Fosters Down Under: Bora-Bora

While we really enjoyed our time in Moorea and Tahiti, we were most excited about visiting Bora Bora. We had intentionally saved the best for last, and thankfully, the island didn't disappoint. :)

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We travelled from Moorea to Bora-Bora on Air Tahiti - a small domestic airline serving only the islands of French Polynesia (it's parent company is the larger Air Tahiti Nui). Our flight left mid-morning from Moorea airport -- a tiny airport without security / bag screening. It did, however, have many stray cats and roosters strolling around inside. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Anyways, within an hour of taking off from Moorea, we landed in Bora Bora! We were lucky enough to be on the left-hand side of the plane, so we had a great view of the island as we were arriving.

The airport in Bora Bora, although also really small, catered quite well to all of the tourists arriving. Each major hotel on the island had a booth and representative there to greet you with bottled water, a welcome package, and flower leis. The reps then led you around the corner to the boat docking area of the airport where the hotels each had their own private boats waiting and ready for transport to the hotel. (The airport is on its own motu 'island', so boat transport was a must!).


Having our luggage loaded onto the hotel boat

Within a few minutes, our luggage was loaded onto the boat and we were on our way to our hotel - The Intercontinental Thalasso Resort & Spa. When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted like royalty with the blowing of a conch shell announcing our arrival, a shuttle driver, a bag porter, and drinks awaiting us. As for our first impression of the resort? Our research was spot on - this hotel really did have the best view of all hotels on the island and they really did treat you like royalty (though they really should given the price of the place!)

First view of our resort, taken from the boat upon arriving!

Arrival at the resort

Upon arrival, we found out that we had been given the overwater bungalow that we had requested - it was a 'Diamond' end of pontoon with perfect view of Mt Otemanu. It pays to be Ambassador Gold members!

Our bungalow!

There were a few bottles of champagne, a large bowl of fruit, and several snacks awaiting us in our room. But we quickly forgot about these goodies once we saw the view! Needless to say, the first thing we did was headed outside to our deck and jumped right in! We then spent the next hour or two taking turns jumping off of our deck into the beautiful turquoise blue waters. It was so much fun!


Having fun!

Afterwards, we headed back to the main part of the resort (i.e. the land-based portion) and had lunch on the beach at their restaurant. They most expensive burgers of our lives, but we like to think that the view alone made up for the large dent in our wallets!

Lunch with a view!

The rest of our 4 days in Bora Bora were spent hanging out in our hut. We did order breakfast room service on our anniversary (which was delivered by canoe!), and also did some scuba diving with Manta rays.

Breakfast being delivered!

But the highlight of our visit to the island was doing a private helicopter tour. It was only a half hour long, and more expensive than most sane people would have spent, but we saw this as a once in a life time experience. Was it worth it? Absolutely!! We both had perma-smiles on our faces for the rest of the day, and it's something we'll never forget. Here are some of our photos from this day: