Peddlin' Around Bora Bora

Our first full day on the island of Bora Bora!!! We woke up and just enjoyed the view from the bedroom window out to the water, the bungalows, the boats, and the mountains in the background as the sun was coming up. It is quite an amazing site. We got to go to the breakfast buffet (luckily, it’s included in our package here) and it was pretty good – similar to the IC Moorea but a step up to be sure. We came back and went for a swim around the bungalow, then got dressed and went on another exploration trip. We hopped on the IC’s ferry to the mainland early, and by 10:30 we had two OLD beach cruiser bikes with baskets on the handles – the neat-looking dune buggy was our first option but it was expensive and we think sold out, so we just opted for good ol’ pedal power – which actually turned out to be a lot easier and nicer than even we thought.

We stopped at a couple of black pearl places – they are nice, but certainly not cheap! We made the trip into the main town to check out the shops and then doubled back – it wasn’t a very far trip, about 10 miles round trip, and we stopped to check out the scenery quite a few times, which helped to break it up. The island is as amazing as Moorea – it seems a little nicer, more cleaned up, and not as populated. There were shacks up here and there, but even they looked pretty decent and reminded T.J. of cheap shore house rentals. The beach and the water were, like usual, amazing. At the end of the one harbor just before we reached the main village of Vaitape, the water got muddier and it wasn’t nearly as nice, but for the most part it was crystal clear water and white sand. The town itself was more or less a tourist trap that had a few local stores. We got a few little things, and a couple of bottles of wine and a couple of loaves of bread (which will go great with the cheese we stole from the breakfast buffet) for the week, and headed back the way we came. We stopped at several dive places to see if we could get Jen a deeper dive than the original place was offering, but we just had really bad timing and everything was closed or had just left for a dive when we got there.

We stopped at “Bloody Mary’s”, an American-ish bar that was pretty cool. We had heard mixed reviews about the place, and probably should have spent more time there, cause it seemed like a place that would be right up our alley. Overpriced for sure and touristy, but then again, what’s not here. The atmosphere was really cool – they had a “shoe check” because the ground was all sand. There was a cool tiki-type bar and lots of tables in the restaurant with an overall island tiki theme. Jen went to the bathroom and told TJ how cool it was, so he went in to check the mens room which was equally as fun. The sinks were actually mini waterfalls and the bathrooms were eclectically decorated. We debated eating at Bloody Mary’s, but both of us agreed we wanted something more “authentic” than burgers and wings. After a few drinks, we got back on the bikes and found the one pearl farm on Bora Bora island, and took the 15 minute tour to see how the pearls were cultivated. Then TJ bought Jen her wedding present from the pearl shop. :)

Back on the bikes, the place we wanted to stop for lunch was, of course, closed when we got there, so we ended up finding some little shack on a public beach and had a decent meal there. It started raining while we were eating, so that helped to cool the air a bit but kept us off the bikes for an extra 20 minutes. Once we got on the bikes and got moving, we were pretty surprised to discover the IC Moana was right around the corner from where we were. So we returned the bikes, and had about 40 minutes to wait for the next water taxi. We got some towels and then headed for the pool at the IC Moana, a neat little two-level thing that had a small waterfall and a sand lower level. It was nice to lounge a bit after going going going all day long.

We got back to the Thalasso at happy hour time, but opted to skip it to hang out at the bungalow. We opened a bottle of wine and saw a semi-sunset over the mountain. After another fun swim in the water, we got dressed in hopes of getting to the St. Regis for dinner, but we ended up being too late to make reservations for tonight (of course!). We settled for the casual restaurant here over the Polynesian dinner luau, and had a decent meal (even if the best thing was the sashimi/tuna tartar app). It was a good first day exploring, and now we have a great idea of what the rest of the week will look like: scuba, St. Regis, a sunset, and slouching for a day. :)