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Moorea
Feb 22, 2008 16:23:46
Moorea, located 13 km off the northwest coast of Tahiti, is a steeply-eroded mountainous island of 132 km² in area — the second largest of the Windward Group after Tahiti. With a circumference of 61 km, the island consists of one major landmass, four small islets, a shallow lagoon averaging 3 m in depth and a well-developed barrier-reef that surrounds the entire formation. The islands interior of steep slopes, ridges and ravines reaches a maximum elevation of 1,207 m at Mount Tohivea.
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Several ferries go to the Vaiare wharf in Moorea daily from Papeete, the Tahitian capital. Moorea's Temae Airport (MOZ) has connections to the international airport in Papeete and onward to other Society Islands. The island is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Moorea-Maiao, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands. Because of its stunning scenery and accessibility to Papeete, Moorea is visited by many western tourists who travel to French Polynesia. Especially popular as a honeymoon destination, Moorea can often be seen in advertisements in American wedding magazines. From above, the shape of the island vaguely resembles a fork, with its two nearly symmetrical bays opening to the north side of the island: Cook's (or Paopao) Bay and Oponohu Bay. The island was formed as a volcano 1.5 to 2.5 million years ago, the result of a geologic hotspot in the mantle under the oceanic plate that formed the whole of the Society Archipelago. It is theorized that the current bays were formerly river basins that filled during the Holocene searise.
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Charles Darwin was inspired for his theory regarding the formation of coral atolls when looking down upon Moorea standing on a peak on Tahiti. He described it as a "picture in a frame," referring to the barrier reef encircling the island. Moorea means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian. An older name for the island is Aimeho, sometimes spelled Aimeo or Eimeo, (among other spellings misunderstood by early visitors with no knowledge of the language). Early Western colonists and voyagers also referred to Moorea as York Island. Moorea is truly a stunning setting. Geologists attribute Moorea's rugged beauty to a great volcano whose cataclysmic explosion either blew off the northern half of the crater, or it just slipped into the sea. The rest of the old crater has eroded into jagged peaks and spires. Vanilla was a profitable crop in the early 1900's, but today tourism and some market gardening are the mainstay of the economy.
| Bungalows of Hotel Hibiscus, Hauru Point, Moorea
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|  | The Sofitel Ia Ora resort on Moorea
| Cook's Bay
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