French Polynesia – Day 4 – Bora Bora

I wake up in Moorea to the most beautiful sunset and colors reflecting off the water. It seemed like I was on a different planet.

I also took some panoramic photos of the luxury villa at the Sofitel Moorea so that anyone thinking of staying there can get an idea of the setting.

After breakfast, which by the way is pretty good at the Sofitel (they even had Dim Sum items), we headed to the airport. I booked a Air Tahiti to take us from Moorea to Bora Bora. I booked Full Flex fares which included:

• double the carry on weight (46kg); this was useful because we did not have checked bags on this trip (just shorts and bathing suits)
• priority boarding (useful as it is open seating) which is enforced

The short flight was pleasant overall. As we approached Bora Bora, the beauty from the air struck me:

Upon arrival, we were met by the representative of the St. Regis where we were staying. They showed us to the private boat I had booked to take us to the resort (the main island is surrounded by many motu; the airport is on a motu and each resort is on its own motu also). As we left the airport, more beauty:

Basically, the most clear blue waters I have ever seen. Upon arrival at the hotel, we went through the long check in process and then a golf cart tour of the property. As our room was not ready yet, we had lunch.

This consisted of fish and chips which were ok, a not so great pizza and dessert. I will have a LOT more to say about the food at the resort later. For now, I will say its VERY expensive and food choices are extremely limited at lunch. We booked a few places to eat off resort, on the main island, but unfortunately, due to covid lockdowns implemented when we arrived, we had to eat every meal at the resort.

After lunch (and some complaining about the room not being ready), it was finally time to check into our overwater bungalow. This exceeded all expectations for me.

I should note that all guests receive a bicycle to go around the huge resort. The hotel also delivered a welcome gift, which we enjoyed on the back porch watching the sunset. TIP: you should make sure the bungalow you book has a view of Mount Otemanu. There are many bungalows on the property but the best, in my opinion, face the mountain/main island.

What I loved about the bungalows:

• strong AC
• clean
• massive (I think they claim to have the largest in the islands)
• glass floors (although there were not many fish to see)
• the back porch which you can swim off of right into the lagoon
• the shower on the rear porch
• the butler service; he was great and arranged a lot of things for us

What I didn’t like about the bungalows:

• the lack of fish in the lagoon; a worker explained to me that the reefs were removed and so, there were very few fish (this was very disappointing); still nice to swim off the back porch
• would of been nice to have a plunge pool

Overall these are incredible accomodations.

For our first dinner, we went to Lagoon by Jean Georges. While the setting was nice as expected, the food was not amazing (I have never been blown away by any JG). It started with an amuse and then I had the octopus and quinoa as a start. This was followed by the Mahi and then some dessert. Overall, service was ok and the food was good but nothing out of this world. As mentioned above, I will have A LOT more to say about the food at the resort later.

We ended the night with a walk back to our bungalow. The resort is as beautiful at night as it is in the day.

Next up, Day 5 and an amazing lunch on a private motu…