For some time now, we have been in “topping up the cruising kitty” mode, before setting off again early next year. Fortunately this hasn’t prevented us from enjoying the wonderful playground of French Polynesia. Bora Bora is definitely a magical place, with everything you could ever want within her lagoon. Since the opportunity presented itself, we set a course there from Tahiti. A little overnight trip downwind, though the return might not be quite the same. What do we like about Bora Bora? The lagoon is vast, and offers a multitude of anchorages - we tried around fifteen! The sandy bottom provides very good holding, in 2 to 5 meters of water, and are for the most part, protected from the swell by the coral reef, and from the wind by rows of coconut palms. There is rich underwater life, and even though it is often artificially concentrated for “feeding” the tourists, it does mean you can get up close to sharks, skate and mantas fairly easily. And then there is the beauty of the lagoon: several areas have depths ranging from 2 to 10 meters, and offer shades of blue which are absolutely unique. And despite the high presence of tourism, the coral remains pretty much intact. But yes, even in Bora Bora, there are some things which aren’t quite so good. You need to try and ignore the forests of bungalows on stilts, sown right across the coral reefs, “denaturing” the landscape, and also the passenger ferries from all these hotels gorged with tourists, which incessantly ply back and forth to and from the airport, on one of the motus, and the hotels. Paradoxically, Bora Bora suffers from a serious lack of supplies, with only two grocery stores, in which it’s difficult to find decent fruit and vegetables. And also, access to the beaches is difficult, as they are artificial most of the time and belong to the hotels, and the motus are completely private and inaccessible. And then in the high season, there is a high concentration of charter catamarans coming across from Raiatea. Bora Bora, we wish we could keep your beauty just for us…
Boat: Bahia 46
Where: French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean.
Who: Alice, Eric, Coline & Eden.
Blog: www.levoyagedesuricat.com
