The classic Moorea half-day outing is a motorised outrigger trip around the lagoon, stopping at three or four sites: a stingray-and-blacktip-reef-shark feeding station on a shallow sand bar where the rays nuzzle around your legs in chest-deep water; a coral garden snorkel stop; one of the small reef-fringed motu (islets) such as Motu Fareone for a beach break; and lunch — either a beach barbecue cooked by the boat crew or a hotel platter eaten on the sand. Most boats leave from Tipanier, Hauru or one of the western beach resorts. Book through a hotel, your guesthouse or directly with operators like Albert Tours, Hiro Tours or Moorea Lagoon Tours. Expect 6,000–10,000 CFP per person.
Lagoon Excursion
A story
Moorea's lagoon is one of the few places where stingrays — properly, southern stingrays of the species *Pastinachus sephen* — have learned to associate boats with food and will approach swimmers in waist-deep water. The behaviour is the result of decades of feeding by tour operators and is not without controversy; the modern code prohibits direct feeding by guests and asks visitors not to touch the underside of the rays, which is where they are most sensitive.