Luxury hotels in Bora Bora

Bora Bora guide

Bora Bora: the lagoon and Mount Otemanu

Overwater villas, snorkelling with rays and sharks, and a lagoon tour around the island.

Bora Bora's lagoon, in shades of turquoise around the volcanic peak of Mount Otemanu, is one of the most famous sights in the South Pacific, and a lagoon tour by boat, snorkelling with stingrays and blacktip reef sharks and visiting the coral gardens, is the most cited experience.

Overwater villas with views of the mountain are the classic stay, and a sunset cruise, a 4x4 tour of the island's WWII sites and Matira Beach complete it. Bora Bora is about fifty minutes by air from Tahiti, and May to October is the drier season.

Swimming with rays and sharks in the lagoon

Snorkelling with stingrays and blacktip reef sharks in the shallows of Bora Bora's lagoon is one of the most cited experiences in French Polynesia; the animals are used to visitors and swim around you in waist-deep water. The Coral Garden, near Motu Tapu, teems with fish.

Divers can see manta rays at Anau and lemon sharks outside the reef at Tapu. A private boat tour, with a lunch of poisson cru on a motu, the small islets of the reef, is the classic day.

Mount Otemanu by 4x4 and Polynesian culture

A four-wheel drive tour of Bora Bora's main island, climbing to viewpoints over the lagoon and to American cannons from the Second World War, is one of the most cited activities on land; Mount Otemanu itself is not climbable, but its slopes give spectacular views.

The village of Vaitape has shops of black pearls and crafts, and resort evenings often include Polynesian dance shows with drums and fire dancers. Learning to tie a pareo and weave palm fronds are traditional activities.