My Favorite Turquoise Destination: BORA-BORA
After traveling for 10 years around the world, I have my personal ranking of places that have been tattooed in the retina of my eyes and skin.
Bora-Bora is the most beautiful, quiet and clean destination I have ever experienced. Located in the Central South Pacific Ocean, Bora-Bora belongs to the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is governed by France as its name sounds.
Bora-Bora: Love at first sight.
The most enjoyable way to reach it is on a beautiful cruise: An 18-night Tahiti, Bora Bora, & Hawaii cruise sailing on the Celebrity Eclipse and embarking from Sydney, Australia. On the 11th day of our cruise, our morning announcement: “We have arrived to Bora-Bora”, which is best known for its stunning, turquoise waters.
The Celebrity Eclipse and the 18-night Tahiti, Bora-Bora, & Hawaii cruise sailing
One of the most popular water activities is called “Shark and Manta Ray Encounter”. I know what you will say: “They are supposed to be dangerous”. Yes, they could react dangerously if they felt threatened, otherwise they are beautiful and welcoming animals.
Stingrays got a bad reputation after the tragic attack Steven Irwin suffered by a short-tailed stingray when he was filming a documentary off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in 2006. Well, even though they are similar in shape, there is a difference between stingrays and manta rays. These manta rays are social animals and do not have a spine on its tail bases.
Our snorkeling point of encounter with the manta rays is the Anau Lagoon on the east side. The manta rays are an average of 10ft in length. They hang out with humans on a daily basis and studies have shown they do not suffer from interaction with tourists. It even looks like they are constantly smiling at you from beneath, even though you are just looking at their nostrils and mouth.
A Manta Ray of the Anau Lagoon. I need to accept that every time I go on a tour with animals, I am their favorite guest!
My recommendation is always to listen carefully to your local, tour guide. For example, our tour guide recommends to us not to swim on top of them but just drag our feet to move around. This avoids stepping on any of them.
The same goes for sharks: The “Jaws” movies gave these creatures the reputation for being ferocious human eaters. The sharks of Bora-Bora are friendly and used to tourists. They are smart and know that, before and after each trip, the tour guide will provide them with a yummy, fish snack if they are on their best behavior.
The waters of encounter with the sharks are the green lagoons. There are many kinds of sharks in Bora-Bora like the Lemon Shark, Whitetip Shark, Hammerhead Shark, and Gray Shark. The most common type are Blacktip-reef sharks. They usually eat small fish, sea birds and sea snakes. Humans are not on their menu!
A Blacktip-reef Shark: A harmless and beautiful animal.
The recommendations for going underwater snorkeling or diving with the sharks are always the same: No excessive amount of sunblock nor shiny jewelry. Most importantly: Do not feed, do not touch and do not chase nor harass any of them. After paying close attention to those instructions, you can swim close and enjoy if they come around you. Finally, stay close to your guide and stay away from the propellers of your catamaran or yacht. It is common to lose your sense of time under water. Your guide has a powerful whistle and can let you know that it is time for you to come back to the vessel. He jokes and says: “It is the sharks’ dinner time. Let’s go!”
Repeat after me: “I do not harass sharks!”
Coming back from the tour, we cross an art-craft gallery. This is the perfect place where you can buy gorgeous, handmade jewelry at an affordable price. Most of them are made of iridescent shells or gemstones that the locals save after consuming their seafood.
On this specific day, our cruise has docked in Bora-Bora for 11 hours, from 7am to 6pm. Honestly, it is enough time to have a good taste of the area. When it comes to tours on ports of call, I always recommend to go with the tour offered by your cruise line. This guarantees that if any delays or incidents occurred the Captain would be informed and the ship would not leave you behind.
It is nice to tip your local tour guides. For most of them, a little tip can be a big difference in their monthly income. Some of them are even local volunteers that just want to leave a good impression on the tourists.
Remember to bring sunblock, a towel, a bathing suit, water, your waterproof camera and a little tooth paste to refresh your snorkel mask in order to prevent fog.
What a great, refreshing day! I always find peace when I interact with animals. They are the perfect example of what living harmoniously in nature looks like.
Until next time, my dear Bora-Bora! I hope you, dear friends, have enjoyed this as much as I did.
It is time to prepare for my next adventure! Remember, with GEO360™, Pack less travel more!®
Written by Joy Kelly-
May 28th, 2019
Special thanks to Celebrity Cruise Line.
Here some informative links:
Transpacific Cruises by Celebrity Cruises
South Pacific and French Polynesia by Lindblad Expeditions - National Geographic