Bora Bora, Paradise On Earth!

Day 4-May 3

Bora Bora-As has become my ritual, I took sunset pictures last night for a 5:48 PM setting sun and then took sunrise pictures from our bungalow deck this morning for a rising 6:10 AM sun. Since Dianne and I would be spending the day on a Jet Ski and snorkeling excursion all day, we met Jimmy and Pam for a 7:00 AM breakfast which is included as part of the Four Seasons resort package. I ate a lot since we knew we wouldn’t have any lunch on our Moana Adventures excursion, but were later proven wrong when we were driven to a very popular restaurant called the XXX. We met Gene, our transport boat captain at the reception area dock and then went to the Intercontinental Resort to pick up some other passengers. Our morning was spent Jet skiing all the way around the island.

Dianne and I rented a single jet ski and went around the island with our leader, whose name escape me, though I never really knew it, a newly wed couple from Austin, TX and two Chinese guys, both having rented their own jet ski. Our boat captain, Gene, had told us to take the rear of the line of jet skis because the others would smooth our way forward, so that’s what we did, or at least attempted to do. It turns out the Chinese don’t understand what a straight line means because these two guys were all over the place! I mean you couldn’t be more erratic if you were trying to be. They were all over the place. No straight line for them. Then they were moving the speed of a turtle. I’m yelling, I’m cussing, Dianne is yelling at me to quit yelling at them. Of course, if they could hear, they sure would not have understood what I was saying. Chaos best describes the moment. After only two to three minutes, the guide stopped us all, tried to explain in his best English with an Asian slang that everyone needed to travel in a straight line. Off we go, for about 2 more minutes. Again, our leader stops explains what a straight line means, gesturing with both hands, but this time he added, “If you break the jet ski, you buy the jet ski.” I told the leader would take in behind the young newlyweds, having had more than enough with the two Asians. The entire trip, the Asians lagged way behind and really never got the idea of what a straight line means, but we didn’t really care at that point, it was no longer our problem. Bora Bora is an island with small, narrow islandettes, or Motus, surrounding it. Our jet ski ride took us all the way around the central island, staying between the outer Motus and the island itself. About half way around the island, we stopped on one of the Motus where our guide demonstrated how to shell a coconut and then how to crack it open. We were each given a coconut half with milk, which all of us consumed rather quickly. We were also given some previously shaved coconut meat and taught how to squeeze the juice from the meat into our mouths. It was quite a mess to be sure. We then took about a five-minute walk to the outer side of the Motu, where the waves were busy breaking against the barrier reef. The barrier reef is what protects the island, yielding calm, serene waters, turquoise in color and warmed for swimming, jet skiing, snorkeling or any other water activity.

We all jumped on our jet skis and motored off to see the rest of the island. The total trip took about two and half hours. Upon our arrival, both Asians managed to make a mess of their landing, one almost crashing into a concrete wall and the other slowly drifting away before being retrieved by our guide. Once on land, we found out that lunch was included for those of us doing the full-day adventure, jet skiing in the morning and snorkeling in the afternoon. We jumped in van to be taken to lunch and wouldn’t you know, the Asians jumped into the van as well. Great! They’re going snorkeling with us as well. I remember thinking, well, at least we don’t have to swim in a straight line. The lunch was great, but we made it very clear to the hostess that we did not want to share table with our new Asian friends. It’s funny how things work out sometimes. We had been following a couple of Facebook groups, including one about Bora Bora. The group had talked about a really good restaurant called the Lucky House on Bora Bora. Wouldn’t you know it, that’s the restaurant Moana Adventures took us to. The food was really, really good. We both had pizza, Dianne having the four cheese and me the Bollywood, a white sauce chicken with curry sauce on top. Both were not only unique, but really good. I would give the Lucky House a 4.5 out 5.0.

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We were picked up at 1:00 PM and went back to the Moana Adventures headquarters, where we boarded Captain Gene’s boat for an afternoon of snorkeling. The first stop was to an area where one could easily touch the bottom and walk around chasing stingrays and reef sharks. At first is pretty cool, but then I realized there were likely a total of seven or eight of the same reef sharks and two or three stingrays swimming around hoping for food. Feeding the fish has recently been banned, so wonder how much longer the sharks and rays will continue to hang out waiting for handouts. After about 30 minutes of swimming with the sharks, all of which were four to six feet long and completely docile, we took off for the coral gardens. The coral gardens were out in much more open water, where the currents were stronger and the waves a lot choppier. Dianne and I jumped in the water and off we went, swimming around and over the top of coral. We had been warned to touch the coral as it could cause skin irritations and negative reactions. Using our masks, snorkels and fins, we navigated the coral fairly well for awhile until I noticed Dianne had stopped and was stationary, with her snorkel out. I swam back and found Dianne in somewhat of a panicked state. I think the thought of touching the coral really freaked her out. She immediately asked that I take her back to the boat, which we did after I tried to calm her down and gain control of her breathing. We got back to the boat, she crawled up the ladder to safety and suggested I go out on my own. I hesitantly agreed and swam for about forty-five minutes with my GoPro in hand. The coral was really cool with lots of different colors, fish and other wildlife. I’ve told however, the best coral gardens are on Ta’ha, so I can’t wait to get there and try some drift snorkeling.

After snorkeling, we stopped by the Intercontinental resort to drop off most of our snorkel mates, including the two from China. We headed back to the Moana headquarters and picked up a couple of riders. Captain Gene dropped everyone but Dianne and me off, which gave us time to ask a few questions. Captain Gene told us that whatever we can buy here is most likely cheaper in the Tahiti Market, including black pearls. When we pressed him, however, he suggested they may be even cheaper at pearl farm because they don’t have to pay the taxes to get the pearls to market, like they do in Tahiti. When I asked about scuba diving on Bora Bora, he said the diving would be much better on Rangiroa because there are not as many visitors so there is a lot more to see. Captain Gene dropped us off at the Four Seasons and we gave him a really good tip.

We ate dinner at the Italian restaurant on-site at the resort. The food was really good. We had dinner with Jimmy and Pam and I think all of us gave the restaurant a thumbs up. You could tell it was good by all of the sounds everyone was making during dinner, sounds of enjoyment. For Dianne and me, the day was long. We were hot, tired and ready for bed. Good night, everybody.

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