Due to all the confusion of the strike, our flight to Bora Bora was practically empty -- only six passengers on a plane built to carry 74. Everyone who wanted one got a window seat! And what a view -- from the air you can really see the ring of reefs and turquoise colors of the lagoon that surrounds the island.
Our Airbnb on this island was called "Sunrise Villa". The Tahitian-Hawaiian owner had included decorative touches from both of those Polynesian cultures throughout the home.
True to its name we had a great view of the sunrise over the water every morning.
Our first excursion here was an all-day snorkel tour that took us to some of the best spots in the lagoon and gave us great views of the main island.
We have seen maxima clams on almost all the coral reefs here - the brightly colored squiggly lines of their mantles are really eye-catching! They come in several shades - brownish gold, aquamarine green, cobalt blue, and a really striking indigo purple. The spots on their mantle are sensitive to light so when predators cast a shadow it causes the clam to close up for protection. The blue one in the upper left of this picture is a pretty good size -- they can grow to about 8 inches across.
On this tour we also made a stop in deeper water to snorkel with a school of blacktip reef sharks. They don't get very big, only about 5 feet long, so they generally avoid interaction with humans. But the tour guides here will drop some food in the water when the boats arrive and then drop another batch of food when the boats leave, so the sharks have been conditioned to stick around and wait for the second feeding. This gives the tour groups enough time to drop their guests in the water to snap some photos.
Luckily for us the sharks don't try to snack on the snorkelers.
After snorkeling all morning, we motored to Taurere Point on one of the motus east of the main island. The place was set up with picnic tables in the water and we had a buffet lunch consisting of typical Polynesian foods.
Lunch was served on a braided palm leaf tray with another leaf serving as a plate. On the plate you can see a local rice dish; poisson cru (raw fish in coconut milk); grilled fish, chicken, and beef; grilled plantain; coconut bread; sweet potato; some kind of root vegetable -- taro, I think; and banana pudding and fresh pineapple for dessert. All of the food was excellent.
Our Airbnb is on the wrong side of the island for sunsets, but we were able to catch a few good ones whenever we went out to dinner. This is the view from the terrace at the Bora Bora Beach Club, right by Matira Beach on the southern end of the island.
On Tuesday and Thursday we had originally booked to rent a small power boat to go out snorkeling on our own. Unfortunately our plans hit a snag when the weather forecast said strong winds would kick up for that part of the week. The boat rental company canceled, since they didn't want to send tourists out in their boats in rough weather. We were disappointed, but instead of letting it get us down we just changed the plan! I called around to all of the luxury resorts and was able to book us a day pass at the St. Regis. On Wednesday we were picked up by their fancy motor shuttle and ferried over to the resort, which is on its own private motu.
We arrived about 11am and were able to score prime spots by the pool. Most of the land-based rooms have their own pools and the overwater bungalow rooms have the water right beneath them so I guess most guests just swim near their bungalows. The pool wasn't very crowded at all.
The St. Regis looks like a very relaxing place to stay. But if you are staying here you are kind of stuck at the resort. They only have one free shuttle back and forth to the main island per day, otherwise it'll cost you. So they have a captive audience for their restaurants, bars, and activities. But I guess there are worse places to be stuck...
Our day pass included an excellent and generous lunch at the restaurant. Cocktails were on our own dime but they made them strong enough to be worth it. We really enjoyed the entire day, and were able to watch the sunset before boarding the shuttle boat back to the main island.
We spent six nights on Bora Bora and it was definitely the most laid-back and relaxing of the three islands we visited. But by the end of the week we were ready to move on again. We had a farewell dinner and some very tasty cocktails at the St. James restaurant before heading back to Tahiti the next morning. Manuia! (Cheers!)
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