At long last we arrived in Bora Bora our favorite place to snorkel in the world. This was an overnight stay which allowed us two full days to enjoy this wonderful island. It is also one of those perfect atolls with motus and barrier reefs around the whole island. The lagoon within these reefs has many different areas to snorkel and dive to see a wide variety of different fish life and coral in the crystal-clear water. Unfortunately, about 20 years ago a red tide invaded Bora Bora destroying the coral and fish life on the South Barrier Reef. As the reef continued to improve another phenomenon impacted the southern reef again 3 years ago. This reef damage was caused by a significant water temperature increase to 90 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 consecutive days. This again significantly damaged the reefs and killed off much of the fish life in the area. Although we saw some of this impact most of our snorkeling trips were in different areas.
We first snorkeled in an area to search for Manta Rays which are much larger than sting rays and can have a wingspan of 15-20 feet. After almost giving up we finally spotted a Manta Ray in some deeper water but was hard to see at that depth. We later found one swimming at a much shallower depth and we swam with him for a while before he went deeper. They are very impressive creatures and are extremely graceful in the way they swim. As we were getting out of the boat our guide, Fabian, found a small octopus and tried scaring some of our lady snorkelers but they didn’t seem to be very squeamish. A few of them even allowed the guide to put the octopus on their heads so they could get some pictures of themselves. They did say they weren’t that fond of the suction on their necks from the tentacles.
Fabian then took us to another popular snorkeling spot called, you guess it, the Aquarium. Our 3rd different “aquarium” snorkeling area in the French Polynesian islands! It was a very nice area though to swim around and see many fish and coral. We even saw a moray eel that popped out of his hole to show us his teeth. In the sand at a depth of around 30 feet, someone had written “I LOVE BORA BORA” in clam shells. We saw this 10 years ago and they keep it in good shape for the snorkelers to see. We stayed there over an hour enjoying all the fish and coral. Just another world class snorkeling area in the French Polynesian Islands!
We were then dropped off at Bloody Mary’s which is probably the most famous restaurant on the island. It has rustic tables and stools with a sand floor throughout the restaurant. It is covered by a roof but some of the sides are open to the outside. The moderate temperatures on the island allow this type of open-air restaurant. They have several nice menu selections, but we always seem to get hamburgers there and they are excellent. It is even better when accompanied either with one of their nice rum drinks or the local Hinano beer. If we hadn’t already had reservations, we would not have been seated, because they were booked for lunch and only takeout was available for anyone else that walked up. It is a very popular place that you must try if you go to Bora Bora.
We were scheduled to go on an ATV tour after lunch, but it started to rain. It was heavy rain that was really making the roads and paths muddy. After some discussion with the ATV people, we were able to move our tour to the next day when we were hoping it would be much dryer.
We headed back to the port but before taking a tender out to the ship we walked around the area looking at many of the shops in the port area. All the women look at the black pearls here since the South Pacific is where they come from. After stopping at several jewelry shops, Sharon finally found a necklace she really liked with 3 black pearls of different shades.
When we got back on the ship, we found out they were doing a Polynesian dance that evening in our ship’s theater. We decided to go to it and were very glad we did. It was an excellent show with many young dancers from Bora Bora. They put on an excellent show that everyone in the crowd loved. After the show we were able to take pictures with the dancers and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. We actually felt that this was a better show than the one we paid for in Tahiti.
The following morning, we got up and went ashore again to meet our guide Fabien. This time he took us to a shipwreck near the barrier reef. There was a strong current swimming out to the reef but effort paid off because it allowed us to look at some very unique coral formations. Some of these were bright red and different from what we had seen at other sites. The shipwreck was interesting to look at also with the fish swimming all around the wreck.
From the wreck we headed to another snorkeling site that was between two motus (islets). Once again you got to see an assortment of different fish and coral. Even when you jump off the boat to go snorkeling, you never know what you are going to see. Each site the guides take you to is a brand-new experience and a set of new memories you will never forget. Even though Sharon’s underwater case allowed her to get some great photos of the fish and coral, the pictures really don’t do justice to what you see when you snorkel in places like this.
After our snorkeling trip was over, we were dropped back off at the dock to ride the ATVs. We were picked up in vans and taken to the ATV shop where we received some minimal training and headed out to see the island. The first half hour on the ATV was a trip around part of the island on its perimeter road. There were some nice views of the beaches, boats and motus. When we got to the other side of the island, we went off road to get to the top of one of the mountains in order to see some better views. Once again, we had some great views a long the way but nothing like what we saw when we got to the top. We were given some time at the top to take some pictures and get an explanation of where we were at and what was all around us. After taking our photos we went straight down the rocky path to the road below – and we mean straight down at a 45-degree angle with the person in the back holding on to the front person to avoid going over the top of them when we hit the large rocks along the path. It was exciting both up and down the mountain. On the road we continued our journey around the island and eventually stopped at another viewing area where our guides gave us some fruit and snacks. The place we stopped happened to be the house of the owner of the ATV company who had a nice house in a great location. It was another great view of the island below. From there we went back down to the road and completed our entire circle of the island on the perimeter road. The ATV company took us back to the port after our tour.
Although all our excursions we had taken were independently arranged and all private for our group of 17, the pricing was extremely good. We heard horror stories from people on the ship who took cruise line arranged tours and paid double what we paid for tours that were only half as long. There were some people that had booked ship excursions that were not able to get them due to a late itinerary change made by the ship. We were able to work with all our suppliers and do everything we had originally planned. We always tell people it is better to find good third-party tour suppliers than to take the ship’s excursions but so many people just don’t want to take the time to do that.
We got back on the ship and saw one last French Polynesian sunset and our ship took sail to Tahiti where 10 of our group were getting off.
Sharon and Greg
We first snorkeled in an area to search for Manta Rays which are much larger than sting rays and can have a wingspan of 15-20 feet. After almost giving up we finally spotted a Manta Ray in some deeper water but was hard to see at that depth. We later found one swimming at a much shallower depth and we swam with him for a while before he went deeper. They are very impressive creatures and are extremely graceful in the way they swim. As we were getting out of the boat our guide, Fabian, found a small octopus and tried scaring some of our lady snorkelers but they didn’t seem to be very squeamish. A few of them even allowed the guide to put the octopus on their heads so they could get some pictures of themselves. They did say they weren’t that fond of the suction on their necks from the tentacles.
Fabian then took us to another popular snorkeling spot called, you guess it, the Aquarium. Our 3rd different “aquarium” snorkeling area in the French Polynesian islands! It was a very nice area though to swim around and see many fish and coral. We even saw a moray eel that popped out of his hole to show us his teeth. In the sand at a depth of around 30 feet, someone had written “I LOVE BORA BORA” in clam shells. We saw this 10 years ago and they keep it in good shape for the snorkelers to see. We stayed there over an hour enjoying all the fish and coral. Just another world class snorkeling area in the French Polynesian Islands!
We were then dropped off at Bloody Mary’s which is probably the most famous restaurant on the island. It has rustic tables and stools with a sand floor throughout the restaurant. It is covered by a roof but some of the sides are open to the outside. The moderate temperatures on the island allow this type of open-air restaurant. They have several nice menu selections, but we always seem to get hamburgers there and they are excellent. It is even better when accompanied either with one of their nice rum drinks or the local Hinano beer. If we hadn’t already had reservations, we would not have been seated, because they were booked for lunch and only takeout was available for anyone else that walked up. It is a very popular place that you must try if you go to Bora Bora.
We were scheduled to go on an ATV tour after lunch, but it started to rain. It was heavy rain that was really making the roads and paths muddy. After some discussion with the ATV people, we were able to move our tour to the next day when we were hoping it would be much dryer.
We headed back to the port but before taking a tender out to the ship we walked around the area looking at many of the shops in the port area. All the women look at the black pearls here since the South Pacific is where they come from. After stopping at several jewelry shops, Sharon finally found a necklace she really liked with 3 black pearls of different shades.
When we got back on the ship, we found out they were doing a Polynesian dance that evening in our ship’s theater. We decided to go to it and were very glad we did. It was an excellent show with many young dancers from Bora Bora. They put on an excellent show that everyone in the crowd loved. After the show we were able to take pictures with the dancers and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. We actually felt that this was a better show than the one we paid for in Tahiti.
The following morning, we got up and went ashore again to meet our guide Fabien. This time he took us to a shipwreck near the barrier reef. There was a strong current swimming out to the reef but effort paid off because it allowed us to look at some very unique coral formations. Some of these were bright red and different from what we had seen at other sites. The shipwreck was interesting to look at also with the fish swimming all around the wreck.
From the wreck we headed to another snorkeling site that was between two motus (islets). Once again you got to see an assortment of different fish and coral. Even when you jump off the boat to go snorkeling, you never know what you are going to see. Each site the guides take you to is a brand-new experience and a set of new memories you will never forget. Even though Sharon’s underwater case allowed her to get some great photos of the fish and coral, the pictures really don’t do justice to what you see when you snorkel in places like this.
After our snorkeling trip was over, we were dropped back off at the dock to ride the ATVs. We were picked up in vans and taken to the ATV shop where we received some minimal training and headed out to see the island. The first half hour on the ATV was a trip around part of the island on its perimeter road. There were some nice views of the beaches, boats and motus. When we got to the other side of the island, we went off road to get to the top of one of the mountains in order to see some better views. Once again, we had some great views a long the way but nothing like what we saw when we got to the top. We were given some time at the top to take some pictures and get an explanation of where we were at and what was all around us. After taking our photos we went straight down the rocky path to the road below – and we mean straight down at a 45-degree angle with the person in the back holding on to the front person to avoid going over the top of them when we hit the large rocks along the path. It was exciting both up and down the mountain. On the road we continued our journey around the island and eventually stopped at another viewing area where our guides gave us some fruit and snacks. The place we stopped happened to be the house of the owner of the ATV company who had a nice house in a great location. It was another great view of the island below. From there we went back down to the road and completed our entire circle of the island on the perimeter road. The ATV company took us back to the port after our tour.
Although all our excursions we had taken were independently arranged and all private for our group of 17, the pricing was extremely good. We heard horror stories from people on the ship who took cruise line arranged tours and paid double what we paid for tours that were only half as long. There were some people that had booked ship excursions that were not able to get them due to a late itinerary change made by the ship. We were able to work with all our suppliers and do everything we had originally planned. We always tell people it is better to find good third-party tour suppliers than to take the ship’s excursions but so many people just don’t want to take the time to do that.
We got back on the ship and saw one last French Polynesian sunset and our ship took sail to Tahiti where 10 of our group were getting off.
Sharon and Greg
Our 1st day in Bora Bora - our favorite island! Swimming in an aquarium inside the Lagoon which is inside a ring shaped coral reef and small islands (called an Atoll). Followed by lunch at Bloody Mary’s!
Day 2 in beautiful Bora Bora - Unbelievable views from Mount Popoti of Bora Bora on ATVs!
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