The surrounding lagoon and reef in Bora Bora offers some of the most spectacular snorkeling and scuba diving sites. There is a multitude of reef fish, sharks, stingrays and eagle rays to be seen. The water is astonishingly clear, warm and a colorful blue and turquoise shade. We went on three separate water excursions, a private lagoon tour, a Jet Ski tour, and then a more in-depth reef discovery. Each excursion was arranged through the hotel and we wanted to add ATV quad bikes to a portion of our Jet Ski tour but unfortunately they were undergoing maintenance.
For the private lagoon tour, we were picked up at 8am by our guide, Shaq, in a traditional Polynesian outrigger boat at the main hotel pier. It had just finished raining when we left for our tour, it actually rained most mornings and this was a sign that the rest of the day’s weather would be superb. Our first stop took us to Bora Bora's swimming pool, which was a location with plenty of other boats and tourists. This spot was near one of the other hotels on the outer edge of the reef. There were tons of fish that obviously are comfortable with people and the food they bring for them.
The colors and types of fish were plentiful and we spent roughly an hour here before moving on to the next stop. The next stop was further out and closer to the open Pacific but still protected by the reef. The current was really strong here, which was evident as you were dragged along with the waves crashing on the other side of the reef. This part of the reef was shallow with lots of black tip sharks. The sharks did a menacing circling of the boats, which was not surprising given that we threw food into the water for the sharks to devour. Strangely, they didn't come close directly but rather kept on circling us, which was a bit unnerving. Needless to say we did not spend too much time in the water.
Friendly Stingrays!
After this stop, we went to an area with stingrays. The stingrays were super friendly and curious we had to watch our feet as to be careful to not step on them. Following this stop we snacked on delicious coconut bread and local juices and fruits, very popular items on the island, while being serenaded with some local folk songs played by Shaq on his guitar. After we were full, we did a complete circle of the island and were dropped off back to the St Regis dock.
For the Jet Ski tour, our guide Ari picked us up at the St Regis beach. After a quick tutorial on how to work the jet ski, we set off. I can't stress highly enough that this is a fantastic way to explore the lagoon. Splashing waves, speed and the views can't be beat. Our first stop was to another location that had sharks, mainly the black tips. It is amazing how the lagoon seems to have these areas that have clusters of specific species. The sharks swam around and under and followed but no food for the sharks this time. Sorry guys! We then travelled a little further to another swimming pool area and just jumped in! It was refreshing, and we swam around and saw a huge turtle and then continued on visiting with more rays. Ari took us to motu and we parked up 100m away. It was knee to waist deep to the beach. We hung around trying to stay cool whilst Ari zipped off to the beach plucked some fruit and coconuts came back and prepared a snack. Amazing how abundant fruit here is, the grapefruits & oranges were green and very sweet. We chatted about life and tourism and the fact that Bora Bora has some of the most expensive hotels and how the locals feel about it. It was refreshing to get an insider’s knowledge on island life and it's people.
Following our snack, we sped of again jumping over Ari's waves and exploring more of the lagoon. Nicole was a bit sore by the end of the day trying to hold on tight behind me with one arm and capture imagery on the gopro with the other arm; I think I was having too much fun twisting and turning. We did another loop of another bay and then headed back to the St Regis. All and all, we really enjoyed our tour of the island on the jet ski!
Our third tour was with our guide Damien. He pulled up to the dock in a shinny red speedboat. It looked fast and, sure enough, went fast too. We had four couples including ourselves on the boat. We all had different levels of experience when it came to snorkeling and life vests were offered if needed. One couple was not very strong swimmers but Damien gave them life vests plus a Baywatch style buoy, which he used to pull them along.
Our first stop was a short distance away from the St Regis in a rather deep part of the lagoon. Damien explained this is where we would likely see Manta Rays, which are huge creatures. The plan was to park the boat and swim to a spot where they would be flying underneath us. He explained how the lagoon is like a pit stop for the Manta Rays from the open ocean where they come to get cleaned by other fish and to spot females and males. He also said how they were scared of humans, even though they can span the size of a house, and that they move very quickly. We swam quite a distance away from the boat over 50m and did a few circuits but no luck in spotting any Manta Rays.
After making our way back to the boat, Damien decided to try another spot where we could potentially see eagle spotted rays. These rays are a smaller species and likely to be located closer to the end of the reef on the far end of the lagoon side of the island. The plan was for us to swim closer to the family of rays whilst Damien dragged the boat behind us, which was quite impressive. We managed to find a huge number of rays in the distance. We tried to get closer but it is amazing how fast they move especially as it appears they are hardly moving as they glide along. The next stop was right on the reef in the coral gardens. This part of the reef is shallow with strong currents. Damien explained to us how the coral gardens were formed and how all the sand on the motus come from the broken pieces of tiny coral from this garden. So if we did manage to accidentally knock a piece off it would end up on the beach. The coral gardens were magnificent and were extremely colorful. We were told this was due to the warm temperatures, which were in excess of 80 degrees. We had to make sure to stay quite flat in this area to avoid the corals. Lots of fish were found in between the corals along with shrimps.....
After the gardens, we headed over to the aquarium area of the lagoon. On this day, the weather was better than we first visited this area and more fish were around. We spent quite some time exploring this area and seeing how many different types of fish we could find. We even swam down to a part of the reef and managed to coax out a Moray eel. Following the aquarium, we tried again to find the elusive Manama rays on the other side of the lagoon. Another boat reported that they were swimming around that area, but again no luck. We spent some time looking at the sea snails then headed back to the St Regis Dock. Damien was a terrific guide and we can't recommend his tour highly enough. He has a great sense of humor and is very knowledgeable, plus was able to cater to everyone, including the couple that was not very comfortable with swimming, without making anyone feel left out. It was overall a very enjoyable experience!