Known as the Pearl of the Pacific, I have renamed it the Sapphire of the Pacific due to the sparkling blue water surrounding it. Yes, this island should be at the top of your bucket list and yes, it was on the top of mine! Anyone who loves water and relaxation will fall in love with Bora Bora and dream of going back…someday, maybe not soon enough, though.
Getting there:
There are two airlines that fly between Tahiti and the U.S., Air France and Air Tahiti Nui. We were told to avoid Air France which turned out to be a wise choice since they were threatening to strike during the time we were in Bora Bora- not quite two years ago. Air Tahiti Nui flies from LAX to Tahiti. Since the flight takes right around 8 hours and leaves close to midnight, I strongly suggest flying Business Class which is their First Class. That also gives you access to their First Class lounge both at LAX and Tahiti and that happens to be the only area in the Tahiti airport with air conditioning! Of course both lounges offer complimentary beverages, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and various types of food depending on the time of day. Another perk to Business Class is a separate check-in line. This came in handy at both airports as the lines were long. We allowed a lot of time in LA from our point of origin in order not to miss our flight to Tahiti. We schlepped our bags over to the international terminal only to find that the Air Tahiti Nui counter would not open until a few hours before their first flight out. With no boarding passes, we were forced to wait outside of security for several hours near the only bar in the bowels of the international terminal. Not exactly how we imagined the start to our dream trip. The time difference between LA and Tahiti is 3 hours so you arrive very early in the morning…before sunup! That is helpful if you are traveling on to another island in French Polynesia.
We went on to Moorea (I will review in a future blog) for 3 nights before heading to Bora Bora. The inter-island airline is Air Tahiti…not to be confused with Air Tahiti Nui (nui means large). They are not the same company. The airports in Moorea and Bora Bora are quite small and a little primitive as you might expect. Don’t plan on eating at these airports either! Reserve a window seat. The views are incredible!
The first thing you will notice upon entering the Bora Bora airport is that there are boats docked outside. That’s it…just boats; no cabs, no cars, no buses. After collecting your bags, instead of rental car company signs, you look for your hotel sign directing you to its boat slip. We boarded the Hilton’s yacht and completed the check-in process for our room before disembarking. Once our paperwork was finished, we were given a cold bottle of water and told to go up on deck and enjoy the approximately 30 minute boat ride to the hotel.
Breathtaking is not a good enough adjective for the sight we were witnessing. My favorite color happens to be blue and I saw shades of it that I had never seen before! Perhaps it is the reflection of the sky into the water that makes the Pacific shimmer in unseen before blues. And briefly I wondered if I had died and gone to heaven where it is said there are colors we’ve never seen before. I asked my husband to verify that we were indeed alive as a tear rolled down my cheek at the sheer beauty in front of me. He said it didn’t matter. Wherever we were, he wasn’t going back home!
Just as he said that, the main island of Bora Bora with its distinctive Mount Otemanu came into view. Bora Bora is a grouping of three land masses: a thin crescent-shaped island where the airport and most of the main hotels are, the main island with its Mount Otemanu jetting up to the sky, and the island just to the south where our hotel was located. The Hilton is the only hotel on that island and this resort faces south overlooking the vast expanse of the Pacific.
Staying there:
Most people stay on the crescent-shaped island which hosts a vast array of 5 star resorts, many with over-the-water bungalows. We chose the Hilton Bora Bora because we are Hilton Honors members and thought we could either cash in some of our points or accumulate a lot of points. Due to the fact that we booked our hotel and air through a travel agent, we were able to do neither…still a sore point with both of us. It would have been difficult booking our inter-island air flights had we not used a Tahitian travel agent. Nevertheless, be aware if you choose that avenue in booking your travel, you may forgo points at your hotel!
The Hilton gives you a lovely welcome when the boat docks at their hotel. (I won’t provide all the details so that you will have a nice surprise after your long trek!) We were whisked away in a golf cart to our over the water bungalow. This type of room is a must!! It was the most beautiful room I have ever stayed in. There is glass in the end tables in your living area so you can look at the ocean below. Both the living area and bedroom open up onto your deck which also has another glass panel to view the ocean or you can walk down the ladder to your floating dock and hop in! It is like living on top of an aquarium stocked with the most colorful fish you’ve ever seen! The bathroom was huge with a separate shower room and a soaking tub which….you guessed it…had a narrow window next to it so you could see the ocean below. My sweet husband had researched the property before our trip and decided that the better views were in bungalows over the deeper water. (We got a lot of exercise walking to the main part of the hotel every morning for breakfast.)
Our breakfast was included and was a nice buffet or you could order off the menu. You can opt for a meal plan that includes lunch and dinner, but what we heard from others who did choose this option, made us glad we did not.
The Hilton resort is a gorgeous property with a double infinity pool next to their beach. Their spa is located on top of a hill…get a golf cart to pick you up so you aren’t sweating when you get there! We had a couples massage in a huge room with a private soaking tub. You can also get an outdoor massage. Do take your camera because there are a lot of scenic points we would have missed if we hadn’t gone up to the spa.
Who All Is There?
Our sons made fun of me when they were in high school because when they would return home from almost any event, I would ask them who all was there! I have found that this is a good question to ask when others travel places and the answer in Bora Bora shocked me! I estimate that 90% of those staying at our resort were on their honeymoon! I expected most of the guests to be our age or older given the time and money it takes to be in Bora Bora. My husband also pondered about where these couples would go for anniversary trips since it took us 30 years of married life to get to Bora Bora! We met couples from Australia, France, Italy, and the UK as well as couples from all over the U.S. even the East Coast. So a lot of couples traveled a lot further than we did to get there. By the way, Bora Bora is a little more than halfway from Los Angeles to Australia.
Eating There:
Unless you eat at the hotel, you will need to get a water taxi to Viatape which is the main town on the main island. Fortunately, the Hilton has scheduled trips to and from the town on a fairly regular basis. The cost was $35-$45 round trip per couple, depending on the time of day you went. This is a big plus to staying at the Hilton. We met a group of young newlywed couples in Moorea and caught up with one of the couples again in Bora Bora. The other two couples were staying at the St. Regis on the crescent-shaped island and did not go into Vaitape because the boat from their hotel cost over $100! It took less than 15 minutes for us to get to the dock in Vaitape and whatever restaurant we were eating at sent a car to pick us up. We let the restaurant know what time our return boat was leaving and they made sure we got back to the dock in plenty of time. We always watched the sunset from our hotel before going to dinner. Note: next time we will go into town and watch the sunset from our restaurant so we can enjoy the view during daylight hours.
Our first night we ate at the famous Bloody Mary’s. It is a fun place with
sand floors and a list outside of the stars who have eaten there. Dinner was ok and this was easily our least favorite restaurant, but we were glad we had the experience.
The next night we ate at Mai Kai. Suffice it to say, that this restaurant is number two on our list of favorite restaurants in the world. Of course it overlooks the ocean, has great soft lighting and absolutely delicious food. My husband convinced me to try his New Zealand lamb dish and I almost made him trade with me (and I have never even been willing to try lamb before)! We were glad we visited this restaurant early on so that we could go back again before the end of our trip!
The third night we dined at an outside table at Bora Bora Yacht Club. It is also on our list of top ten restaurants in the world…very romantic and outstanding food.
The last night we ate at Matira Beach Restaurant. This is a place you should definitely go to for an early dinner or lunch because the view in the daytime is supposed to be incredible. There was a definite Asian bent to this quaint place. Our food and service were excellent.
A couple of random tips on eating and drinking in Bora Bora:
We drank bottled water to be safe and had no problems with any digestive issues. We had Pina Coladas at our hotel which tasted like melted ice cream…frozen drinks seemed to disappoint so we stuck with wine and beer. Wines are mostly French and the ones recommended by restaurants were spot on for us, but we wished we had more knowledge of French wines prior to our trip. Food, as you can imagine, is very expensive (as is everything else). We took advantage of our hotel’s happy hour which made the drinks and some appetizers more affordable. It is okay to eat salads in the restaurants. The local fish seems to be Mahi Mahi. I was surprised there weren’t more fish options on the menu and even asked about one of my favorites, red snapper, and was told that’s what the locals eat! Desserts are awesome so don’t even think about skipping them.
Miscellaneous info:
Tahitian is the local language. This is spoken first, then French, then English. We did not have any communication problems anywhere. The Hilton offers a complimentary sailboat ride for two captained by one of their pool staff. This was so much fun and we wished we had known about it earlier in the trip so we could have done it again. There are also complimentary kayaks and paddle boards you can use. My husband loved snorkeling every day. I was not as comfortable with the fish actually touching me so I observed from our dock and could see a lot of fish! I took mosquito repellent in the form of an Off personal fan. I took this to the restaurants and used it and had no problem with mosquitos there. We did encounter them at the hotel anytime we went to the restaurant which is built into the side of a hill. The night sky is spectacular!! You might want to read up on Southern Hemisphere constellations before you go. We saw the Southern Cross and occasional shooting stars! We went in September which is supposed to be an ideal time to visit weather-wise. Unfortunately, due to El Nino, it rained solid for half of a day and showered briefly almost every day the rest of our 5 day trip. And speaking of 5 days, we agreed that that was probably the perfect amount of time. We left and want to return!
Summary:
Bora Bora, my Sapphire of the Pacific Ocean, is the most romantic island I have ever visited. While we did see two families with young children staying at our resort, almost everyone else seemed to be newlyweds. The food and scenery are outstanding but nothing is as magnificent as the ocean, its spectacular fish and “Bora Bora Blue” color!
