Fifty-two villas reviewed across six pockets of a 134-square-kilometer volcanic Society Island, 17 km northwest of Tahiti, with a barrier-reef lagoon at 26 to 28 degrees Celsius year-round.
Moorea is the volcanic Society Island 17 kilometers northwest of Tahiti, reachable by a seven-minute Air Tahiti hop or a 35 to 50 minute ferry from Papeete. The island is 134 square kilometers, ringed by a 60-kilometer loop road, and enclosed on three sides by a barrier reef that holds the inner-lagoon water at 26 to 28 degrees Celsius year-round. A six-bedroom Opunohu Bay villa with a 14-meter pool and full housekeeping prices at 22,000 to 32,000 US dollars a week in late July. The Bora Bora equivalent at the same quality prices at 32,000 to 48,000. The trade-off is fewer dedicated overwater units (most are at the three Moorea resorts: InterContinental, Hilton, and Sofitel). The trade-up is the land-based hike, ridge, and waterfall network, the genuine working-island economy (pineapple plantations, vanilla farms, black-pearl farms on the lagoon), and the Cook’s and Opunohu bay system that Captain Cook himself anchored in.
The peak runs May through October, the austral winter dry season. The apex weeks are July and the first three weeks of August. December through March is the wet season with afternoon squalls and reduced underwater visibility for diving and snorkeling. Christmas-New Year is a secondary apex priced 25 to 35 percent above the wet-season baseline but still 15 to 25 percent below the July-August peak. The cyclone risk is real (the South Pacific cyclone season runs November to April) but historically lower than the same-season Atlantic risk on the Caribbean side.
The villa pockets that matter are Cook’s Bay or Paopao on the northern coast (the sunnier east-side bay, the largest village), Opunohu Bay (the deeper west-side bay where Cook actually anchored in 1777, calmer and more sheltered), Temae (the northeast tip with the airport and the longest white-sand public beach), Haapiti (the southwest coast for surf), Maharepa (the north-shore service corridor with the InterContinental and the Hilton anchoring the dining), and Tiahura at the northwest tip for the reef snorkel and the sunset. The pockets we would not book for a villa week are the central interior valleys (mosquito density, no sea access) and the south-coast stretch beyond Atiha (limited dining and a single-lane loop road).
The rest of this page is the structured guide. Best villas by group size, what each pocket is for, the July-August math, the lagoon-vs-resort question, and the properties we considered and did not recommend.
Distance from the ferry quay, bay character, reef-snorkel access, and the village trade-offs the listing photography hides.
Position: the northern coast, the easternmost of the two bays. Drive from MOZ: 18 minutes. Drive from Vaiare quay: 15 minutes. Best for: first villa weeks, mixed-age groups, mountain-view stays. The bay carved into the volcanic crater wall, with Mount Rotui rising 899 meters at the headwall. Cook’s Bay is a misnomer (Cook actually anchored in Opunohu) but the name stuck.
Position: the deeper west-side bay. Drive from MOZ: 28 minutes. Drive from Vaiare quay: 25 minutes. Best for: sailing groups, design-led couples, longer stays. Where Cook actually anchored in 1777. Quieter water than Cook’s Bay, deeper at the head, the strongest sunset view back over Mount Rotui. Smaller inventory, premium prices.
Position: the northeast tip. Drive from MOZ: 4 minutes. Drive from Vaiare quay: 10 minutes. Best for: shorter stays, beach families, airport-arrival convenience. The longest white-sand public beach on the island. Sofitel Ia Ora anchors the dining. Smaller villa pocket because of the airport adjacency.
Position: the southwest coast, the surf side. Drive from MOZ: 50 minutes. Drive from Vaiare quay: 45 minutes. Best for: surf groups, off-the-tour-route quiet, design-led couples. The pass at Haapiti is the recognized left-hand surf break. Smaller restaurant scene, the quietest villa pocket on the loop.
Position: the north shore between Temae and Cook’s Bay. Drive from MOZ: 10 minutes. Drive from Vaiare quay: 8 minutes. Best for: shorter stays, dining-led trips, value buyers. The service corridor. InterContinental Moorea anchors the western end, Hilton Moorea Lagoon anchors the eastern end. The dining-density pocket.
Position: the northwest tip. Drive from MOZ: 38 minutes. Drive from Vaiare quay: 35 minutes. Best for: snorkel-led groups, sunset terraces, design weeks. The single strongest beach-snorkel reef on the island. Sting-ray and reef-shark snorkel tours depart from here. The sunset view back into Opunohu Bay is the postcard.
Two pockets we would not book for a villa week: the central interior valleys (mosquito density on a working-pineapple-plantation perimeter, no direct sea access) and the south-coast stretch beyond Atiha (single-lane loop road, restaurant inventory limited to two operators).
Each card sorts by what the property does well at the occupancy level it is built for. Verified for current pricing as of May 2026.
Bedrooms: 3. Sleeps: 6. Pocket: Cook’s Bay. Peak rate: $11,500 to $17,500 / week. Verdict: a Polynesian-style villa on the lagoon edge with a 10-meter pool, private pontoon, and direct kayak launch into the bay. AC throughout. Daily housekeeper for the first four days.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 3. Sleeps: 6. Pocket: Temae. Peak rate: $9,800 to $14,500 / week. Verdict: two minutes from Temae Beach, eight-meter pool, garden plot, four-minute drive from MOZ airport. The arrival-day-ready pick at this size.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 5. Sleeps: 10. Pocket: Opunohu Bay. Peak rate: $22,000 to $32,000 / week. Verdict: west-side bay position with the Mount Rotui sunset, 14-meter pool, daily housekeeper, private pontoon for sailing day-charters. The workhorse Opunohu pick.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 5. Sleeps: 10. Pocket: Tiahura. Peak rate: $19,500 to $28,000 / week. Verdict: direct reef-front position, snorkel access from the property line, 12-meter pool, sunset terrace. The water-led pick.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 7. Sleeps: 14. Pocket: Opunohu Bay. Peak rate: $42,000 to $62,000 / week. Verdict: two-pool layout, full staff of three, private pontoon, four kayaks and two paddleboards included. Direct sunset view over Mount Rotui. Wedding-permitted to 60.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 6. Sleeps: 12. Pocket: Cook’s Bay. Peak rate: $32,000 to $48,000 / week. Verdict: bay-front position with a private dock for tender pickup. Two pools. The mountain-view pick at this size.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 9. Sleeps: 18. Pocket: Opunohu Bay. Peak rate: $58,000 to $92,000 / week. Verdict: three buildings, separate kitchens. The configuration works for two households sharing. Tennis court. Three pools. Five staff. Wedding-permitted to 80.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 10. Sleeps: 20. Pocket: Tiahura. Peak rate: $68,000 to $112,000 / week. Verdict: the largest property on our editorial list. Three buildings, two pools, six staff, direct reef-snorkel from a private cove. The water-led pick at scale.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideHeadline rates by bedroom count and season. Before service, French Polynesia tourist tax, staff gratuities, chef, and the dive-and-snorkel circuit. Verified May 2026.
| Bedroom count | Peak (Jul, Aug 1 to 22) | Peak shoulder (Jun, late Aug, Sep) | Dry shoulder (May, Oct) | Wet (Nov to Apr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 BR | $10,500 to $17,500 / wk | $8,200 to $14,000 | $6,500 to $11,000 | $5,000 to $8,500 |
| 5 BR | $22,000 to $32,000 / wk | $17,000 to $26,000 | $12,500 to $19,000 | $9,500 to $15,000 |
| 7 BR | $42,000 to $62,000 / wk | $32,000 to $48,000 | $22,000 to $36,000 | $16,500 to $26,000 |
| 9 BR+ | $62,000 to $112,000 / wk | $48,000 to $82,000 | $34,000 to $58,000 | $24,000 to $42,000 |
Rates are weekly, before tourist tax (200 to 400 XPF per adult per night), final cleaning (250 to 500 USD), staff gratuities (350 to 700 USD per staff member for the week), private chef (280 to 580 USD per dinner with food at cost), and one rental car included on most editorial-list properties. Dive guide for two-tank pass dives at 280 to 380 USD per person.
The Bora Bora overwater bungalow density (more than 250 units across six brand-resort properties) does not exist on Moorea. The three Moorea overwater bungalow operators (InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa at Tiahura, Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa at Maharepa, and Sofitel Ia Ora Beach Resort at Temae) hold the entire dedicated overwater inventory. Combined: roughly 160 units. Booking pattern: November of the prior year for the July-August peak.
The buyer-side trade-off for groups doing a Moorea villa: the dedicated overwater experience is a resort day, not a villa night. Most editorial-list villa managers will arrange a single-day-pass at Hilton or InterContinental at 110 to 180 USD per person, which includes overwater-deck loungers, lunch, and lagoon access. The full overwater stay is a separate booking question and most-priced via the three resort sites directly.
The villa-side answer for groups that want a lagoon week: book a property with direct lagoon frontage and a private pontoon. The Opunohu and Cook’s Bay pockets hold the most usable inventory at this spec. The water is warmer, the reef-snorkel access is comparable, and the privacy is materially higher. The view-versus-overwater trade is a question the editorial-list villa manager can structure around for a Moorea week.
For the first three weeks of August, November the year prior is the safe booking month. For July or late August, March is fine. For shoulder weeks of May, June, and September, eight weeks of lead time is enough on most properties. The first week of August is the second hardest book on the island and needs October the year prior at the latest.
French Polynesia villa rentals run 30 to 50 percent on confirmation, balance 60 days before arrival. Security deposit of 2,000 to 8,000 USD is held against damage and refunded within 21 days of departure. Le Collectionist, Plum Guide, and onefinestay refund per their published terms. Direct contracts via Papeete-based agencies are typically harder. Read the contract before the deposit clears.
The clause to walk away from: any property where the cancellation schedule penalizes the guest 100 percent at 60 days out, with no carve-out for documented South Pacific cyclone advisory or international flight cancellation chain. The carve-out is a buyer-side protection. A handful of properties on the major platforms exclude this. We do not list any of them.
Eight properties currently advertised on the major platforms that we did not include in our editorial list, with the reason each was disqualified. Names withheld where the manager would face commercial harm from naming. Conditions described.
The villa is the destination. The rest of the trip still matters.
The lagoon-front dinners at Sofitel, Hilton, and InterContinental. Snack Mahana for the lunch view. Le K at Cook’s Bay. The roulottes (food trucks) in Cook’s Bay village after dark.
BarsForKingsSunset rooftops at the three resorts. Hinano Pils as the working register. The black-pearl-and-rum bar at the InterContinental.
HotelsForKingsInterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa at Tiahura. Hilton Moorea Lagoon at Maharepa. Sofitel Ia Ora Beach Resort at Temae. The overwater-bungalow trip where a resort beats a villa at the same nightly cost.
Two routes from Tahiti’s Faa’a International Airport (PPT). Air Tahiti flies the 7-minute hop to Moorea Airport (MOZ) at Temae roughly 12 times a day. The Aremiti and Terevau ferries cross from Papeete in 35 to 50 minutes, roughly 8 times a day with a 6 a.m. first crossing. Most editorial-list villas arrange a private transfer from MOZ or the Vaiare ferry quay.
May through October is peak (the austral winter dry season). The apex weeks are July and the first three weeks of August. December through March is the wet season with afternoon squalls and reduced visibility for diving and snorkeling. Christmas-New Year is a secondary apex priced 25 to 35% above the wet-season baseline.
Moorea is the closer, larger, and more land-active of the two. Bora Bora is the overwater-bungalow postcard with the higher density of five-star resorts. Moorea villa inventory runs 25 to 40% below Bora Bora villa inventory at equivalent quality. The trade-off: fewer dedicated overwater units (most are at the three Moorea resorts), and a working-island economy (pineapple, vanilla, Tahitian black pearl farms). The land-based hike, ridge, and waterfall network on Moorea is genuinely larger.
Cook’s Bay or Paopao on the northern coast (the sunnier east-side bay), Opunohu Bay (the deeper west-side bay where Cook actually anchored), Temae (the northeast tip with the airport and the longest white-sand beach), Haapiti (the southwest coast for surf), Maharepa (the north-shore service corridor with the public beach), and Tiahura at the northwest tip for the reef snorkel and the sunset.
Yes. Moorea is a 60-km loop road around a triangular volcanic island. End-to-end travel time on the loop is 70 to 90 minutes. Most editorial-list villas include one car. The villa pockets are 15 to 25 minutes apart. Scooter rental is the local norm but limited to one or two adults per scooter.
Seven nights, with Saturday-to-Saturday windows from June through September. Christmas-New Year requires 10 nights on most properties. Shoulder season (April, May, October) opens to five-night stays with flexible arrival.
French Polynesia villa rentals run 30 to 50% on confirmation, balance 60 days before arrival. Security deposit of 2,000 to 8,000 USD is held against damage and refunded within 21 days of departure. The French Polynesia tourist tax is roughly 200 to 400 XPF per adult per night.
Yes. The Moorea lagoon is enclosed by a barrier reef on three sides with two passes (Avaroa and Taotoi on the north, Tareu and Tupapaurau on the southwest). Inside the lagoon water runs 26 to 28 degrees Celsius year-round, sheltered from open-ocean swell. Tiahura on the northwest holds the strongest snorkel reef accessible from a beach. Sting-ray and reef-shark snorkel tours run from Cook’s Bay and Tiahura.
The top 12 villas on our list are typically committed by October the year prior. November is the safe booking month for the first three weeks of August. By March only second-tier inventory remains for the apex window. Air Tahiti Nui and Air France international flights also book up early.
Daily housekeeping for the first three to four days is the norm. Full-time housekeeping is offered on the larger Opunohu Bay and Tiahura properties. Private chef is bookable at 280 to 580 USD per dinner with food at cost (fresh tuna, mahi-mahi, and local lagoon fish are typically the strongest value). Dive guide for two-tank pass dives at 280 to 380 USD per person.
Last updated May 2026. Properties on this page were assessed through a combination of site visits, manager interviews, platform reviews, repeat-guest interviews, and verified booking data from the platforms. Prices verified within the last 90 days. Next refresh: November 2026, ahead of the July-August peak booking window.
The named editor of this page is the Villas For Kings Pacific desk. Conflicts of interest, where they exist, are disclosed on each individual villa page.
The Tiahura resort for the overwater-bungalow nights. The lagoon-front dinners. The black-pearl-and-rum bars on the north shore.