Day 22 – January 26, 2015

Today we were in Bora Bora. The most beautiful island that we have seen. It was originally called Pora Pora (meaning first born) since the Tahitians did not have the letter “B” in their vocabulary.

It is dubbed the most romantic island in the world and there are many resorts here with Tiki houses over the water, as you will see in one or two pictures. They say they go for $2000 per night, but I am guessing that is the high season, summer, as now they are mostly empty. This is the rainy season. You can smell hibiscus wherever you go. Legend has it that the island was fished from the sea by the supreme god Taaro shortly after he created Raiatea. The water is crystal clear, as you can see in some of the pictures. They have giant manta rays and beautiful fish, as well as some yellow sharks. Black pearls are the hot commodity here, but again very expensive in these islands.

We did a non-ship tour on a 3 hull pontoon boat. There were just 12 of us as well as the driver. We stopped at many lagoons and saw manta rays, fish and the sharks. The water was so nice and warm it felt like a bath. It was cloudy, but did not rain till late in the day, and we were done at 1. These private tours are about half the cost of the ones from the ship and are much smaller.