October 11, Bora Bora Day 1
Everyone says that Bora Bora is fantastic, and the best island of the French Polynesian islands. Well guess what? THEY ARE RIGHT!!!!
Novelist James Michener described the island as the world’s most beautiful island. The coral reef surrounding the island defines a spectacular lagoon, and Mount Otemanu towers magnificently above it.
WWII fueling stations, American battlements can still be seen around the island. The South Pacific’s wealth in diverse marine life can be observed in their natural habitat and it is not necessary to be a scuba diver to enjoy it. Most of the species live in shallow water from 3 to 9 feet.
About 30 of us from Cruise Critic had booked a private tour to go out snorkeling. What a fabulous time we had. We made our first stop in relatively shallow water (10-15 feet), and saw plenty of small reef type fish including butterfly fish, angel fish, tiger fish etc.
Next it was out beyond the reef to deeper water (30 feet plus) to swim with black tipped sharks. While there we even saw a couple of lemon sharks lurking along the bottom and were able to get a couple of good pictures of them.
We also made a stop in waist deep water to play with the stingrays for a while. It’s amazing how gentle these creatures can be. While most were about 2 or 2.5 feet wide there were others that exceeded 3 feet across.
From there it was off to lunch on one of the motu’s where we dined on lobster, mai-mai, pig, vegetables, wine, and beer. From there it was a gentle ride back to the dock area and the end of a perfect day.
The second day we had booked a 4x4 half day tour. Lasting a little over 3 hours it went around the island with three trips to higher elevations for some magnificent views overlooking the waters surrounding the island.
We left Bora Bora at 5pm headed for our next destination, Raiatea!
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