The Great Escape: Cook’s Bay Hotel
- Aug 20
- 2 min read
Cook’s Bay Hotel, Moorea, French Polynesia
After spending two full weeks on Moorea, we realized that, completely by accident, we had chosen a hotel in the best possible location, one that happens to be on a world-class dive wall and reef. The Great Escape at Cook’s Bay Hotel in French Polynesia.
We didn’t even need to jump in a car, so we spent many of our days exploring underwater right off the dock. We landed in the middle of this utopia—swimming along the dive wall in Cook’s Bay, in an underwater world almost too amazing to convey. I’m a diver and open water swimmer, and I’d never experienced anything like it. As soon as my mask hit the water, I was surrounded by hundreds of fish, coral, colors, and turtles. We’d sunbathe on the jetty on our return from swims along the reef in both directions. We’d come back for a fresh coconut and do it again.
A Barefoot Dream
It was just all so… easy. We’d wake up, then have mangos, bananas, passion fruit, and pineapple on our deck in the warmth of the sun. In the evening, we made dinner in the fully equipped kitchen and separate living room, but the outdoor patio was the center. We’d have meals, dry our clothing, and drape ourselves over the loungers, exhausted at the end of a perfect day. Other guests would lounge in cabanas around their gorgeous seaside pool.
After exploring the island for 15 days, we never found anything else that came close. You can see the bottom all along the reef, as far as you’d like to explore, and the tropical sealife, the coral, was out of a dream. Their bar, Le Cook’s Bar, is the place in Moorea for cocktails, steps away from the floating deck, perfect for watching a slow sunset.
Sunbeds and loungers on a white beach sand with crystal clear water in the background, in Moorea. Sunbeds, floats, and hotel pool with crystal clear water in the background, in Moorea.