Back from Tahiti / Moorea OMG

Damnit, I'm in love with whales.  Everyday we observed humpback whales from the shore.  On one extremely special occasion I was able to fly the drone over a loving mother and playful calf while they rested for roughly 20 minutes before diving.  The footage is some of my best.  

Moorea is a small island 30 miles or so from Tahiti. I've been corrected, It's not Tahiti... That's where we mostly stayed. 

CAN YOU HEAR WHALES?  In all the nature documentaries you hear their songs as well as the folly waves and blow holes.  We took a whale watching tour that allows you to swim with them, or allows whales to swim by you I should say.  Basically you see one coming a hundred or so meters away and you gently slip in the water, hoping they decide to approach.  The first two attempts the whales decided not to, but man were they singers.  I always wondered how loud it was or if the GoPro would pick up the audio in the sloshy, choppy ocean. It was a little stormy that day.  The answer is they are deafening loud.  Though the water was clear, we never saw them, yet their song vibrated your chest like the bass guitar at a rock concert.  You can even hear it echo off the ocean bottom I presume.  On the third try two silent whales rose from the dark depths maybe 30 meters away...

The GoPro footage is pretty bad, but the audio is pretty damn good.  The darkness and grain actually adds a great creepiness vibe.  

IS TAHITI / MOOREA EXPENSIVE?  This is the most expensive vacation I've been on, but now we know we can do it a lot cheaper.  With flights, Nat and I spent about $3300 each.  My wife is a bargain hunter and booked this last December. We heard the food was really expensive so we brought a bunch of tuna and ramen. We were surprised the food costs about the same as it does here if you buy at the local markets.  Hotel food, completely different story.  The cheaper lodges and Air BnBs went for about $140 a night. For our 8 year aniversary we went all out staying in an over the water bungalow at Sofitel for $700 that night! 

Very similar to Sofitel is the Hilton, but these bungalows were $1200 a night... We passed. (Sofitel is close to the airport and drone flights are prohibited). 

We love to snorkel from the beach rather than take tours.  In Hawaii I struggled to find public beaches and was worried it would be the same in Moorea which is the logic behind the expensive hotels.  Now we know there are many public beaches in Moorea, there is no reason to splurge on the expensive hotels.  

THE TOURS ARE PRICEY, but damn worth it.  On this trip, I actually preferred tours to the beach snorkeling... 

I have tons of footage for a fun loving nature video that might earn 5 or 600 dollars on YouTube.  Thanks to you guys, I could afford this trip of a lifetime.  I hope to create something educational, funny and inspiring with your hard earned money.  

So with that, I'd like to hear your experiences with whales and any cool fact checked tidbits you know.  Have you been to Polynesia? How do you feel about whale tours?  Are they worth the slight harassment.  Is it harassing? 

xox

Hank