Bora Bora

On Air Tahiti flights some passengers are so security-conscious they dispense with shoes altogether.

 

Bora Bora has a mountainous center.

The Bora Bora airport is on a separate island. A shuttle boat to town and various hotel boats pick people up from there.

Honeymooners take a selfie at one of the Bora Bora airport docks

For us it was a 40-minute boat ride to the Sofitel Private Island.

Sofitel Private Island - 30 rooms

The reception committee - a ukelele player, a conchist and Manon.

On the boat we met Dave and Jade, a newly-married couple from Australia. Dave told us how he had lost his wedding ring surfing the day before at one of Tahiti's famous surfing spots. Now he plans to have a ring tattooed on his finger when they get to Papeete.

The Sofitel Private Island on Bora Bora turned out to be a good choice, first and foremost because it had relatively easy access to the best snorkeling - at the Coral Gardens. Five minutes of easy kayaking along the shore of the island and we had excellent coral and an impressive variety of fish. We went there every day for an hour of snorkeling. Even the presence of tour boats did not detract.

The proximity of the Coral Gardens made up for the fact that the internet was not working on the island. For internet we had to take the on-demand water boat to the Sofitel Marara on the main island of Bora Bora - a five minute ride. That is a much larger resort and much more mass market.

Taking shuttle from the big Sofitel Marara to the Sofitel Private Island in the distance.

Honeymooners are everywhere. I regret I did not get a photo of the woman whose pocketbook had "JUST MARRIED" sticking up in 3-D gold plastic letters on the top. And the honeymoon couple from Texas who were picked up by the restaurant car on our way to the allegedly Michelin one-star Villa Mahana. They got into the car with cocktails in their hands.

We finally came across an unhelpful Polynesian hotel employee. Denise stands out for withholding vital information. She did not tell us we would have to go over to the big Sofitel to be picked up by the restaurant we had chosen for dinner. Luckily, we found out.

The only ungenerous Polynesian we have met so far.

For restaurants on the main island we also had to use the water shuttle.

Leaving our hotel after sunset

Our one dinner at the Sofitel did not encourage us to dine more frequently at our hotel - an excellent rack of New Zealand Lamb and a stupendously overpriced, puny and dry local lobster.  The four types of butter were nice, particularly the one that was flavored with horseradish. Breakfasts were ok.

Some restaurants boast of their famous diners.

An amusing list to which I refused to add my name

Our hopes were high for the "one-star Michelin" restaurant mentioned by a member of the hotel staff. But the Villa Mahana's "Menu Exotique" disappointed. Potato appeared thrice, once as a thick slice under a slice of great red tuna, second, mashed around the flavorful Mahi-Mahi and third as gnocchi with the beef tenderloin. The portions of the accompanying wines were skimpy. The bread was good, particularly the Tahitian type made with coconut milk and baked in a banana leaf. The deficiency of vanilla bean seeds was particularly noticeable in the Vanilla ice cream. At the time we concluded that Michelin must lower its standards in Polynesia. Later we found out that Michelin does not rate restaurants in French Polynesia. So it was all a fib. [As it turned out we came across Michelin-quality cooking at our next stop, Vahine Island, off Tahaa Island. More about that later.]

Red tuna on potato. Polynesian coconut bread wrapped in banana leaf.

Our first over-the-water bungalow of the trip turned out to be very nice. It had air-conditioning, which cooled the main bedroom area adequately. We were also happy to have the morning sun on our balcony because the afternoon sun would have been too strong. A good bed, a good shower. The viewing porthole in the floor is really unnecessary if one snorkels but we did see some fish there.

Floor window

 And from the over-water walkways there are some interesting sights. No need for an underwater camera.

Colorful surgeonfish

Colorful clams abound in these waters. About one foot side to side.

But the viewing and snorkeling around the bungalows pales in comparison to the Coral Garden. That ranks high in the list of places we have snorkeled. A shame that my underwater camera conked out after one use at Ninamu.

The Sofitel Private Island also had a very nice high point from which to view the sunset.

We enjoyed a four-hour tour of the island in Nature Discovery's Land Rover driven by Daniel.

 The photos don't show how steep and difficult the road was to some of the high viewpoints. The Land Rover moved along like a tank. The bumps and twists, even at that slow speed, felt worse than the safaris in Africa.

We had a nice fruit and coconut stop. The pomelo and starfruit were the best we had ever tasted, distinctly better than those at the hotel. We were told that the hotel actually imports those fruits and the ones we enjoyed were grown on Bora Bora.

Roadside fish, freshly speared, is available.

Polynesians take to the sea at a young age.

Unusual fruits abound.

 

 

From Bora Bora a ten-minute flight and thirty-minute boat ride took us to Vahine Island, next to Tahaa Island. The next entry will come from there. I already did a quick sea urchin special from there. They have good internet.