As we awoke this morning, our ship was gliding into the lagoon of Bora Bora. This island is 230 km northwest of where we started in Papeete and is surrounded by a lagoon and barrier reef. The dominant feature is the twin peaks of the extinct volcano. It takes on a different look as you sail its circumference, sometimes appearing as one peak and sometimes as two.
Every hotel on the island uses the over water bungalows for their rooms, making our ten at Le Meridien appear a little insignificant. However, in this part of the world they are vulnerable to hurricanes and tsunamis, both of which have done their share of damage on the island.
The Marina anchored in the lagoon opposite the principle town of Viatape and shortly after 8:00 this morning, we were ashore checking out the company with whom we thought we had reserved some excursions. We were greeted by lovely Polynesian ladies and the local boys in the band.
We found our company who didn’t seem to know or care about reservations and we quickly booked a snorkeling expedition which would take us by boat around the entire island. Because we weren’t sure what we were doing for the day when we set out, Dawn opted not to take a bathing suit, but she was OK with not going in the water.
So off we went in our long power boat equipped with outrigger, with our singing Captain, Mari and his son - we think - Ari. He had loads of personality and was especially kind and helpful to a few of the more elderly ladies on the excursion.
The size of the creatures in the water had increased significantly from Tahiti. The first stop got us swimming with stingrays. Because all tours came to the same spot and fed them, they were extremely gregarious and loved to be handled and petted by the tourists. They had had their stingers removed, by the way.
In the same water, we quickly discovered two metre reef sharks who were a little more shy, but still were interested in the food being handed out. We also had a small assortment of colourful tropical fish.
Our next stop was deeper water and the reefs. Here there were large schools of fish as well as multi-coloured coral and clams. The little black and white guys seemed to like to keep you company on your swim and my favourite fish from Tahiti, the playful striped guy, made an appearance.
The coral and clams were the highlight here, in shades of bright neon colours. The clams freaked me out the first time I went close to them because they quickly closed up and initially I thought they were coral features.
Continuing our circuit of the island, we stopped in the middle of the lagoon, a good half kilometre from either shore where the water was brilliant turquoise and about waist deep. Here, the sand was the finest I’ve ever experienced and it was quickly used for an exfoliation treatment.
Further along the shore we noted some homes on stilts, that were the previous residences of Marlon Brando, before he bought his own island and Diana Ross.
Once again, the twin peaks of the volcano continued to take on a different appearance, every kilometre with a variety of homes along the shore.
We stopped briefly at one of the little islands along the lagoon, which actually had the classic deserted-island look.
Here, Mari carved up some grapefruit and coconut for a little snack.
Finishing our island circuit, we saw one of the original American canons set up on the island to discourage the Japanese in 1942, but never fired.
It was a fabulous excursion for $70 a person and despite reapplying sunscreen and the covered boat we were in, we ended up with excessive sun again. Yikes!
We were back on the ship by mid afternoon, threw ourselves into the pool and lunched again at Waves Grill.
Dinner, tonight was in Red Ginger, another of the speciality restaurants, this one featuring Asian and Thai in particular, cuisine. We sat with a couple from California and had another exquisite meal, assorted shushi and lobster pad thai for Dawn and crispy calamari, duck and watermelon salad and sea bass for me. A great way to end the day!
Every hotel on the island uses the over water bungalows for their rooms, making our ten at Le Meridien appear a little insignificant. However, in this part of the world they are vulnerable to hurricanes and tsunamis, both of which have done their share of damage on the island.
The Marina anchored in the lagoon opposite the principle town of Viatape and shortly after 8:00 this morning, we were ashore checking out the company with whom we thought we had reserved some excursions. We were greeted by lovely Polynesian ladies and the local boys in the band.
We found our company who didn’t seem to know or care about reservations and we quickly booked a snorkeling expedition which would take us by boat around the entire island. Because we weren’t sure what we were doing for the day when we set out, Dawn opted not to take a bathing suit, but she was OK with not going in the water.
So off we went in our long power boat equipped with outrigger, with our singing Captain, Mari and his son - we think - Ari. He had loads of personality and was especially kind and helpful to a few of the more elderly ladies on the excursion.
The size of the creatures in the water had increased significantly from Tahiti. The first stop got us swimming with stingrays. Because all tours came to the same spot and fed them, they were extremely gregarious and loved to be handled and petted by the tourists. They had had their stingers removed, by the way.
In the same water, we quickly discovered two metre reef sharks who were a little more shy, but still were interested in the food being handed out. We also had a small assortment of colourful tropical fish.
Our next stop was deeper water and the reefs. Here there were large schools of fish as well as multi-coloured coral and clams. The little black and white guys seemed to like to keep you company on your swim and my favourite fish from Tahiti, the playful striped guy, made an appearance.
The coral and clams were the highlight here, in shades of bright neon colours. The clams freaked me out the first time I went close to them because they quickly closed up and initially I thought they were coral features.
Continuing our circuit of the island, we stopped in the middle of the lagoon, a good half kilometre from either shore where the water was brilliant turquoise and about waist deep. Here, the sand was the finest I’ve ever experienced and it was quickly used for an exfoliation treatment.
Further along the shore we noted some homes on stilts, that were the previous residences of Marlon Brando, before he bought his own island and Diana Ross.
Once again, the twin peaks of the volcano continued to take on a different appearance, every kilometre with a variety of homes along the shore.
We stopped briefly at one of the little islands along the lagoon, which actually had the classic deserted-island look.
Here, Mari carved up some grapefruit and coconut for a little snack.
Finishing our island circuit, we saw one of the original American canons set up on the island to discourage the Japanese in 1942, but never fired.
It was a fabulous excursion for $70 a person and despite reapplying sunscreen and the covered boat we were in, we ended up with excessive sun again. Yikes!
We were back on the ship by mid afternoon, threw ourselves into the pool and lunched again at Waves Grill.
Dinner, tonight was in Red Ginger, another of the speciality restaurants, this one featuring Asian and Thai in particular, cuisine. We sat with a couple from California and had another exquisite meal, assorted shushi and lobster pad thai for Dawn and crispy calamari, duck and watermelon salad and sea bass for me. A great way to end the day!
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