Moorea

Moorea , in tahitien Moʻorea , is a island of French Polynésie in the south of the Pacific Ocean. Located vis-a-vis Tahiti, it belongs to the Windward Islands in the archipelago of the Company and is the chief town of the common of Moorea-Maiao.

Geography

Located at 17 kilometers in the North-West of Tahiti, Moorea is separated by from it deep a Chenal exceeding by place the 1500 meters. Of triangular form, “the island sister” of Tahiti has two principal bays: the bay of Opunohu (this name comes from the words tahitiens opu: the belly and nohu: the fish hones) and the bay of Cook (of the name of the famous navigator James Cook).

It is encircled by a barrier of coral open on the Pacific Ocean in 12 master keys.

Of a surface of 133,50 km ², it counts nearly 15000 inhabitants gathered in several villages mainly on the Littoral: Teavaro, Maharepa, Paopao, Papetoai, Haapiti, Afareitu and Vaiare.

It counts 8 mountains, on the basis of the culminating point of the island: the Mount Tohiea (1207m), the Mount Rotui (899 m), the Mount Mouaroa (880m), the Mount Mouaputa (830m), the Mount Tearai (770m), the Mount Tautuapae (769m), the Mount Fairurani (741m) and the Mount Matotea (714m).

History

Formerly called Aimeho or Eimeo, the name current Tahitien of Moorea results in “yellow lizard”, of moʻo which mean lizard and of rea which meant formerly yellow.

The island was populated at the same time as Tahiti. Unloading in Tahiti in 1767, Wallis was the first to see it but did not judge useful to explore it. It called it only the island of the Duc of York. Later in 1769, the officers and Naturaliste S of Cook went there to establish a astronomical Observatoire there. In 1777, Cook goes to Moorea for the first time at the time of its last voyage in Polynésie. There remained a few days in adjacent bay of Opunohu, one thus named this bay in its honor, also called the bay of Paopao. In 1817, missionaries English settled to inform the inhabitants of the island and built there a Sucrerie and a textile factory, without success, because in 1843, the France appendix the French Polynésie.

Until the Second world war, the economy of the island was based on the Coprah, the Vanille and the Café. In the the Seventies, one continues to cultivate copra, the Ananas in the valley of Opunohu and one built there a factory of fruit juice (Juice Rotui). Today, this factory is an economic pole with Moorea, it employs forty employees. Moorea became the principal center of pineapple plantation in French Polynésie.

Transport

There exist two means of transport for the crossing of Moorea with Tahiti:

By plane: Air Moorea ensures forty daily flights between the Aéroport of Moorea and the International airport Tahiti Faa' has one 7 minutes duration.
By boat: Connected since Vaiare to PAPEETE, Tahiti is at less than one half an hour by catamaran at high speed and approximately an hour by ferry.

Economy

The main activities are the Tourisme, the culture of the Ananas and the fishing. Moorea is the third island most visited French Polynésie after Tahiti and Bora Bora. Many sand beaches hotel complex white and several are offered to the tourists.

Moorea is also famous like " the island of the chercheurs" from French Polynesia by the presence of two important international research stations: the station Richard B. Gump, station of ground of the University of bay California Berkeley of Cook, and the CRIOBE (Research center Insular and Observatory of the Environment), station of ground of the EPHE (School Practices High Studies) out of bay of Opunohu).

Site of the station Gump
Site of the CRIOBE

Tourism

The activities suggested are primarily nautical: Diving, walk in dugout, discovered animals of the Lagoon. Today prohibited inside the Lagoon, one of the headlight activities but disputed is the nourrissage of sharks (sharks with black points, sharks lemons, gray sharks of reef).

Personalities

Bernard Moitessier lived there.

External bonds

ICA - Site devoted to the audio-visual heritage of Polynesia with many vidéos, sounds and images
Official site of the commune of Moorea-Maiao
Photographs of Moorea
the island of Moorea
Information on Moorea
Events Moorea
Directory general practitioner managed since Moorea

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