Manava Beach Resort and Spa Moorea

Moorea Island & Manava Beach Resort Review Moorea is a secluded tropical paradise with breathtaking mountain scenery, often draped in mist, crystal-clear lagoons, beautiful beaches, and excellent opportunities for snorkeling, diving, and relaxation. If you're looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, Moorea is an incredible destination and well worth visiting at least once as a bucket-list experience. Arrival We took a taxi from the ferry terminal to the resort, which cost around **US$25**. Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by reception staff and offered a complimentary welcome juice while we waited for check-in. We were able to access our room just before 2:00 pm. The Room We stayed in a Family Suite, which featured a double bed downstairs and another upstairs. It's an excellent layout for families with children or teenagers, giving everyone a bit of privacy. The room was spacious, comfortable, and had a large balcony overlooking the gardens. Housekeeping did a great job, with the room cleaned daily and well maintained throughout our stay. However, considering the premium price of the resort, I expected a more luxurious finish. While comfortable, the accommodation didn't quite match the rates being charged. Overall, the resort itself feels quite tired in places. The overwater bungalows and some resort structures appear dated and show signs of wear, with a general lack of upkeep in certain areas. A refresh or light refurbishment would significantly improve the overall impression and bring it more in line with the pricing and expectations. Pool, Beach & Activities The infinity pool is one of the resort's highlights. It's large, beautifully maintained, and overlooks the overwater bungalows, providing spectacular views, especially at sunset. Beach access is a little limited. One side is rocky, with remnants of coral reef that can be uncomfortable underfoot, so reef shoes are recommended. The sandy entry is better, although you'll need to swim around the overwater bungalows before reaching deeper lagoon water. Once there, the water is absolutely stunning and perfect for swimming and snorkeling. The resort includes complimentary use of snorkeling gear and kayaks, which is a nice bonus. Scuba diving and other organised activities are available but come at a significant additional cost. Car Hire & Exploring the Island I highly recommend hiring a car for at least a couple of days. Rental prices start at around **€115 per day** for a manual vehicle. Driving around the island allows you to visit incredible lookouts, beautiful public beaches with fantastic snorkeling, and attractions such as Magic Mountain, which offers breathtaking panoramic views over the bays. Some restaurants we particularly enjoyed were: * Pizza Moorea * Rudy's * Sunset Smoothie Bar * Cook's Restaurant at Cook's Bay Hotel & Suites Dining The resort restaurant was one of the more disappointing aspects of our stay. The dinner menu is small and lacks variety, finesse, and the level of quality you would expect from a resort in this price bracket. While the food was acceptable, it wasn't memorable, and the pricing made it poor value for money. I'd rate the restaurant **2/5 for value**. Breakfast was included with our stay but was virtually identical every morning throughout our seven-day visit. There was no noticeable variation from one day to the next. Bacon and pork sausages were served daily, but if you don't eat pork, no alternative breakfast meats, such as chicken or beef, were offered. The baked goods were also exactly the same every day, making the breakfast repetitive after just a few mornings. One concern was the fruit station, which regularly had small insects around the fruit during breakfast service. While this may be more common in a tropical climate, better food presentation and protection would have improved the overall dining experience. Service Unfortunately, service was the biggest disappointment of our stay. French is clearly the primary language on Moorea, which is understandable given that French Polynesia is an overseas territory of France. However, many staff members at the resort had very limited English, making communication difficult at times. One front desk team member, Julian, stood out as exceptionally professional, friendly, and spoke excellent English. Unfortunately, our experience with several other front desk staff members was not as positive. Their communication skills were lacking, and there appeared to be little effort made to understand or assist when there was a language barrier. The same issue extended to the food and beverage service. Simple requests during breakfast, dinner, or at the pool bar—such as asking for butter or mustard—were frequently forgotten despite multiple reminders. While these are minor requests, repeatedly having to ask several times detracted from the overall guest experience and fell well short of the service standards expected from a resort in this price range. Outside the resort, service was mixed. Some Polynesian staff at other restaurants were genuinely warm and welcoming, while others appeared distant or struggled with English. Given the large number of international visitors who visit Moorea each year, improving English communication and customer service training would significantly enhance the overall visitor experience. Value for Money This was probably the weakest aspect of the entire trip. I understand that Moorea is an island and that importing goods naturally increases costs. However, many prices felt excessive for what was being offered. Examples included: * Around **US$30-$40** for an average burger at the resort. * Most main courses priced at **US$45-$60 or more**. * Café lunches averaging **US$25-$30 per person**. * Two smoothie bowls and a few smoothies costing around **US$70**. Fortunately, local supermarkets offer much better value for essentials. For example, a local beer costs around **US$3** at the supermarket compared with approximately **US$12** for the same product at the resort. Tours, scuba diving, and many optional activities are also very expensive, so it's worth budgeting accordingly before travelling. Overall, Moorea is one of the more expensive island destinations I've visited, and in many cases the quality of the food, service, and experiences didn't justify the premium prices. Overall Moorea is one of the most naturally beautiful islands I've ever visited. The scenery, lagoons, snorkeling, and peaceful atmosphere are absolutely unforgettable and make it a destination I'd recommend everyone experience at least once. The Manava Beach Resort enjoys a fantastic location, offers comfortable accommodation, an excellent infinity pool, and provides complimentary snorkeling equipment and kayaks, all of which add to the experience. However, the resort overall feels tired in places, with dated overwater bungalows and visible signs of wear that suggest a lack of recent refurbishment. Combined with inconsistent service, repetitive breakfast, an underwhelming restaurant, and poor value for money, the experience fell short of expectations set by its premium pricing. A general facelift and improvements in service and dining would significantly elevate the property. My overall Rating Moorea Island:** ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5) Manava Beach Resort:** ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3/5)

I really love this hotel, and this was our 3rd time here over the last few years. I love how it does not get crowded, and the pool/dock/beach areas are so relaxing and peaceful, - just perfect to hang out and snorkel - pool - chill - repeat. There have been some changes in the last year, and the breakfast buffet is no longer free by default and is $45 per person (what?!). Sorry, but this is just insane for what it is. And the food quality/cost in general is not great. Hence, 4 stars, as I still do love everything else.

The hotel is well located by the sea/lagoon and for divers great because it’s in the pass that goes out into the ocean so lots of pelagics are seen around. Food is very good though I felt the menu has less items and should include more variety. Other than that the rooms are v clean and well serviced with all basic amenities definitely a worth while hotel to stay in Moorea.

We stayed there for 5 nights. Our overall impression was that the resort was just fine.  Many times expectations get set when you pay the bill and we do not feel like the resort really came that close for meeting them.  We've stayed at multiple resorts over the last few years.  Manava Beach Resort would be ranked near the bottom of our list. Here's a few of the areas that came up short.   The facilities were nice and clean.  But the bungalows are a bit weathered.  The Internet over my phone was very spotty and slow on the island.  The resort can't do anything about that but that forces me to depend on their WiFi.  I ran into several dead spots in their WiFi coverage throughout the resort.  I either lost connection completely or it was not stable.  Basic things like the TVs in the bar would freeze multiple times.  Sometimes between 3 to 10 seconds.  Normally that's not a huge deal but we were watching World Cup matches.  This caused me to search for other places on the island to watch the games.  Other small things like the lock on my bungalow door was finicky.  I had to follow a specific sequence to get it open.    Mostly the service was friendly but nowhere close to what we've experienced on Bora Bora or many of the other resorts we've visited.     On a positive note the Wednesday night buffet was good and Polynesian dancers were entertaining.

Not worth it. Dont get me wrong - it's beautiful, but so is every other resort or place on these islands so this shouldn't be the leading factor. We went here for our honeymoon and were SO EXCITED about getting a couples massage + enjoy the delicious food together. Unfortunetely the massage was the worst one we've had in all our travels across the world, while being one of the most expensive. The lady just sat there with her finger on my wifes head for 10 min of a 50 min massage and just rubbed her back ever so lightly. If I could rebook to find another place to stay - I would. Especially if you can find something that's more all-inclusive (since it gets EXPENSIVE here if you're doing a-la-carte with everything. But especially don't go here if you're excited about the spa.