The island Bora Bora wishes it still was — twin volcanic bays, no cruise ship crowds, spinner dolphins
Mo'orea sits 17km from Tahiti — reachable by ferry in 30 minutes — yet feels entirely apart. A heart-shaped island of extinct volcanic peaks, two perfect U-shaped bays (Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay), and a lush interior largely untouched. Spinner dolphins congregate in the bays most mornings; humpback whales breed in the surrounding waters from July to October. The island has no traffic lights, two main roads, and a pace the island itself seems to dictate.
Mo'orea appears in James Cook's journals from 1769 as one of the most beautiful islands he encountered. The London Missionary Society established Polynesia's first Christian mission here in 1811. The island became the setting for James Michener's 1947 Tales of the South Pacific, which inspired the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and effectively invented the modern image of the Pacific paradise.