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Travel guide
Bora Bora
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to October (dry season)
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Welcome
Bora Bora, in a few days
A single coast road of about 32 km circles Mount Otemanu, a 727-metre block of black basalt, inside a lagoon ringed by the motu islets where the overwater bungalows stand. You swim with stingrays, cycle round the island in three hours and can sleep in a family guesthouse for a third of the price of the resorts.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Matira Beach free · half a dayThe island's main public beach, two kilometres of white sand shelving so gently you wade a hundred metres before the water reaches your waist.
- Afternoon · Mount Pahia hike · half a dayThe island's second summit, 661 metres, is the only one open to walkers: three hours up through forest, then a ridge with fixed ropes.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Maitai Polynesia Bora Bora€200 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Round the island by bike · 2 to 3 hThe 32 km coast road is almost flat, with one climb at Fitiiu Point, and passes Vaitape, Faanui and Anau and their bays.
- Afternoon · Mount Otemanu · half a dayThe 727-metre peak, remains of a volcano extinct for some three million years, has sheer walls closed to walkers; admire it from the lagoon.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Royal Bora Bora€180 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Swimming with rays and sharks · a full dayOn a shallow lagoon sandbank, stingrays glide past your legs while blacktip reef sharks keep their distance; lemon sharks gather beyond the reef.
- Afternoon · The American guns at Fitiiu Point free · about 1 h 30Relics of Operation Bobcat in 1942, when about 5,000 US troops built a supply base here and set eight naval guns on the heights.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Maitai Polynesia Bora Bora€200 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Marae Marotetini free · about 30 minThe island's most important marae, on Faanui Bay, a platform of upright coral slabs about forty metres long, restored in 1968.
- Afternoon · The lagoon coral garden · about 2 hA shallow coral plateau in the south-east of the lagoon, one to two metres down, with butterflyfish, parrotfish, moray eels and sometimes an eagle ray.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Royal Bora Bora€180 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Poisson cru: raw tuna marinated in lime and coconut milk (e'ia ota), the national dish.
- Grilled fish: tuna and mahi-mahi fresh off the boats, with lagoon seafood alongside.
- Po'e: a baked fruit pudding, banana or papaya, served with coconut milk.
- Uru: breadfruit, cooked in the ahima'a, the Tahitian earth oven.
- Fruit and coconut: fresh juice at every roulotte, and coconut water drunk straight from the nut.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Expect high prices: almost everything is imported.
- Do not stand on the coral, even where it looks dead.
- The sun is fierce: wear reef-safe sun cream and a lycra top in the water.
- Book guesthouses and inter-island flights early, above all for July and August.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyCFP franc (XPF)
BudgetAbout €375 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to October (dry season)
PlugA/B/E · 110-220V
Tap waterSafe to drink in Papeete, bottled elsewhere
TippingNot customary
Emergency15 / 112
EntryFrench Polynesia is not part of the Schengen area. EU citizens need only an ID card or a passport; UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports get 90 days in any 180 without a visa, with a return ticket.
HealthHepatitis A is recommended. No malaria, but dengue is present: use repellent.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/bora-bora
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.