Bora Bora: Island Tour + Snorkeling with Sharks & Stingrays

February 13, 2019

BORA BORA ISLAND, French Polynesia – Some call it the world’s most beautiful island. Hard to say if that’s really true, but I can express with certainty that Bora Bora failed to disappoint today as Mom and toured the entire main island by open-air truck; then I snorkeled a beautiful coral reef as well as swam with sharks and stingrays. A memorable day for sure.

Got up at 8:09 a.m. aboard Oceania Marina anchored in Vaitape Bay between Vaitape, Bora Bora’s main town located on the west coast, and Toopua Motu. Thankfully it’s the only morning excursion we have booked on our 12-night cruise around French Polynesia. Ate breakfast in our cabin, then we walked downstairs to the Marina Lounge to check in for our 8:30 departure on “Le Truck Island Tour.” Le truck is an open-air truck with benches on each side of the bed traditionally used as public transportation on the islands of French Polynesia.

Bora Bora, population 9,600, is known worldwide for its five-star resorts on islets surrounding the main island featuring hundreds of overwater bungalows. In the center of Bora Bora are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu. The latter is the highest point on the island at 727 meters (2,385 feet).

“The original name of the island in the Tahitian language might be better rendered as ‘Pora Pora,’ meaning ‘First Born,’” according to Oceania Marina’s Currents newsletter. “However, the [European] discovers misunderstood and thought the inhabitants said ‘Bora Bora’ – the name stuck. Its previous Polynesian name was Vava’u.”

Capt. James Cook sighted Bora Bora in 1769 on his first voyage to what would later become French Polynesia.

As we tendered to shore, Mom and I passed the cruiseship Paul Gauguin, also anchored in Vaitape Bay. Named after the French painter who fell in love with French Polynesia, Paul Gauguin is a unique one-ship cruiseline owned by Pacific Beachcomber that sails around French Polynesia year-round. Mom and I considered cruising on Paul Gauguin, but chose Oceania Marina for its longer itinerary and cheaper price.

Le Truck Island Tour

We boarded our colorful le truck and set off just before 9 a.m. for our clockwise tour around the entire island. 10 minutes outside Vaitape we passed a large bunker entrance, which our German-born young female guide said was constructed by the Americans as a bomb shelter.

What many Americans don’t know about Bora Bora: “During World War II, a U.S. supply base was established here, prompted by the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941,” according to Lonely Planet. “From early 1942 to mid-1946, Operation Bobcat transformed the island, and at its peak up to 6,000 men were stationed on Bora Bora.”

Today the bunkers are used to shelter Bora Bora residents during cyclone threats.

We made our first stop on the northwest coast at an outdoor shop where colorful pareus, traditional Polynesian sarongs, are produced by hand. An employee demonstrated how the pareus are colored, then designs imprinted using letters and symbols made from a cardboard-like material. The designs are laid atop the fabric as the pareus dry in the sun. With the cutouts covering the fabric, the design appears shaded underneath. This was quite interesting to watch.

The next step of the demo was showing the proper way for women to wear a pareu. Mom was among the three females selected to have a pareu tied around her.

Following these explanations, free time was allotted for shopping. Mom purchased one pareu.

Our island tour continued at 9:47 as we continued clockwise around Bora Bora’s north coast. We saw boats stored raised out of the water to prevent termites that live in the sea from eating the wood and some of the few mainland overwater bungalows.

At our next short stop, we were asked to toss flowers on the ground where numerous holes in the ground were visible. We then watched as crabs crawled up from their holes to munch on the flowers.

Crabs Munching on Flowers on Bora Bora Island

Reaching the northeast coast, we stopped at 10:32 at a viewpoint overlooking Haamaire Bay. This gave us a wonderful view of the cloud-tipped interior mountains as well as the Four Seasons and St. Regis resorts on outlying motus.

We passed the Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach Resort, which is undergoing a renovation and expansion. Unlike most Bora Bora resorts that are located on motus, the Sofitel is split between the mainland and a motu. The expansion includes construction of new overwater bungalows.

Just after 11 a.m. we made our penultimate stop at Matira Beach, mainland Bora Bora’s only reach beach. It occupies both sides of Matira Point, the southernmost tip of the island. Bora Bora is a small island, just 5½ miles from south to north.

Bora Bora was an independent kingdom until 1888, when its last queen, Teriimaevarua III, was forced to abdicate by the French, who annexed the island as a colony. Today the island is almost entirely dependent on tourism. It is a popular location for honeymoons.

While the white sand and turquoise water at Matira Beach is pretty, it’s a small beach. I’ve seen many tropical beaches that are much nicer and larger. Most of Bora Bora’s beaches are located out on the motus – and hence that’s why nearly all the resorts are located offshore.

About 10 minutes after leaving Matira Beach, we came to our final stop at the famous Bloody Mary’s restaurant. Mom and I watched several travel shows about Bora Bora before leaving on this trip. Bloody Mary’s was featured on all of them.

We were given time to have a drink at the bar, but I chose to walk out on the restaurant’s dock instead, where there are pretty views of Vaitape Bay.

An interesting feature inside the restaurant is a wall covered with money where customers have written their name and visit date.

Our tour completed, we returned to the Vaitape pier to take a tender back to Oceania Marina. Headed directly to Terrace Cafe for the lunch buffet, in a rush since I had to be back ashore just after 1 to meet my second excursion. Returned to our cabin to change into my swimsuit and grab my snorkeling gear, then tendered back ashore.

Shark & Stingray Snorkel Safari

My second tour, “Shark & Stingray Snorkel Safari,” met on the pier at 1:05. The boat, operated by Moana Adventure Tours, was docked right at the pier. I hopped aboard and we set out for our first snorkel site southwest of Toopua Motu. The morning clouds had cleared out, producing a fantastic sunny afternoon – excellent for underwater visibility.

I had wonderful views of the Bora Bora mountains and overwater bungalows at the moto resorts as we sailed to the first stop. I had an excellent snorkel through the vibrant and healthy coral reef.

Green Eel, Stingray, & Colorful Coral Are Highlights of My First Snorkel Stop at Bora Bora

Next we moved to a white-sand-bottom location off Toopua Motu’s west coast. This is where we got to swim up close with black-tip sharks (about four feet long) and big stingrays, similar to the snorkel I did two days ago on Moorea Island.

Swimming with Sharks, Stingrays, & a 7 Finger Sea Snail at Bora Bora

My boat returned to the Vaitape pier at 4:00. A group of six Polynesian men played music on the pier as I waited for a tender back to Oceania Marina.

Ate a snack on our balcony and went up top for sunset at 6:40, but there wasn’t much color in the sky this evening.

Mom and I went downstairs at 7:30 for dinner in the Grand Dining Room. For my main course, I ate traditional Indian lamb curry served with naan bread, onion salad, mango chutney, and basmati rice.