I’m sure you’ve seen pictures and videos of people having lavish vacations in an overwater bungalow and thought to yourself – is that really how it is? If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like staying in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora, then keep reading!
A trip to Bora Bora is already luxurious just by the association and destination. Add on to that an overwater bungalow? You’ll make everyone on your Instagram feed jealous.
When we visited the French Polynesia in October 2020 for Brea’s birthday, we weren’t sure which island we wanted to get an overwater bungalow and for how many nights. You can actually get it at any of the hotels/resorts on any island here like in Moorea.
We decided to book an overwater bungalow for our time in Bora Bora at the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa.
Selecting an Overwater Bungalow
When you go on their website to make a reservation, you’ll notice you have a few different overwater villas to choose from that range in price (starting at $1000 USD per night). Depending on what you want your view to be and which way you want to face, the price can get pretty steep. All of the overwater villas have the same layout – the only difference is the view. Keep in mind, none are cheap but that is the whole idea of the type of experience you’re looking for.
The room we selected for our 2 nights here was the Pool Overwater Villa.
The Room
Our overwater bungalow was located in the middle of the bungalow aisle. If you walked from the dock area to our room, it would take a good 10 to 15 minutes.
The first reactions Brea and I had as we opened the door was ‘wow‘ as we spent a few minutes just taking it all in and taking photos.
The bedroom had a stunning view of the pool and lagoon. There’s a side door on the right that leads directly to the sundeck and lagoon.
During the day 
The pool glows at night
The living room had a glass-bottom coffee table! If you go swimming outside your bungalow, you can swim directly underneath the coffee table. You can also feed fishes but we didn’t see any while we were here. The lagoon water is salt water so that’s why you’ll need the fresh water shower to rinse off.
Once we were done marveling at the interior of the bungalow, we stepped outside. Words and pictures don’t do it justice. There’s just something so spectacular knowing that you had this area all to yourself. The sundeck had a shaded area as well as a fresh water shower. You can jump directly into the lagoon from the deck or just relax in the pool.
Each bungalow was perfectly spaced so that you never felt other people watching you and vice versa. It was pretty quiet and peaceful at times.
We tried our best to utilize everything our overwater bungalow offered! That included getting the canoe breakfast one of the mornings. After one of our tours, we still went on our sundeck to enjoy the view.
We would have liked to go swimming more in the lagoon but it actually rained one of the nights in Bora Bora.
Overall, even though it was a pricey decision, we can’t wait to stay at another overwater bungalow at our next destination whever that may be!
