone tikis with a machete! After our tour of the exhibits, another villager took us out on an outrigger-style boat to see a pearl-farming demo. We then had a lesson about pearl grading, etc. at the little boutique. At 1pm, we had what amounted to a private performance of song, dance, and pareo-tying. (It was just us and one other couple.) If you're getting a rental car, I would highly recommend a visit to Tiki Village. I think the cost was only about $25 per person.

 

If you'd like to see some pics of our visit to Tiki Village, you can view our Moorea Flickr album here:

 

Hope this info helps!

[suometar]

Escriteur, thank you so much for your very helpful post, and for the link to those fantastic pictures!

[Tikiintahiti]

Thank you for sharing, looking at paradise never gets old :)

[Escriteur]

Escriteur, thank you so much for your very helpful post, and for the link to those fantastic pictures!

 

Thank you for sharing, looking at paradise never gets old :)

 

You're very welcome, suometar - I'm happy you found the info helpful. And thank you both for your kind words regarding our photos; I'm glad you enjoyed them! :)

[MrsSmith91739]

You might consider booking it now. We are going in November and I looked just now and they only had a few styles available.