I remember boarding the plane from Tahiti to Bora Bora in a hurry to sit on the left side as it has the best view, even though the weather that morning was terrible. The whole flight we could not see anything but grey clouds. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I dreamt so much of seeing Bora Bora and now when I finally get there I cannot even see the wonderful view from above. But as we started to approach the island...the clouds suddenly cleared, the sun came out and I was left in awe by the most incredible view!
I imagined the moment for years and years of how I landed on the island and I’m being greeted by a lovely Polynesian with flowers in her hair handing me a colorful flower lei and it finally happened....I was there and dreams do come true!
HOW TO GET THERE
No matter where you are from, French Polynesia is far away. And if you are not from New Zealand or the West Coast of the USA, then it’s even more far away.
Making the trip from Romania in one journey seemed to be much too tiresome so we decided to divide the journey a bit. The cheapest routes to Tahiti are from New Zealand, Los Angeles and San Francisco. From Romania it's considerably cheaper to go through USA, however this option requires a visa for Romanian tourists and not only.
We flew from Budapest to San Francisco, where we had a one night stopover and the next day we boarded the plane to Papeete, the airport in Tahiti, flight that took a bit over 8 hours. There are a few airlines that fly to French Polynesia, Air Tahiti Nui being the major one. However you can find cheaper flights, even at half the price, with FrenchBee, a low cost carrier. The services were very good for a low cost company and we were very happy with our choice. Everything was included in the ticket price, except for soft drinks and alcohol, almost like a regular company, so it did not really feel like low cost.
From Tahiti to Bora Bora we took another 1 hour flight with Air Tahiti on a small plane. As mentioned above, stay on the left side you can see the island as you approach it.
WHEN TO VISIT
Best time to visit Bora Bora is from May to October when the rain is isolated and the weather is close to perfect. However this also coincides with the high tourist season therefore expect increased prices. This also requires planning and booking in advance, as there are not that many accommodation options on the island.
WHERE TO STAY
Bora Bora has limited options when it comes to accommodation. It’s a pretty known fact that French Polynesia is very expensive and this can be easily noticed in the hotel prices. Cheap accommodations are hard to find, but not impossible. However we wanted to enjoy the island at its best, especially since we were celebrating our honeymoon, so we opted for an overwater villa at a resort.
Our choice of stay was at Le Meridien Bora Bora. We chose this place for mainly two reasons: it has the best view on the island of the main attraction, Mount Otemanu, and it was the only resort in Bora Bora offering a half board option. All the others only had breakfast included and you will find it there that food is very expensive also, so the half board option really took that worry away.
OUR STAY AT LE MERIDIEN
THE ROOM
We chose to stay in an overwater villa as we wanted the full experience. Our room had the most amazing view of Mount Otemanu and it was a delight to wake up to this view every morning.
Another great part of this room was the see through floor, allowing us to admire the colorful fish right from our bed. This area was lighted at night creating a romantic atmosphere.
THE FOOD
As mentioned above Le Meridien was the only resort offering half board, as all the others only provided breakfast.
Here we had a buffet breakfast every morning, with a large variety of fruits, bread, pancakes, English or continental specialties.
Dinner was a la carte. They have 2 main restaurants and you can choose any entree, one main dish and one dessert from their menu.
Twice a week they have a buffet dinner which was absolutely amazing! Everything we ate was incredibly delicious and they had a lot of options for a buffet. The desserts were to die for!
The only downside is that drinks were not included at dinner, only tap water, which we found weird for a half board.
Breakfast view
Buffet dinner
THINGS TO DO
There are a lot of things to do at the resort so you never get bored, if anyone worries about the possibility of getting bored in paradise.
Paddle boards, kayaks and snorkel gears are complementary from the resort, which is something we appreciated.
Snorkeling is pretty good here, we got to see a lot of colorful fish, turtles and sometimes even sting rays. They have a blue lagoon which is perfect for swimming as the water is crystal clear, warm and full of playful fish looking for food.
Snorkeling is pretty good here, we got to see a lot of colorful fish, turtles and sometimes even sting rays. They have a blue lagoon which is perfect for swimming as the water is crystal clear, warm and full of playful fish looking for food.
We arrived in Bora Bora after visiting Mo'orea, a neighbouring island, where we did some activities, therefore our plan was to mostly relax here in paradise, but the resort does offer a lot of activities from which you can choose from: like renting a boat, a helicopter ride, renting a car to drive around the island. However for most of these you need to get a lot of money from your pocket, for example the helicopter ride for example was around 200$/person/10 minutes flight.
The resort also takes care of the injured turtles and they have a sanctuary for them, where they help them get better and then they release them back in the ocean. You can visit it during the day and help by feeding the turtles.
Bora Bora was a dream come true and was everything I always imagined! From a longing dream it has now become one of my happy places, as I immediately start smiling when I think about the time when we jump in the clear blue lagoon only to be surrounded by thousands of fish!
