Turquoise. Aqua. Sapphire. Baby blue. Powder blue. Electric blue. Teal. Our eyes must be playing tricks on us. There is no way water can be this many different, brilliant shades of blue. Bora Bora is considered to have the most beautiful lagoon in the world, so, yes, here, it most certainly can. Add in brilliant white sand beaches and towering volcanic peaks covered in luscious tropical foliage, and you really have a true tropical paradise.
After Easter Island, we only had two flight options to get to New Zealand, our next planned destination. We had to backtrack 5+ hours to Santiago and then all the way across the Pacific OR just hop over to Tahiti for a layover. We decided on option three, an extended “layover” in paradise.
Thirteen years have passed since we were last in French Polynesia. We honeymooned on the islands of Huahine and Moorea. Both hold a special place in our hearts, so we considered a return trip. However, we had never been to Bora Bora, so when we managed to find ourselves a last-minute Airbnb apartment right on the water (the bottom corner apartment in the blue building in the pic below), we couldn’t resist the opportunity to lounge around for a week on this iconic island.
As soon as we landed and saw the view from the airport baggage claim…
we knew it was going to be a good week.
Our first night we settled in for the sunset on our porch with a French-inspired dinner of fancy meats and cheeses (we were just missing the pâté) with a Polynesian twist. In lieu of wine, we were pumped to find that they were still selling our favorite beverage from our last visit….Tahiti Drink, an alcoholic cocktail with pineapple, passion fruit, orange juice, and vanilla.
We spent a lot of time lounging on our deck, but when we did get motivated to leave, we explored the island four different ways: by boat, car, raft, and stomach.
Boating and Snorkeling
The views from the water just can’t be beat. Mt. Otemanu behind the sparkling blue lagoon makes a stunning backdrop.
As the boat cruises along, the water just keeps changing color from a sapphire blue where it is deepest to lighter baby blue or turquoise or aqua in the shallower areas.
Swimming with rays and black-tipped reef sharks is one of the most popular activities in the lagoons of French Polynesia. Thirteen years ago, we got to touch the rays, but we had to hold onto the boat as the sharks swam around. This time, our guide told us to just hop right in and swim around amongst the sharks. I was terrified last time, even just holding onto the boat, but this time, I was the first one to jump in and then wondered what the heck I was thinking as a dozen sharks circled around me.
Even Jimmy was chasing after the sharks.
The rays were fun to pet and just as friendly as we remembered. They rub up on you, just like a dog, looking for a quick scratch and some food.
After snorkeling in Bali, the Maldives, and Costa Rica this year, we almost didn’t participate in the snorkeling tour, but no matter how many times we snorkel around the world, we always end up impressed with something new. The coral garden in Bora Bora surprised us with Moray eels and brilliantly colored clams.
And this crazy looking fish.
The finale of our boat excursion was a picnic lunch on one of the sand-fringed motus (islets) that form the outer edge of the lagoon.
The woman who lives here prepared us a homemade meal and gave us a demonstration on how to prepare the delicious Tahitian specialty, poisson cru. Fresh tuna caught that morning was combined with coconut milk, shredded cucumber and carrots, red onions, and lime juice. Oh my goodness, so light and refreshing on a hot tropical day.
Swimming with sharks, eating poisson cru on a sandy motu, and boating around the “50 shades of blue” lagoon…it doesn’t get much better than this.
Island Exploring by Car
One of the best ways to see the lagoon and capture all its magnificent colors is from up above it. We rented a car and went to Point Fitiiu. Here, you can hike out onto a narrow, raised peninsula with jaw-dropping views.
The US military used Bora Bora as a base in World War II. Cannons that were never removed can still be seen at points around the island. The rusty cannons pointing over the tranquil blue waters of paradise seem quite out of place.
At the tip of the point, the reward for your short hike is an almost 360-degree view of the lagoon with its famous overwater bungalow resorts.
Having a car to drive around the island gave us the opportunity to see the lagoon from every angle and find other unique spots to chill. The game is to find the location with the most stunning and diverse shades of blue.
Of course, not everything is perfect, even in paradise. Poor Jimmy was left to ponder how the heck he got stuck driving around another white Fiat Panda.
Luckily, since we were in a French-speaking country and not Spanish-speaking this time, the Panda made it around the flat loop road with no issues. Whew! (See our Spain Blog, if you don’t know what happened with the last Panda)
Rafting and Wading
We learned from our last trip to French Polynesia that floating around on a raft in the lagoon is one of the best ways to while away the day. We grabbed a $5 raft at the local grocery store and headed out to the world famous Matira Beach early one morning. We were pumped to find the beach, rated one of the most beautiful in the world, completely empty. Who needs five-star resort amenities when you have a raft, your Airbnb plastic deck chair, and a soft, white sand beach surrounded by a glistening turquoise lagoon all to yourself?
Much of the lagoon in front of Matira Beach is shallow, so you can walk really far out (if you look close, you can see Jimmy in the pic below).
One of my favorite moments was wading/swimming out far into the lagoon and looking back to the white sand beach over the sparkling water surrounding me, the mountain peak rising behind the beach, the overwater bungalows on a motu in the distance, and the waves crashing on the coral reef behind me. How the heck is this my life?!?!
To top it all off, we could have drinks and lunch at the nearby beach snack shack when we got hungry or needed refreshments.
Needless to say, we were back the next morning. You can never get too much of floating on a raft in the Bora Bora lagoon.
Culinary Exploring (aka following our stomachs)
After 13 years and all of our world travel later, we thought the food in Bora Bora was going to be mediocre. But, we ended up actually more impressed this time around than last time in French Polynesia. French cuisine has a huge influence here, obviously, and we weren’t familiar with French cuisine back then. I also wasn’t a big eater of raw fish yet. In general, we prefer meat and poultry over fish, but this trip made us realize how much we love raw fish dishes as much as meat and poultry and would eat raw fish over cooked any day. Is that weird?
Sushi, tuna tartare, and poisson cru were all outstanding here. We got tasty sushi at Matira Beach restaurant.
The poisson cru at the Yacht Club MaiKai restaurant was delicious and served in an elegant snifter glass. Their tuna tartare was sublime. And their seared tuna (basically raw) had a unique twist with a crunchy exterior coating.
Our Airbnb was right next to the Yacht Club, so we walked there multiple times during our week stay. Back to that mention of French influence…they even surprised us with one of the best burgers we have had since we left the US. A decadent slice of pan-fried foie gras, sunny-side up egg, perfectly grilled beef patty, and a special aioli were to die for.
I was so excited to eat this burger that I forgot to take a picture before chowing down. Oh, wait…we loved it so much, we went back and had it a second time and got the pretty shot.
Continuing with the French theme, we also got some pretty solid croque madames (grilled ham and cheese with a fried egg and béchamel sauce) at Snack Matira Beach and had a lovely dinner with fancy scallops at one of the best French restaurants on the island called Restaurant St. James.
Foie gras, croque madame, and tuna tartare were all unknowns to us 13 years ago. Add our relatively recent love for French cuisine to our newly acquired realization to stick with raw fish dishes over cooked, and our food experience was unbelievable this time around.
We weren’t sure what to expect from an unplanned, last-minute stopover in Bora Bora, especially given we already had so many great honeymoon memories from French Polynesia. But, even after 17 months of traveling the world, Bora Bora still blew us away with its stunning beauty, friendly locals, and delicious cuisine.
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