Paradise (not) Lost in French Polynesia (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love an Island)
*I wrote this back when I created my webpage in 2016 as an actual webpage, and not a blog. I've copy and pasted it here so I can remove the webpage, but still retain the writing. I was fortunate to revisit Bora Bora and Mo‘orea in 2017 and see these places again, and I am no less enamored now twenty years later than I was after this first trip, which I wrote about below.
No, your eyes are not deciving you. And no, you didn't just die and go to heaven. Instead, you've found yourself on the little island in the middle of French Polynesia's Society Island archipeligo, famed for it's turqouise lagoons and tiny motus, or coral islets.
And though you are likely to be in disbelief about your present surroundings, there's no need to pinch yourself. Quite simply, Bora Bora really is this beautiful. There's a reason people wax lyrical about this place, and if you're anything like me, once you step off the stairs from your plane at the Aeroport de Bora Bora, it will all become clear.
Yes, you will think. YES.
My husband and I found ourselves in Bora Bora in July of 2006 for our honeymoon. When we were trying to decide where to go, an amazing opportunity presented itself to us: my husband's hotel company was opening a new resort in Bora Bora and one of the parents of the children in my preschool class was selected to go and be one of the opening managers there. She plied us with tales of how exceptionally beautiful it was, along with hints that she would gladly take care of us if we made the journey.
How could we possibly say no?
We couldn't.
We didn't.
In a rare moment of vacation planning laziness, I handed over almost complete control of what we'd be doing to our friends and the wonderful staff at the St. Regis Bora Bora. They sent us questionnaires asking us what types of activities we'd like to do, what music we'd like to play over our Bose speakers strategically placed throughout our floating suite, what drinks we'd like to have stocked in our fridge, and what seemed like hundreds of other questions no other hotel had ever asked us before.
Ten days, it was decided, would be the perfect amount of time on Bora Bora, followed by three more nights on the island of Mo'orea. A word of advice: go to Mo'orea first, and then go to Bora Bora. If you do it the way we did, you will spend those days lamenting how much better Bora Bora is and regretting that you ever left it's corally shores. And honestly, Mo'orea is quite beautiful and worth seeing - just do it before you get to Bora Bora.
We didn't have a whole lot planned for our time in Bora Bora, and I have to advise anyone thinking of a trip there to take a similar stance. Honestly, this is rare for me - I like to plan, plan, and then plan some more, and my trips are generally action packed. Bora Bora was the exception to the rule.
And though we spent a significant amount of time lounging around by this pool, that pool and the lagoon outside our backdoor, we did get up to some really fun excursions. During our time in Bora Bora, we swam with sharks (twice!), got up close and personal with sting rays, snorkeled, jet skiied around the island twice because truly, once was not enough, ate lunch at a table situated in the water, consumed more coconuts than one could ever want to eat, took a 4x4 off road Jeep adventure and saw rusted ordinance from World War II, tried Kobe beef for the first time in my life, learned all about how to select the perfect black pearl, sat by the various pools for hours and just loved life.
Honestly. If I ever had to select two weeks out of my life to experience again, those two would be the ones I'd redo in a heartbeat, no second thoughts, nothing. Take me back there, I implore you.
After ten wonderful days on Bora Bora, we hopped aboard an Air Tahiti flight to the island of Mo'orea for a few nights. There we stayed at the Sheraton Mo'orea, which appears to have been sold and converted into a Hilton. Mo'orea is jaw droppingly beautiful, but simply could not compare to the visual delights of Bora Bora (plus, we gave up a brand new resort with a private butler for a dated, less luxurious one). As I previously mentioned, go to Mo'orea first, and then follow it up with your trip to Bora Bora.
Because we were stationed on a motu in Bora Bora, our only mode of transportation was the free boat shuttle the hotel offered that took you to and from Viatape, the main town on the island. On Mo'orea, because of the less developed motus, life exists primarily on the actual island itself. Therefore, we rented a car, which again, in a rare moment of laziness in my life as a travel planner, we waited until we arrived on the island to secure.
We used that car to circumnavigate the island (twice) in one day, which in total, takes only an hour or two. We found ourselves in café's sipping copious amounts of Orangina, that delectable carbonated orange beverage found around French speaking countries and eating croissants. We admired the gorgeous scenery of the two bays that cut into the island of Mo'orea like daggars, we drove to the top of Belvedere Lookout and gazed at the towering spikes that make up the skyline of this little island in the Pacific. You can't help but admire Mother Nature's handiwork when you find yourself on these islands - she sure knew what she was doing when she constructed these places.
The one thing we didn't do, however, was go out on the water. While we were there those three days the island was experiencing rough seas in the lagoon and water activities had to be curtailed. That left us with little to do, and to be quite honest, by this point in our trip, we were quite satisfied not doing much anyway. Fourteen or so days in French Polynesia, despite living in a laid back location like Hawaii, really sucks your motivation to do anything other than just sit and admire all the beauty surrounding you.
Finally, we hopped aboard our Air Mo'orea flight back to the island of Tahiti and awaited our late night Hawaiian Airlines flight to whisk us back to reality (yes, Hawaii is reality). We've talked about our two weeks in French Polynesia glowingly ever since and can't wait to get back out there!
The Facts
(All rates below are in US Dollars)
Island: Bora Bora
Hotel: St. Regis Bora Bora
Rates: $1700-$2700/night for one
bedroom villa with butler service.
Activities:
Jet skiing
Snorkeling
Swim with sharks
Pearl farms/shopping
Tahitian cultural activities
4x4 Jeep Adventures
many, many others!
Airlines used:
Hawaiian Airlines (to and from
Hawaii to Tahiti only)
Air Tahiti from Pape'ete to Bora
Bora
Island: Mo'orea
Hotel: Sheraton Mo'orea, now Hilton
Mo'orea Lagoon Resort and Spa
Rates: $400/night for a garden
bungalow to $750/night for highest
category overwater bungalow.
Activities:
Car rental
Jet ski/boat rentals
Snorkeling
Belvedere Lookout
Beaches
Airlines used:
Air Mo'orea (which has not
been operating flights to/from
Tahiti & Mo'orea since 2010).
Ready to Explore?
Did you know I am also a travel advisor who has lived for many years and traveled extensively around the Pacific as well as planned unforgettable trips to there as well? To learn more about me and some of my services, visit my business website, On Voyage Luxury Travel Advising.
If you're looking to visit Bora Bora or French Polynesia, allow me to help plan your next trip. Whether you're looking to take a cruise around the islands, or stay at some of the incredible properties that float around them, I have access to perks and amenities you cannot receive by booking on your own. Send me a message from this page to get started!
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