What’s up, guys? I recently returned from visiting Bora Bora, and I want to share with you my favorite places and experiences. So here’s my Bora Bora travel guide. Located in French Polynesia, Bora Bora is the true definition of paradise. It’s one of the most sought-after vacation destinations, and after visiting it, I totally understand why.

Geography And History Of Bora Bora

The geography of Bora Bora is absolutely perfect. There’s the main island with its towering dormant volcano, and then it’s surrounded by this reef that protects the island from the waves of the Pacific Ocean. Inside the reef, there’s a lagoon, which is home to some of the world’s clearest water and is full of wildlife such as sharks and rays. I mean, seriously, Bora Bora is Bora Bora, couldn’t be more perfect.

As for the history of the island, Bora Bora was first settled by Polynesians in the third century, and it was later discovered by European explorers in the 1700s. In ancient times, it was called Poropora, mighty pora, which means created by the gods. And I think today it lives up to that name just by how pristine this island is.

Flying To Bora Bora

Now, to reach Bora Bora, we flew into Tahiti, and then from there we took a short 50-minute flight and landed on Bora Bora. The airport here is Anamotu, which is a little island on the reef.

Airport Ferry To Vaitape

So to get to the mainland or the resorts, you’ll take a ferry. We were staying on the mainland, so we hopped on the ferry provided by Air Tahiti, and then we made the quick 15-minute boat ride to Vitape. It was a pretty surreal ride. As we approach the island, we landed right around sunset and the sky was full of pink and orange colors. Now we got on top of the ferry and the views were just incredible as we got closer to Vitape. There was even a full moon and it almost looked faked with how perfect everything was.

Where To Stay On Bora Bora (Motus Vs Mainland)

Now when we arrived in Vitape, we got in a taxi to take us to our Airbnb. Now when we’re on the topic of lodging, let’s talk about the options on where to stay during your trip to Bora Bora. The most famous resorts are located on the islands or motes that surround Bora Bora.

Some of the most popular resorts include the Intercontinental, the Conrad, and the Four Seasons. The resorts on the motes are definitely the most scenic and offer incredible experiences and views of Bora Bora, but they are also the most expensive and were out of my budget for this trip.

Maybe next time I’ll get one of them. But if you’re looking for more affordable accommodation, I’d recommend looking for places on the mainland. There are some luxurious resorts such as the Intercontinental Lake Mouana, which cost about half the price of the resorts on the Motus. Now we decided to get an Airbnb for the first couple of nights. You can find some really nice places, ranging from $1,000 to $500 a night.

Transportation Around Bora Bora

Now, as for transportation on Bora Bora, you can get a rental car or scooter. I wanted to see the whole island, so we rented a car from Avis, and it wasn’t too expensive about $150 a day. We could loop the entire mainland of Bora Bora in about an hour, and I was really impressed by the beauty and just infrastructure of this little island.

Matira Beach

Now, a great place to visit on the mainland is Matira Beach. It’s located on the very southern end of the island, and it’s the biggest public beach on Bora Bora’s mainland. It has this white sand and incredibly clear ocean water. You can walk out pretty far and way through the lagoon because it’s not very deep and the water is so warm, it’s like a bathtub.

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Now, if you swim there, you might get lucky and see some rays. It’s a perfect place to chill and get some vitamin C if you’re on the mainland.

Bora Bora Lagoon Current

Now, one thing I thought that was really interesting about Bora Bora is that there’s this constant current in the lagoon. All the water enters the lagoon as the waves pound on the reef from the Pacific Ocean. Now, when the water comes in, there’s only one outlet in the lagoon, so all the water flows out of there.

You can see the lines that the current creates in the water. Now, one of my favorite things I did was I would jump into the water at the most Southern place on the island and I would just float along it like a giant lazy river and then swim out when I was done.

Mount Otemanu

Now, another incredible place on Bora Bora is Mount Otemano. It’s this dorm volcano that is the crowning feature of the island. I didn’t realize how huge it was, but it was tall and just towered over all of Bora Bora with a height of 727 meters. It’s often covered by clouds, but when the sky was clear, it was such a powerful peak.

One thing I loved about Mount Otemanu was how its appearance changed from different parts of the island. From the Eastern side, it was a very pointy and symmetric shape. You get the best view of it from the Intercontinental Hotel as it’s placed perfectly in between the bungalows.

Now on the Western side, Mount Otemanu looks completely different and you can also see Mount Pahia as well. There are also many great hiking trails you can do on Bora Bora that offer some great viewpoints of Mount Ote Manu and just the whole island in general.

Vaitape

Now, while you’re still on the mainland, you can check out Vaitape. It’s the largest city on Bora Bora, where half of the population lives. When you get off the ferry, it’s easy to walk around and just explore Vitape and go get something to eat or check out the stores.

Sailing Around Bora Bora

After it, we’re going to leave the mainland to go sailing. Now, I wanted to experience Bora Bora from the sea, so we stayed on a sailboat for the last few nights and it was absolutely amazing. We stayed with this family that has been sailing around the world for five years and they took us around to some of the best places inside Bora Bora’s Lagoon.

It was like we were in a bungalow, except we could go somewhere new each night and experience Bora Bora from all angles.

Lagoon Sandbar And Pointe Taurere

Now, on our first day, we docked in this place in the Southwest of the lagoon and there’s this spot that I’ve been wanting to go to that has a sandbar that creates this perfect curve in the water. It just amazes me all the different shades of blue that exist in Bora Bora’s Lagoon. As we neared the end of the day, the sun descended over the mainland and created one of the most stunning sunsets.

The next day, I woke up to the morning light and all the shades of blue in the water. I saw some jet skiers having the time of their life riding over the lagoon. I can’t think of a better place to go jet skiing. Now, right by the sandbar is Ponte Tarraer. It’s the most southwestern point on the island.

Snorkeling With A Eagle Ray

I loved how the ocean waves were just pounding on the reef from two directions. Now, while we were here, we had to go do some snorkeling, so we hopped on our dinghy with our captain, Francesco, and he took it to this spot near Ponte Tarer to go snorkeling.

We first found this Eagle Ray that was just flying through the current. It was so peaceful to watch.

Swimming With Sharks

We then went over to this more shallow area and there were at least 10 sharks. Now they’re black tip sharks and they’re about 1 to 2 meters in length and they’re basically harmless to swim with, just very curious little animals. It was my first time swimming with sharks, so I was a little nervous jumping in, but after a few minutes it wasn’t scary at all and it was just such a cool experience to swim with them. The water was some of the clearest I’ve ever been in, and there are also tons of colored fish just swimming around us. It’s the Bora Bora that I was hoping to experience.

The Aquarium Snorkel Spot

Another famous snorkeling spot on Bora Bora is the Aquarium. It’s located right behind this little island in the Southern Lagoon, and it’s this area full of coral and so much wildlife. We swim with tons of fish and sea creatures, and you can reach there by taking a tour boat, or you can also kayak if you’re staying nearby. It was such a cool snorkel spot.

Sailing To To’opua

After we headed back to the catamaran and sailed over to the western side of the island for our final night.

We stayed right by the island of Toopua, and it sure was beautiful. It had this turquoise blue water contrasted with the greens of the island, and it was such a special spot. There was this little island called Moutu Tapu that I thought was so scenic as it lined up perfectly with Mount Otemainu. As sunset came around, it lit up the whole island with this orange glow and created such amazing scenery.

Swimming To The Reef

The next morning, we went and snorkel at this spot that had tons of sharks and rays, and then we swamped to the reef. I was a little hesitant at first. I’m always scared of big waves in the deep blue ocean, but it wasn’t bad at all and it was just so freaking cool.

We swim through this field of vibrant coral. I mean, there are so many colors and beautiful sea life. As we got closer to the reef, there was this coral graveyard with all the dead coral that gets broken off by the waves. It’s really interesting to get a closer look at the reef that protects the island.

Final Thoughts Of Bora Bora

After that, we were running short of time and headed back to Vitape to get on the ferry and make our flight back to Tahiti.

All in all, Bora Bora far exceeded my expectations and I understand why it’s one of the most famous and sought-after islands in the world. Now, we were only here for four days and I wish we could have stayed longer. I definitely recommend staying at least a week to experience all that Bora Bora has to offer. I’ll have to come back to try out those luxurious bungalows. Now, let me know where your favorite place or activity is in Bora Bora in the comments below.