Bora Bora is one of the most beautiful islands (collection of islands) in the French Polynesia with its crystal clear lagoons making scuba diving and snorkeling one of the most popular activities to do here!
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Getting There
To get to Bora Bora, you will need to fly from Tahiti. We had to fly from Moorea back to Tahiti and then to Bora Bora.
The flight is about an hour and offers magnificent views! If you are flying to Bora Bora, make sure you sit on the left side of the plane. This will give you the best views – trust us! We weren’t able to get a seat on the left side since there were a lot of children on our flight and they had priority. We did manage to get this shot on the flight out of Bora Bora though.
Bora Bora is actually comprised of many different islands in the same area. The airport in Bora Bora is on a different island than any of the other hotels so you will need to get a boat to your hotel. All the hotels are not in the same area either. Each has their own perks due to the location of the hotel.
As for getting to your hotel, you can probably arrange a private boat from your hotel from the airport round tip. You can also take a public shuttle ferry to the main island and then take another boat. The second option is longer but is cheaper. We didn’t want to risk getting lost or spend a lot more time traveling so we just arranged a private pick up with our hotel. If you are feeling adventurous and have time to kill, then maybe the longer route is for you!
The pick up from our hotel (Intercontinental Thalasso) was $150 per person round trip and the ride was only 20 minutes long. As reference, the airport is on the north side of the island and Intercontinental Thalasso is on the east side in the middle.
Where To Stay
There are many, many choices about where to stay and each hotel is on its own island pretty much. We decided to go with Intercontinental Thalasso for our stay in Bora Bora.
One good thing about our hotel is that it was near the manta rays and has the view of the main island’s mountain. Concorde (previously known as the Hilton) is near the eagle rays and coral gardens and is on the southern part of the island.
This was our first time staying in an overwater bungalow and we wanted to make the most of it!
Canoe Breakfast
Usually on our trips, we miss the complimentary breakfast that the hotels/resorts offer because we’ve already left for the day on our tour. However, we set aside time this time for their canoe breakfast. Who wouldn’t want food served to them on a canoe at their overwater bungalow?
The canoe breakfast can be arranged from 8AM to 10AM and costs around $200 USD. You actually pick the type of food you want when you checked in. We picked 8AM since we had a tour the same day and wanted time to enjoy the food and have time to digest haha.
The food was brought over on a canoe with someone playing the ukulele. We even got a quick ride around the villa!
So much food 
Romantic Dinner
Since it was Brea’s birthday, we also wanted to have a romantic dinner. InterContinental Thalasso offers a few different types of dinner packages. Ours was supposed to be on the beach but it was raining that day unfortunately. So they moved us inside a little more but it was still intimate.
The Experience
As you would expect from a luxury resort, InterContinental’s service was reflective of the amount of money you spent on the room. As soon as we got off of the flight from Moorea, they were ready to greet us with lei’s. Someone helped put our luggage on the ferry and escorted us to the boat.
The ferry dock 
In contrast to the Hilton in Moorea, we did not have to wait long at all to check in to our room. After arriving from the airport, they drove us to the waiting area where they gave us a refreshing drink while we filled out some paperwork. This was also where the concierge asked about any special requests like a canoe breakfast or a romantic dinner (we did both). A couple minutes after we finished signing all the documents, our room was ready!
Where we waited 
Things To Do
If you are visiting Bora Bora, make sure to pack a lot of swim suits! That’s pretty much what you will be doing here. If you’re not spending your day enjoying your overwater bungalow, then you’re most likely on an excursion to see the underwater life!
Brea and I did 2 private tours and they were amazing. We spent a full day out in the waters and saw manta rays, eagle rays, sting rays, reef sharks and even some art! We were able to feed some stingrays. Apparently, the animals here have been trained to think that whenever a boat arrives, they’ll be fed.
Bora Bora is beautiful for its different colored water and abundant amount of underwater life. You’ll see some of the same animals here as in Moorea but the main difference we found was that the water near our resort did not have as many corals or fishes compared to Moorea. But despite this, we really enjoyed our time in Bora Bora and getting an overwater bungalow was definitely worth it!
