Baie de Paopao

Drop the hook in Cook's Bay, one of the most dramatic anchorages in French Polynesia, with jagged volcanic peaks rising straight up from the water all around you. You can dinghy ashore to the Moorea Beach Café dock, which puts you within easy reach of the valley, local restaurants, and the main road across the island. The scenery alone makes this one worth the stop — it's the kind of bay that looks almost too cinematic to be real.