Looking for Budget Accommodations in Moorea

We recently scored an amazing ticket deal to French Polynesia and decided to spend the majority of our time on the island of Moorea - Tahiti’s smaller next door neighbor. French Polynesia is a pretty expensive place to travel, especially when it comes to lodging with most hotels in Moorea falling between the $200-$500+ per night range. As such, we moved on to Airbnb and even most of those were pretty expensive until we found Marie’s place just north of Temae Beach for $100 per night over our dates (March). We ended up having an absolutely lovely stay at this little backyard gem and as such, wanted to write a review for other travels headed to French Polynesia on a budget in case Marie’s place is available during your stay.

Location

Marie’s place is located right on the ocean an approximately 13-minute drive from the ferry terminal in Moorea where you arrive from Tahiti if you decide to go by boat. There isn’t really a public transportation system in Tahiti, so we rented a scooter from Moorea Scooter (you get a discount if you tell them you’re staying at Marie’s), located just across the street from the ferry terminal, and rode to Marie’s place. She sent us really good directions with pictures to guide us to their property since she said Google maps tends to lead people astray and we were able to navigate there without any difficulty. However, do note that you have to drive about half the way on dirt roads with some significant potholes, but we didn’t find it too difficult. However, if you’ve never scootered before it might be a little more challenging. What really appealed to us about the location of this property, aside from being ocean front, was that it was walking distance from beautiful Temae Beach and an easy 15-minute drive from the town of Maharepa where you can get groceries and gas, access restaurants and banks with ATMs, and do souvenir shopping.

*The drive to Marie’s place includes traveling on dirt roads. There were a lot of potholes but otherwise not too difficult to navigate.*

*The lovely quiet street leading up to Marie’s place*

Parking

There was plenty of parking in Marie’s yard for our scooter or a car if you decide to go that route. Her yard was fully enclosed and felt like a safe place to leave whatever you’re using for transportation.

The House

The Airbnb itself is a tiny house on stilts in Marie’s backyard, which I was a little uncertain about when we made this booking since I wasn’t sure it would feel private enough, but it ended up being perfect. We saw some other guests a few times who were staying in a room in the house, but didn’t actually see Marie or her family except briefly upon our arrival and departure. Marie met us for check in, gave us a key to the Airbnb and a brief tour, which mainly involved showing us how to open and close the gigantic windows that look out over the ocean - easily the best part of the place! We don’t usually prefer having to interact with hosts at Airbnbs, but Marie was lovely and friendly without hovering. The space itself is a studio with a little kitchenette (included a mini fridge), queen bed, and a chair in one room and a small bathroom at the back with a toilet, sink, and shower. It was all very simple but had everything we needed. The shower had good water pressure and was nice and hot, no issues with the toilet, the bed was comfortable, and the light blankets were okay since there was no AC - just a fan. Obviously, the lack of AC would probably be the biggest downside for those who really want or need a cold environments, but because all the windows opened and there was a good floor fan we were comfortable. I also read a review where someone complained about how loud the ocean was when they were trying to sleep since Marie’s place is probably only 20ft from the beach, but we thought the waves provided great white noise and obviously you know to expect ocean sounds from looking at the photos!

*If you’ve ever dreamed of staying in a treehouse, you’ll love Marie’s place!*

*We turned the pillows around to face the windows and ocean*

*Simple but adequate and clean bathroom*

*What a delight to wake up every morning to this view*

We thought this shady picnic table in the backyard was a nice touch and the covered area with seating on the other side of the fence is for Marie’s guests as well. A perfect place to have coffee and watch the ocean in the morning!

Amenities

Amenities at Marie’s place:

Wifi - worked fine for us despite some reviews saying it was spotty. We were able to use it stream TV without too much buffering.
Smart TV
Direct beach access through a gate in the backyard
Hammock and picnic table in the backyard
Snorkeling gear for two including masks, snorkels, and fins
Kitchenette with all the basics like bowls, plates, silverware, pots, frying pan, coffee pot, etc.
Floor fan to stay cool
Bedding and towels
Some guides to Moorea and local fish for identification while snorkeling
Tote bag, which was helpful for carrying things to the beach or picking up groceries
Soap and shampoo
Small clothesline by the porch for drying swimsuits etc.

The Beach

Marie’s place is located right on the ocean with access through a gate in the backyard onto a coral beach. Because of the reef, it’s not a sandy swimming beach, but there were some pockets of sand where we waded or sat in the water to cool off. We thought it was actually kind of cool being on a coral beach because it was more dynamic with all the waves and the ability to wade in the shallows and see live coral and colorful fish right on the shore without having to snorkel. Do note that the water is too shallow and too many waves to actually snorkel off the beach despite the coral. Our favorite experience from this beach was seeing little black tipped reef sharks cruising up and down right on the shore on two different evenings and at certain times of year, Marie said you can see whales as well! If you want to go to a sandy beach and do some snorkeling, it’s just a 2-minute drive/scoot or a 10-minute walk from Marie’s place to Temae Beach - an expansive public beach between the ferry terminal and Marie’s. We went there several times and appreciated the ample parking and the free bathroom which was always clean and stocked with toilet paper. There was also good shade if you plan to spend awhile and we even saw a food truck parked there a couple of times. We took the snorkeling gear there one day and actually did some pretty decent snorkeling right off the beach with live coral, colorful clams, schools of colorful fish, and even a ray. It was particularly good around the buoy.

*The lovely coral beach you have direct access to from Marie’s property*

*Even though it’s not a sandy swimming beach, we still waded and sat in some sandy pockets to cool off*

*A black tipped reef shark right on the shore!*

*It was also cool to watch storms come and go from the beach*

*We also got to enjoy some incredible sunsets from Marie’s beach*

*The 10-minute walk from Marie’s place to Temae Beach*

Pros & Cons

Pros

Close drive to the ferry terminal
Walking distance to a sandy beach
Direct ocean and coral beach access from the Airbnb
Kitchenette in the Airbnb so you can save money by preparing your own food
Close drive to the town of Maharepa for groceries, gas, and restaurants
Amazing views of the ocean from the Airbnb
Snorkeling gear provided by Marie
Responsive friendly host with a lot of knowledge about Moorea, but who also doesn’t hover

Cons

No AC, although we stayed cool enough with the floor fan
In Marie’s yard so total privacy is not possible
Not easy walking distance from the ferry if you don’t want to rent a car or scooter
You may find the road to Marie’s rough if you haven’t scooted or driven on a dirt road before

How to Book

We found Marie’s place on Airbnb by filtering for oceanfront properties. It was called Marie’s Place when we booked it, but I noticed the name has now changed to “The cabin - facing the Pacific Ocean”. Probably the best way of finding it is to zoom in on the Airbnb map to the residential area just north of Temae Beach. If it doesn’t show up, it’s most likely not available for your dates.

Final Thoughts

We thought Marie’s place was a great deal for Moorea and a great option for someone traveling to Tahiti on a moderate budget. The oceanfront location provided good value for the price and watching reef sharks from the windows of the Airbnb was a pretty special experience. If we return to Moorea, we’d definitely stay with Marie again.

Note - We stayed at Marie’s in March, which is the shoulder season, so her place is undoubtedly more expensive in peak season, but presumably still less than most of the hotels in the area which also raise their prices in peak season.

Have you been Moorea and stayed somewhere else that you’d recommend? We and our readers would love to know! Leave us a comment with the details!

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