Review of Bora Bora (part of a 7 island vacation)
Written: Oct 03 '04
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Pros: great island in FP, but not my favorite... Moorea and Rangiroa much better...
Cons: touristy (for FP), expensive
The Bottom Line: BB was one of 7 islands we visited. It was #3 on the list (behind Moorea and Rangiroa).
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| bgraff's Full Review: Bora Bora |
This is a rather long, but comprehensive, travelogue of my wife’s and my trip to the South Pacific in the summer of 2004. We spent 3 weeks on 7 islands (Bora Bora, Moorea, Rangiroa, Aitutaki, Rarotonga, and Fiji). The review for each set of islands are posted in that area on epinions…
Summary: if I were to have a similar amount of time, and recommending where to spend it based on this trip, i would definitely make some changes, but it would have a lot to do with what you LIKE to do… As scuba diving and relaxing on the beach were our priorities, I would have skipped the Cook Islands altogether, spent more time in French Polynesia, and on Fiji, I would have skipped the Sheraton in Nadi, and spent a week on one of the island resorts… all in all, it was a wonderful 3 weeks, and we enjoyed (almost) every minute of it… details below…
We arrived in Papeete from LAX on Air New Zealand at 2:30am. We had 3 hours to kill until we caught our connecting flight to Bora Bora… Interestingly, our US ATM cards would not work at any of the 3 ATMs in the airport… and we were unable to get them to work in any French Polynesia ATMs… we heard US ATMs are hit and miss. Note: we didn’t bring much US cash either, as this is the first time in many international trips ATMs were not available. The solution: The Sheratons in both Bora Bora and Moorea gave us cash and charged to our rooms – with no fee… pretty good deal.
Luggage:
Weight Allowance: For Air New Zealand, the allowance is around 65 lbs checked luggage per person, so no problems, but the interisland Air Tahiti and Air Rarotonga flights had much stricter policies –-- 20kg (44 lbs) per person checked and ~7kg (15 lbs) carry on. However, if you have a scuba certification card, you are allowed an additional 5kg (12 lbs) each. We were slightly over the limit for both checked and carry on, but they didn’t ask us to pay a surcharge… I got the feeling if you were within 3 to 5 kg of the limit you were ok… but something to be aware of…
Packing: Even though we packed for 24 days in the south pacific, and only had 1 big suitcase between us (and 1 bag with our diving gear), we still packed more than we needed. For the daytime, a pair of sandals, 2 or 3 swimsuits/shorts, and 4-5 NON cotton T-shirts (easily rinsed and quick drying) were sufficient. For dinner, same sandals, nicer shorts, and a couple of nicer short sleeve shirts are sufficient. Lisa brought a couple of sundresses for dinners… you may want to bring a pair of running shoes if you plan to jog or do any hiking… otherwise, sandals will be fine for the whole trip… Nights were a bit colder than we expected and Lisa wished she had brought a jacket or light sweater.
Bookings:
After comparing hotel prices on 5 websites, Costco, and direct, I concluded in high season, there are few deals to be had… We ended up booking the Sheraton in Bora Bora, Moorea, and Fiji direct for 35% and 50% off rack (starwood preferred guests) and used points for some free nights in Moorea and Fiji. For Rangiroa, we used the Top Dive travel agency to book Kia Ora Resort – they were the cheapest, and we got a 10 dive package (each) that can be used in Moorea, Bora Bora, and Rangiroa. More on dives later… For Cook Islands, I booked direct thru the hotels – travel agents didn’t save any money, and by booking direct, I was able to negotiate little things like free scooters, late checkouts, etc…
Bora Bora:
Best of Bora-Bora: To us, the hotel. This is the nicest hotel we stayed in our entire trip. The pool / beach area of this hotel was the best of all the 7 islands we visited. Beautiful beach and lots of kayaks, sailboats, to play with. The guy at the beach activities desk will take you sailing if you ask him. Also, the island is striking with the dark green of the mountains in contrast to the blue/green of the ocean.
Internet Access: The Bora Bora Nui had free internet access, but VERY VERY slow… and you had to use their computers, no hooking up your laptop to upload pictures, etc… In the town of Viatape, there was 1 or 2 internet cafes.
Hotel: We stayed 5 nights at the new Sheraton – the Bora Bora Nui. I think it is the nicest (maybe tied with Hotel Bora Bora) hotel on the island. It’s certainly the most expensive on the island (at least for overwater). Luckily, as a Sheraton Starwood Member, we received 35% off rack rates and received an upgrade to a hillside bungalows. The hillside bungalows were up ~ 100 feet (you need to walk up a path) and were wonderful. They had a big deck overlooking the water and the overwater bungalows, beautiful sunsets and views of the water… I would NOT recommend the beach bungalows because their view is blocked by the overwater units…
The hotel is on a motu (island) off the main island of BB. It is at the south end (2 miles?) of the motu from the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort (also a nice place, we hear). Good news: its on a private island – so lots of seclusion and privacy… Bad News: you need to take a water taxi everytime you want to go into the village (Viatape). The Nui water taxi takes 10 minutes and runs irregularly… One nice thing about the taxi is you get to meet all kinds of people… We talked to a bunch of couples while waiting, and got (and gave) recommendations for restaurants, excursions, etc… We even befriended a couple from Kansas City (Ted and Monica), and ended up having a couple of dinners with them…) the taxi is about every hour, but will jump 2 hours at times, and seems to have unscheduled (additional) trips. One of my complaints is the taxi is free from 8am to 6pm, but they charge you ~$5US from 7-10pm, per person, per direction. So if you eat dinner anywhere except the resort, you have a $20US “tax” if you leave on the 7pm shuttle. Note: the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort has shuttles to Viatape every 30 minutes and are free all day and night. For what you pay at the Nui, I expected the shuttle service to be free and more frequent…
Note:
- do NOT do the Bora Bora Nui “private island tour”. Its $25US pp without lunch, and $85US pp with lunch. They take you to an island 10 min away and let you walk around for a few hours… the snorkeling is awful, and when we were there, Windstar Cruises had just dropped off 80 people on the island. We complained and the hotel gave us 50% off, but it was still a rip off… better to stay at the hotel and snorkel there…
- The hotel has a gym, with stairmaster, treadmill, elliptical trainer, and 8 nautilus machines… good enough for a basic work out, but this is obviously not something the Sheraton prioritized…
- Breakfast IS included… no one told us all room rates include breakfast and as a result, we didn’t eat there… we found out overhearing from another guest talking about the free breakfast… the hotel would not compensate us for missing 4 breakfasts (we asked for 1 dinner in exchange). Oh well…
- The hotel will pick you up from the airport in Bora Bora – the airport is on its own island. I suggest you double check with the HOTEL that they have your arrival info… The US corporate offices had our info, but no one met us at the airport, and it took them an hour to get someone out to get us…
Activities:
We were lucky to be here in early July which is an annual festival called Heiva, which puts the local dance teams from the 5 Bora Bora provinces in competition.., it is a Bastille Day event, but has expanded over the years and now starts in early July and lasts about a month. You can watch the festival for free from the sides of the field, or you can buy reserved seats for $10 each in the “grandstands”. We did reserved seating and it was very nice. We went opening night. There were 2 troops dancing. The first one was horrible – slow singing and dancing – like a Hawaii Luau gone wrong, but the second was outstanding, and well worth the late night (10pm) and $10US.
We also rented bicycles from Europcar in Viatape for $15 each for 4 hours. The island is ~ 20 miles in circumference, and it took us all of 4 hours to get around it – stopping for lunch (mediocre Chinese food at Restaurant Matira – but nice view) and doing a hike at the southern end (near Club Med – see the Jan Prince book for directions… it was a nice 45 min hike to an overlook). It was nice to see the island, and I do recommend it, but be advised the bike seats are not top of the line, and after 4 hours, our butts were hurting nicely…
Scuba: we bought a 10 dive package (each) from Top Dive. Price was ~ $500US for 10 dives. They can be used on Bora Bora, Moorea, and Rangiroa. Top Dive is a great outfit, and we only have positive comments about their professionalism, the divemasters knowledge, and equipment…and fun They provide everything including a 3mm shortie (which you will need). We did three dives in Bora Bora: Muri Muri (shark dive), Tapu (west side), and the Manta Ray dive. Muri Muri was the best… we saw lots of sharks (black tip, white tip, and greys). Tapu was good – and we saw some big (10’) lemon sharks, but the manta ray dive had very poor visibility and we saw very little sea life. We only saw 2 manta rays, and the visibility was 10’ or so… if you go to Rangiroa, skip the manta rays in Bora Bora, and just do the first two…
Snorkeling: The snorkeling was ok in front of the Nui, but the best place to snorkel was to take one of the hotels kayaks and take a 20 min paddle around the island (south thru little pass) and moor to one of the fishing buoys in the lagoon between the island of Bora Bora and the motu where the Nui is… This is one of the dive spots, and although the depth is 20-30’, the # of fish was incredible… I suggest you bring a loaf of the French bread to feed the fish – we had 100’s of fish swimming around us as we fed them.., and we also spotted a moray eel swimming at the bottom.
Note:
- although we didn’t do it, we heard from several couples the 4x4 excursions (tours), were fun, and worth it
Restaurants and Food:
Grocery store: there is a pretty good market in Viatape – a 3 min walk from the boat dock (go left as you face the island), next to the church. We loaded up on cokes, bread, and snacks for the 5 days…
Top Dive restaurant: expensive - $150US for 2 with 1 drink. Atmosphere was nice, but food was only ok… All the guide books (Frommers, Jan Prince, etc, rave about it…) Other people we talked to thought it was good, but not outstanding…
Villa Mahallo (sp?): this is a new restaurant, and our favorite in Bora Bora. They do free pickups for the dock. The restaurant only has 6 tables and is 10 min from Viatape off Matira Beach. They seem to have 3 employees and a cat – the owner/chef, wine guy/server, and hostess. The restaurant is in a multi-story, new Mediterranean home/art studio. 3 tables on the ground floor, 2 on the 2nd, and 1 table outside at the top of the steps, under a terrace, overlooking a fountain – BOOK THAT ONE!! Best table on the island… Food was great, and cheaper than Top Dive and the Bora Bora Nui, and they had a great chocolate dessert…
Bora Bora Nui: We had 2 dinners at the Nui, one at the grill – pizza and pasta – cheap(er) and fine, but nothing to write home about… and the dining room was VERY drafty – Lisa was quite cold – although they did bring her a beach towel halfway thru dinner… We also had one dinner at their “nice” restaurant. Again, food was good (not great), expensive, and convenient, but lacked any island charm… I would not recommend you do more than 1 dinner at the hotel.
Notes:
- most restaurants will provide free transfers from the boat dock in Viatape, and the Bora Bora Nui activities desk can make reservations
- while we didn’t go (ran out of time), we heard 10 couples give outstanding recommendations for Bloody Marys Restaurant. Apparently, they lay the fish out and you “select” your dinner.
Shopping:
There are some shops in the town of Viatape and others around the ring road. I didn’t find much to buy. Mostly t-shirts and cheap trinkets. The sarongs ‘pareos’ seemed much too expensive and they were the only thing, besides a black pearl, that I had the slightest interest in buying. I found this to be true at all the islands we went to in French Polynesia. We had heard that Rangiroa is the cheapest place to buy black pearls, so we bought some there (see Rangiroa review). However, if you’re also going to Fiji, they have some nice pottery made out of unique Tamarin wood, hand carved, dried, etc. I’m not big on wooden pots/vases but these are beautiful and we bought 3 of them (see Fiji review).
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov
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Epinions.com ID:
bgraff
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Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
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