Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Photo’s are here or you can just click on the photograph above.

Bora Bora and Mo’orea have been number 1 on my bucket list for so many years I’ve lost count. We’ve been lucky enough to travel to many beautiful countries and exotic islands over the years but none which I wanted to visit quite so desperately as these two islands off the coast of Tahiti in the South Pacific. Geoff topped his bucket list last October with our trip to Nepal and Bhutan and now it was finally time for me to top mine!

It is a very, very long way to French Polynesia if you live anywhere other than the west coast of California. Once we’d reached Los Angeles airport from Miami (which is roughly 6 hours) we had a layover of a further 5 hours in the first class lounge which is very over-crowded and not as posh as it sounds (which describes LAX in general). We boarded the Air Tahiti Nui late afternoon flight for the final 7 hours to Papeete, the capital of Tahiti. Many years ago we had flown business class with Air Tahiti Nui en route back from Australia when the business class cabin was distinguished from the economy seats only by a large, dusty plastic floral arrangement which was carried out and displayed with pride on a narrow ledge in front of the bulkhead seats. The hostess wheeled out a metal trolley filled with trays of unappetizing food which were served up by ladle. On so many levels, reminiscent of school dinners at my infant school back in 1975.

As a result, I refused to fly Air Tahiti Nui again until we discovered that its fleet of planes had recently been upgraded to Boeing 787-9’s (optimistically named Tahitian Dreamliners). One of the upgrades included lay flat beds, as you would expect. This was critical since the return flight two weeks later from Papeete to LAX would be an overnight flight. I don’t think I was designed for overnight flights without a lay flat bed at the absolute minimum😉 so this improvement over the original business class flight was enough to make us finally book the trip.

The business class experience of 2024 was noticeably improved to the extent that the floral display was no longer plastic! We were each regaled with a single Tahitian Tiare flower (more on the national flower later) and the lay flat bed came with a small pillow and a padded blanket (nothing out of the ordinary for any typical overnight flight – but a significant upgrade on the previous experience). The food was barely improved (some of it wholly unidentifiable despite in-depth analysis) and unless you’re as skinny as a French teenage model you’ll struggle to squeeze comfortably into the narrow seats, let alone dream any happy dreams in them.

For reasons unknown, they were also the most expensive business class seats we’ve ever bought. They might have been worth every dollar, of course; who knows what our fellow passengers were enduring at the back of the plane … perhaps they were packed in vertically 😉

We landed in Papeete, Tahiti, passed efficiently through immigration and customs, made a quick stop at the money exchange (don’t change your US dollars in LAX for French Pacific Francs since you’ll lose 40% of their value in the outrageous exchange rate) and were out into the warm tropical evening. We were booked into the Hilton Tahiti a couple of miles away. Despite the Hilton’s offer to pre-arrange transport for us (for the princely sum of $70 for a five minute drive to the hotel) a cab at the airport only cost $22. We headed straight to the bar in the lobby where we were served the first of many vacation cocktails by a bar waitress with a huge smile and a giant pink hibiscus flower pinned in her hair. We sat in the breeze on the terrace overlooking the hotel pool and the South Pacific exhausted after 24 hours of traveling since we’d left the Hilton at Miami airport and a long 36 hours since we had left home on the west coast of Florida.

Jet-lagged and beyond myself with excitement, I was awake at sunrise gazing at the warm glow on the tips of the palm trees in the hotel garden. I could see the island of Mo’orea on the horizon from our balcony – our first destination in the Tahitian islands. 

If you are looking for accommodation in Tahiti you can’t do much better than the Hilton – not only is it the top rated hotel in the capital – it is, as I said, only a 5 minute drive to the airport and 10 minutes or so to the ferry terminal. The ocean view king bedroom was very comfortable. The hotel is quiet and reasonably new with all of the chic design features you would expect of a resort hotel. The hotel clearly does a roaring trade in one night stays – for late arrivals into PPT airport – and for transit stops between leaving the main tourist islands and flights back home via PPT. The pool and gardens are also rather pleasant if you have to hang out there making the most of the Tahitian sunshine for 24 hours whilst you wait for your flight home. The breakfast buffet was also excellent (free for Hilton Diamond and Gold members which is a big bonus for anyone staying in Hilton hotels anywhere in this string of eye-wateringly expensive islands).

We had pre-booked seats on the Aremiti ferry which was fast, clean and a very smooth crossing. We took the 12.25pm departure from Papeete and arrived in Mo’orea before 1pm. The afternoon clouds were starting to gather over the inner peaks of Mo’orea’s jagged volcanic, mountainous terrain. It was spectacular from the water and even more so on land. Arriving at the ferry terminal was absolutely chaotic. We picked up a cab to Auto Rent Moorea (a highly recommended car rental company). It should have been a 5 minute drive (which was too far to walk under the beating sun with two cases and two heavy backpacks). The traffic chaos was hindered significantly by a local traffic cop who was wildly out of his depth directing two single lanes of traffic and a side road. The cab ride took four times as long as it should have and cost the equivalent of $20 – most of which ticked up on the meter whilst we sat in stationary traffic. Apparently there was a time when car rental companies were allowed to collect their renters and thus save them entirely unnecessary wasted money in cab fees. The local government, no doubt lobbied heavily by the cab drivers, outlawed this recently (for obvious reasons). 

Once we had taken possession of our sparkly clean Kia Piccanto, we took to the road. First stop, the Champion Moorea supermarket which wasn’t as depressing as most island supermarkets and we managed to find a few critical supplies. Having said that, a bottle of sunscreen, a pint of coconut milk and 2 small bags of frozen fruit came to $75 USD. I’m not a fan of hotel breakfasts and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m probably the only person on earth who smuggles bags of oatmeal for breakfast in my hand luggage whenever we travel outside of the USA 😉. We were prepared to pay the elevated prices in the islands for food and drinks and, as I explained to a bemused Geoff, Mo’orea is actually a gentle break-in for the truly ridiculous prices to come on Bora Bora … but even so, we did wonder how the locals afford to live there.

Still, you don’t go to Tahiti, or Mo’orea, and certainly not to Bora Bora, if you’re going to worry about the cost of it all otherwise you’d never go in the first place. We’ve had some pricey trips in the past … this one beat them all 😉

Mo’orea is truly wonderful. I was already infatuated before we reached our hotel twenty minutes up the road. En route, we pulled into the Toatea Lookout with its view over the Sofitel overwater bungalows, flanked by white beaches and a brilliant turquoise lagoon. Our first taste of Mo’orea’s scenery took away our breath: mountains swathed in greenery, palm-fringed white sand beaches and gin clear waters. Mo’orea is the Bora Bora before (the actual) Bora Bora became the glitzy destination of the well-heeled traveler and privileged honeymooners that it is today. Mo’orea, however, is laidback and low-key and, in some respects, I loved it more than Bora Bora itself because of its incredibly beautiful mountains and lush interior valley.

We arrived at the Hilton Mo’orea, were draped with a welcome garland (lei) of white petalled tiare flowers before being delivered by golf buggy to our home for the week. The perfume of the Tahitian Tiare (the national flower) is reminiscent of jasmine. It is divine. The blooms are indigenous to Polynesia and are believed to have various healing properties. The garlands are given as a gesture of hospitality and ours, at the Hilton, were woven with leaves and bougainvillea flowers. Tiare flowers are big business in Tahiti – 110 million blooms are harvested in the islands every year. 

The Hilton Mo’orea boasts a privileged location on the island at the top end of a peninsula between Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay. Our overwater bungalow faced west and overlooked Opunohu Bay, one of Mo’orea’s most beautiful bays. The beach at the hotel is also one of the best in Mo’orea. The corals living under the bungalows are well-established and vibrant with sea life from the tiniest fluorescent blue-green reef chromis darting in and out of the corals, to parrotfish, dark purple three spot dascyllus, yellow butterfly fish, multi-colored sixbar wrasse, moray eels and puffer fish. If you were lucky you might also spot the odd shark gliding effortlessly below you through the glass-bottom viewing floor in the bungalow.

I had read during my extensive research that you should always start with the less sophisticated islands before you visit Bora Bora so that you are not disappointed with moving from 5* abject luxury in Bora Bora to 5* slightly lesser luxury in Mo’orea. The concept probably makes sense. Either way, we weren’t disappointed at all with our comfortable, rustic South Pacific style bungalow with its recliners and table and chairs under the shady palm-fringed terrace (but perhaps we might have been if we’d started our vacation at the Conrad!).

There was an outdoor shower and a ladder down to the coral reef below so that we could hang out with the watery neighbors as often as we liked. Much of what makes staying in an overwater bungalow particularly special (aside from instant access to the water) is the unencumbered view. Our bungalow was one of the first on the boardwalk and was positioned to face slightly inland towards the beach and over the magnificent headland with Magic Mountain dominating the horizon. It was mesmerizing watching the light changing on the mountains from sunrise to sunset. 

The island is not large. It has one road running around it and there are no postal addresses. Directions to a property are simple – either oceanside or mountainside – and the rest depends on local landmarks. Offline Google maps works well and, anyway, it’s almost impossible to get lost on an island with only one main road.

One morning, we circumnavigated the island exploring some of the other beaches: Tema’e public beach (next to the famous Sofitel hotel) which was rough under foot with broken coral but the setting was fabulous; and Plage de Tipaniers – with its water sports and dive centers but otherwise not particularly attractive). We preferred to hang out back at the Hilton swimming, sunbathing on the terrace and marveling at the beautiful view from our bungalow.

One of our favorite days of the two week vacation was spent on a four hour snorkeling trip with Voila Moorea on board their striking red catamaran “Taboo”. Their driver picked us up at 7.45am in an open jeep and delivered us a few minutes up the road to the mooring point of a small tender which took us out to Taboo. The yacht is small and holds a maximum of 8 guests which was perfect for us because we prefer smaller, more exclusive groups of people – there’s less chance of noise, chaos and screaming kids 😉 Taboo glided out across a glassy Opunohu Bay into the protected waters of the lagoon. Looking back towards the island, the early morning light on the jagged peaks of the mountains was perfect. We were in and out of the water all morning swimming in shallow waters with friendly sting ray and inquisitive blacktip reef sharks. They took us to Tiahura Coral Garden sandwiched between Motu Tiahura and Motu Fareone. The coral was in great shape and we were greeted off the yacht by hundreds of greedy yellow-tailed black and white striped butterfly fish. They absolutely love bananas! We swam amongst convict surgeonfish, humbug damselfish, giant clams, Picasso triggerfish, and also spotted a puffer fish. Before we were taken back to the hotel we moored up one last time to snorkel above six underwater memorial sculptures known as tiki which had been carved in 1988 by a local artist from volcanic stone and submerged on the seabed in the shallow water at Papetoai. By the time we returned to shore the afternoon clouds were gathering once again over the peaks of the mountains, as they did every day.

One of Mo’orea’s many appeals lies in its interior terrain which makes for great hiking. One of the top attractions on the island is the view from Belvedere Lookout. From the main road you turn inland at the end of Opunohu Bay and make your way across the valley floor. The drive through the valley is spectacular with mountains and lofty peaks all around. The sacred land of Opunohu Valley is prime agricultural land used for cultivating pineapples, amongst other crops. From the valley floor the winding narrow road snakes up through the foothills to the viewpoint overlooking the lagoons of Opunohu Bay and Cook’s Bay which are separated by the imposing central peak of Mount Rotui.

We tackled Mo’orea’s most famous hike – Col des Trois Cocotiers (Three Coconuts Pass). The trailhead is at the back of the car park at the Belvedere Lookout. It was described as a 4 mile hike but we recorded nearly 6 miles return and I’m sure we didn’t get lost! It is a moderate hike which, given the heat and humidity of the interior valley, we would have described as more “ball-buster” than moderate, due to the rugged terrain. The 1000 feet elevation climb up into the mountains through the tropical forest of huge banyan trees, giant ferns, tropical flora and a quite unexpected bamboo forest, is less a well-worn trail and more a scramble through a treacherous minefield of gnarled tree roots, over wobbly slippery rocks, paddling through streams, and climbing boulders large and awkward enough that you have to navigate over them by rope. At the summit we collapsed under a tree in the breeze and were greeted by a friendly resident rooster who was far more impressed with Geoff’s choice of emergency snacks than I was. He followed us down the trail desperate for more of Geoff’s disgusting fig rolls until we ran out of supplies and he had to try his luck with the next group of incoming hikers. By the time we returned to the car it felt like we’d hiked 10 miles but it was absolutely worth the sweaty effort for the views at the summit over the lagoon and the valley floor 😊

Since we’d earned a day off after the hike, we spent the following day at Coco Beach Restaurant . If you can nab a reservation for lunch here, it is excellent. It is only open a couple of days a week (and only for lunch) so you need to be organized to make it here. You also have to make an online reservation for the free 10 minute shuttle from the mainland over to Motu Tiahura and the restaurant. The beach is small and a pair of water shoes would have helped since it was littered with sharp broken coral and shells. The water shoes had, in fact, been packed for this very excursion and traveled 5,500 miles across the Pacific – but then forgotten back at the hotel! After lunch we swam to the Tiahura Coral Garden (which we’d visited a couple of days earlier with Voila Mo’orea) to snorkel amongst the beautiful corals. Over mid-afternoon cocktails at our table on the wooden terraced we watched sting rays glide through the water inches from the sand before eventually catching the final 3pm ferry back to shore.

Undoubtedly, the lunch at Coco Beach was the highlight of the culinary scene in Mo’orea. There was little chance of sticking to vegetarian food, let alone vegan on the island. I barely saw a green vegetable during our entire vacation. Seafood, however, is unsurprisingly plentiful. As an aside, a couple of highly rated restaurants were closed for renovations so we were stuck with limited options locally. At the Hilton Mo’orea we ate at Toatea Creperie which is located in the centre of the boardwalk amongst the overwater bungalows (and a mere 10 paces to our own which was very convenient). It was fine for an emergency but don’t get too excited. Watching the blacktip reef sharks circling in the reef below us was probably worth the over-priced crepes, but other than that … We also ate at the Hilton’s Rotui Bar and Grill on the beach which had great fish burgers but not much else to recommend it.

Another evening we ate at Le Cook’s Bar and Restaurant (another restaurant affiliated with a hotel) which had a fabulous location with panoramic views over Cook’s Bay. The food was better than at the Hilton but still limited for non-meat eaters. The view at sunset was fabulous.

One of the problems with the islands is that restaurants and cafes have very odd opening days and very limited opening times, if they can be bothered to open at all. So you have to have a plan to eat in specific restaurants rather than just turn up off the cuff as you might in the Caribbean, for instance. Close to the Hilton is one of the most highly rated cafes – Lilikoi Garden Cafe (again limited hours/days). We went twice because it had desserts to die for (passionfruit tiramisu and chocolate mousse!) and the food is high quality. It was one of the better experiences on the island – although the owner blew hot and cold as to whether she wanted to speak English or French which was confusing since our French is pitiful at best (and her English was quite good). The best bakery (by that I mean the only bakery) is Carameline which had good fruit tarts at New York City prices 😉

On our last evening, before settling into the comfortable seats on the terrace at the Hilton’s Eimeo Bar with a Piña Colada and a Cosmo, we took a kayak out into the lagoon at sunset to watch the changing light over the mountains. We were sad to leave such a beautiful island – I loved our view across the mountains and the bay – but Bora Bora was calling! It was time to finally visit the island which had dominated my travel dreams for the past 25 years!

Fingers crossed it would be worth all the hype …

Arriving into Bora Bora airport is an experience in itself. If you sit on the left side of the plane from Mo’orea (or Papeete) you will have an expansive view of the island as you approach it, which was quite breathtaking. We were speechless … not for the first time during our trip to the Tahitian islands and certainly not for the last … The tiny airport arrival lounge itself has views directly over iconic Mount Otemanu and the smaller Mount Pahia. We have rarely arrived at an airport in such a stunning location (the flight into Bhutan was pretty breathtaking but in a different way, of course). The water is bright teal and the various posh hotel boat shuttles were waiting to whisk their guests away to paradise for a few days.

As with everything on the island expect your 20 minute hotel boat shuttle to cost more than the flight to Bora Bora itself!

We broke our week in Bora Bora up into two parts: three nights at the southern tip of the main island at the Intercontinental Le Moana; and four nights at Conrad Bora Bora Nui on a motu (atoll) out in the lagoon. One infinitely more exclusive and luxurious than the other! I had booked a couple of excursions which were based on the main island – not impossible to do from the resorts out in the lagoon – but just requiring more planning since you would have to get a hotel boat back and forth to the main island – hence our few nights at Le Moana.

There aren’t a great deal of choices for hotels on the main island and Le Moana had a couple of benefits. It was next to the famous Matira Beach on the southern peninsula of the island and it was only a few minutes taxi drive to everywhere we needed to go. That doesn’t mean the taxi rides were not astoundingly expensive, of course. A seven minute ride up to the helicopter pad the following day was $50 return. To the restaurants up in Vaitape, twenty minutes away, it cost $20 return … and another 5 minutes further to the ferry harbor was $25. No rhyme nor reason … it was all totally unpredictable!

It was a busy couple of days. We had booked a beach bungalow (which might have been hit or miss depending upon the precise location of the bungalow) but our suite was lovely. It had its own private shade tree and loungers on the beach – and one of the only sandy access points to the water – so we got lucky! The coral under the bungalows at Le Moana is very new (there are efforts all over the islands to grow coral which is encouraging) and there were a few fish but nothing as impressive as the coral at Hilton Mo’orea. For those thinking about where to splash out on an overwater bungalow it probably shouldn’t be on Bora Bora island – save your money for the Hilton Mo’orea and one of the posh 5* resorts on their own motu in Bora Bora’s lagoon.

We spent our three days on the island underwater, overwater, in the water, in the sky and, finally, overland drenched in a tropical storm!

The absolute highlight of the week in Bora Bora was the scenic helicopter flight with Tahiti Nui Helicopters. We took an early flight at 9am (safety briefing at 8.45am – hence the reason I chose to stay on the main island). The light is also generally better in the morning as afternoon clouds tend to gather around the mountaintops obscuring views. Since we were paying nearly $750 for a 20 minute flight (the Shades of Blue option), I wanted to get the timing right 😉

I had convinced the pilot to let me sit up front, so I was happy. The helicopter rose above the pad and we were off over the lagoon – we were speechless, breathless and entirely captivated by the myriad shades of blues and teals (as promised by their advertising!). It was astoundingly beautiful. If you do one thing here, it really should be the helicopter flight. You’ll have to keep your fingers crossed for good weather because the flights are non-cancellable … and we saw plenty of helicopters go up in cloud.

The island itself is not large – much smaller than Mo’orea. In fact, you could cycle around it if you can be bothered to drag yourself from the beautiful beaches and the cocktail bar. We managed to walk as far as Matira Beach and to the Bora Bora Beach Club and Restaurant for fish burgers and cocktails (both good) overlooking the transparent, teal waters of Matira Beach and then back to the Vini Vini Bar at Le Moana for more cocktails. Goodness knows how much weight we put on … alone, I must have drunk my own body mass in coconut cream. The bar tender at Le Moana constructed the most impressive Piña Colada of the vacation – decorated with pineapple, green leaves and white tiare flowers. The cocktails were great and the fish at Vini Vini was good – but the food at Noa Noa (the main restaurant) has a pretty unimpressive reputation so we avoided it altogether. The best restaurant on Bora Bora island is Restaurant St James Bora Bora which will arrange a taxi to pick you up and take you back to the hotel at a surprisingly discounted rate, the food is French and was pricey but excellent. The hotel is over the water so you can enjoy your cocktails watching shoals of fish glide by.

For the following day I had pre-booked a morning adventure with Bora Bora ATV Tours via the hotel activities desk which turned out to be more a test of endurance than an adventure. We were picked up in a Jeep and arrived at the ATV garage to be kitted out with helmets and given a crash course in the operation of the ATV. Black clouds were darkening the sky. Before we had left the garage it was already drizzling. By the time we’d pulled out onto the main road we were in a torrential tropical storm with rain coursing down our cheeks and running down our backs. This didn’t come as much of a surprise since the inclement weather had been forecast for 24 hours but the company had refused to cancel. They went out rain or shine – no cancelations whatsoever. This inflexibility is somewhat of a theme in Bora Bora – if you’ve booked and paid your deposit then you’re going. We circled the island and finally pulled off the main road already drenched to the skin despite the provision of largely ineffective cagoules. At least we were no longer driving into the driving rain at 30 mph 😉

The ATV route runs on private land. We started to ascend the rocky mountainside through the tropical forest up and over huge boulders slick with mud and torrents of water running downhill. At least this part was fun! Eventually we reached the summit and the viewpoint over Mount Popoti which was shrouded in cloud so thick we couldn’t see either the lagoon or the mountain. Two and a half hours later we were returned to our hotel bedraggled and drenched through to our underwear. We squelched back into reception muttering our discontent that it really should have been canceled, as we’d requested. We wrung the water out of our hiking boots – it took two days for them to dry out. So just in case you think it’s always sunny in paradise … it’s not!!!

Back at the hotel we snorkeled under the bungalows and found some newly planted half decent coral and a moray eel which Geoff was very excited about. Even better … a little further out into the deeper waters of the bay, away from the beach, we found a pod of endangered Spotted Eagle Rays. There were nine adults and two pups. We floated peacefully above them mesmerized by their graceful underwater dancing until our fingers were wrinkled and we were starting to feel chilly in the warm lagoon waters. It was really quite magical!

The sun returned the following morning – the day of our transfer to the Conrad Bora Bora Nui which is situated on its own motu in the lagoon. We took a taxi up to the port in the only town on the island – Vaitape – which consisted entirely of a couple of bars and restaurants and a large selection of jewelry stores selling black Tahitian pearls. The Conrad’s shuttle boat picked us up at the harbor on their “complimentary” shuttle which travels a couple of times per day between the hotel and the town on the main island. For this they charged the exorbitant sum of $150 for a 20 minute boat ride across the lagoon – you always pay on arrival and departure days even for the free shuttle … No matter, it was time to luxuriate for the rest of the vacation. I couldn’t wait!

For anyone thinking of a trip to Bora Bora (which you absolutely should!) … life is very refined in the famous 5* resorts. At the Conrad you can be shuttled around by golf cart (if you’re terminally idle) or you can walk or borrow a bike and cycle around the property. Guests are not expected to lift a finger other than to raise their own cocktail glass to their lips. This privileged lifestyle comes at a significant cost, obviously … but it was money well spent for the “Bora Bora experience” once we’d got used to $60/70 for a main course, $30 for a very average cocktail and $25 for a bijou dessert. Since we’re Hilton Gold members we also enjoyed certain privileges – one was the complimentary breakfast buffet which was astoundingly good and otherwise would have set us back $100 per day; and the other bonus was a dedicated beach for Hilton Gold and Diamond members which had by far the best view of any of the beaches at the resort. Funnily enough we didn’t spend much time on the beach although the Conrad’s stretch of sand is touted to be one of the best in Bora Bora.

Instead, we were very happy enjoying the view from our Deluxe King Overwater Bungalow.

The whole resort oozed peace and tranquility, as you might expect. The only time you rubbed shoulders with other guests was at breakfast in Iriatai restaurant (with its lovely view over the beach and overwater bungalows); or in Tamure Beach Grill where you can nibble on lunch with your feet in the sand, or at one of the three restaurants for dinner. Even so, it was still very, very peaceful which was surprising given June through August is honeymoon season. Clearly, any honeymooners staying at the resort only left their overwater bungalows for critical sustenance before returning to their personal piece of paradise 😉

Food is pretty hit or miss in the French Polynesian islands. Obviously, there is a French influence but it is also a meat-heavy destination which surprised us for tiny islands in the sea in the middle of nowhere. At the Conrad, Iriatai is excellent for breakfast but not so great in the evening when it became a French fine dining restaurant (my quinoa salad was inedible – Geoff’s mahi was apparently good). Banyan is a Chinese restaurant. We don’t greatly like Chinese food, but it was either that or starving, and bizarrely it was one of the better meals we had in the islands overall. The best place to hang out in the evening at the Conrad was at the sushi and cocktail bar, Upa Upa Lounge, with its glass-bottomed floors and views directly out over the lagoon.

My number 1 bucket list vacation was nearly over! The last few days were frittered lying in our overwater hammocks staring at the puffy white clouds drifting overhead and gazing out over the electric blue waters of the lagoon.

We took one final excursion with Lagoon Service Bora Bora to snorkel further out in the lagoon. The guides were fun and entertained us with traditional songs accompanied by ukulele. The boats were beautiful – small, comfortable Polynesian style motorized outriggers. We snorkeled at a coral garden which was in excellent shape with a plethora of colorful coral and fish. It was a fast-moving drift snorkel so very little time for Geoff to take photos before the current whisked him on through the reef. He did excel, however, with his underwater photography skills whilst we snorkeled with blacktip reef sharks in the deep ultramarine waters just outside of the lagoon. From the calm, shallow teal waters inside the lagoon, we navigated in the outrigger over crashing 7 to 8 foot waves which were breaking on the coral reef which serves to protect the lagoon all around the island and its tiny motus. Just the other side of the coral reef the waters were suddenly very deep and very clear and dozens of sharks were circling as we descended the ladder into the water. This was the best encounter we had with friendly blacktop reef sharks in the islands. The guides prepared lunch of fresh fish, vegetables and fruit at a ramshackle motu, which was excellent. It was served in a woven coconut palm leaf. We were then taught at least a dozen uses for a coconut palm tree: how to make shoes from coconut fibre and how to open a coconut with a stick – both stuck in my mind – skills I doubt I’ll ever need unless I’m in deep trouble, shoeless on a deserted island with a coconut palm as my only source of survival.

We absolutely loved Bora Bora and Mo’orea … it was the destination of my dreams: we loved Mo’orea for its incredible volcanic mountainous landscapes and fabulous coral reefs and Bora Bora for its iridescent lagoon in every imaginable shade of blue 💙

We sat at seats on the right hand side of the plane leaving Bora Bora airport. It was the best view in the house and we waved tearful goodbyes to Bora Bora through the tiny oval window. It was a scenic flight back to Papeete passing over Taha’a (the “Vanilla Island” which is on my future list when we return to Tahiti) and over my beloved Mo’orea.

We were back at Hilton Tahiti for our final night and the following day which we spent relaxing by the pool – which is not a bad way to end your South Pacific vacation whilst waiting with heavy heart for the night flight back to the USA. The day began with a dazzling rainbow on the horizon and ended with a glowing yellow teardrop sunset over Mo’orea in the distance which was befitting of our subdued mood. Time to leave the islands of my dreams and start the long drag home …