My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

So I figured I’d post a mini-review of our Tahiti/Bora Bora honeymoon... I wanted to do a more thorough review but the way things are going, I can tell I won’t have time so here are a few pics and few comments – enjoy!!

We stayed at the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort in a Premium Over-the-Water bungalow. It was quite a journey to get there but it was well worth it. We flew about 6 hrs from JFK to LAX on a 767, then a 3 hr layover, then 8 hrs to from LAX to Papeete in Tahiti on an Airbus, then another 3 hr layover, then a puddle-jumper (2-engine prop plane) for about 50 mins from Tahiti to Bora Bora.

Once we arrived at the airport in Bora Bora, you have to take a short boat ride to your hotel, no matter where you are staying because the airport is on it’s own baby island aka “motu”.

The weather was a beautiful 80 - 85 degrees everyday with a constant breeze blowing (the “Eastern Trade Wind” they call it). The sun is strong like I’ve never felt before, even stronger than in many parts of the Carribean that I’ve been to. The waters are... well...I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves but let me say that they are the PERFECT temperature all day long. It rained one day and it was pretty stormy that night, but it didn’t spoil anything for us.

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Another note about our honeymoon: we choose NOT to island-hop. A lot of people like to spend a night in Tahiti, then go to Bora Bora for a couple of days, then on to Moorea or Huahine. But we wanted to enjoy our room and our brief stay there (8 days) without the hassle of having to pack up and travel (yet again) on a plane. I don’t think this is the norm, but we were VERY happy with our decision. After almost 22 hrs until we got to our room, we didn’t want to see another plane or airport again for months!

Anyway, we also chose our location because we wanted to be very secluded and feel no obligation to “do stuff”. Our main goal was to relax. It’s not like Bora Bora is a party island anyway. This is a perfect HM spot if you ask me. So, we also did not book any tours beforehand and we did not sign up for a meal plan. We wanted to be free to plan our time as we wished and we loved that. We ate out every night and got room service whenever we felt like it (yes! There is room service to a OWB!) I also noticed that a lot of the better entrees on the menus were still charged above a meal plan.

We snorkeled, saw polynesian dance shows, shopped (got a beautiful black pearl!), kayaked, canoed, and toured the mainland... all in all it was an amazing HM and I loved every minute of it... It was expensive, but worth EVERY PENNY!! We have amazing memories and we also came back from our HM with a really “interesting” souvenir... but I’ll leave that for another post, another day.

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

So enough blabbering, right? On with the pics!!


Just outside Tahiti Faa’a International Airport at Sunrise (when we arrived)



Here’s Jimmy, really tired, outside the airport during our layover... we were greeted with aromatic flower leis (OMG they smelled sooo good!)

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

First look at our resort!! This is looking out from the reception area toward the bungalows



I couldn’t get over all the beautiful flowers that grow there!! These I think are called Birds of Paradise



Here’s Jimmy in the reception area... notice - no windows or doors! They greeted us with cool vanilla scented towels and tropical fruit juice



The hotel pool! They made it look as though it runs right into the ocean

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Our first shot of Mt. Otemanu, the now inactive volcano that formed the islands of Bora Bora



The Reception area...



Inside our Bungalow... how it looked when we arrived... all decorated with fresh flowers!



The sofa...

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Looking out toward our deck




Our Coffee table – you can see clear through to the bottom of the ocean water below!



The top of the glass slides open so you can feed the fish that swim below!



Our bathroom...



The tub – those panels of glass see down into the water also, and they are lit up at night with the lights from under our bungalow

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

looks like you had a great time on your hm

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

The sink, also glass panels so you can see down to the water



Aaahhh.... the view from our deck... it’s imprinted in my brain forever! Those are uninhabited motus in the distance... all that green water is about chest high



View from the deck to the right...



View from the deck to the left...and a good shot of our neighbor’s bungalow (looks just like ours) and YES! You can swim under the bungalows!

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Our little “picnic” area outside on our deck. You can see over the right, our own outdoor shower too...



Down the stairs to our “dock”



Mt. Otemanu – the view from our doorway...



View from the pool at sunset...

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

One of the long bridges we had to walk over to get to our room... sooo romantic!



Another shot of the mountain


A cruise ship that pulled up to Bora Bora



Our bungalow at sunset...

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

GLORIOUS!!!!

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

We had breakfast brought to our room by outrigger canoe...

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

There I am on our deck...



Unfortunately, our camera broke on the third day! But we still got a ton of great pics... some even from our disposables that were left over from the wedding (I don’t have those scanned though) and we got footage on our video camera. Soooo... that’s about it for now. If anyone has any questions about Bora Bora - feel free!

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

WOW that looks so gorgeous!! You must have had an incredible time!

I'd love to go to Bora Bora - even more after seeing your pics!

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Amazing! That coffee table feature is incredible!

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Beautiful... I'm so excited , we will be going on our HM there in June.
We are doing a few islands. It looks amazing

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I the pictures look surreal

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Awesome - thanks for the great review. We are thinking about staying at the St. Regis Bora Bora Nui - did you happen to see it or visit?

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Oh my God!!!! Everything looks so gorgeous!!!!

Re: My mini-review of our BORA BORA Honeymoon!! (W/Pics!)

Beautiful.
I saw on Monday on TV (Traveling Channel)about Bora Bora about the rooms, the table and the feeding of the fish and how they bring the food via canoe. Sooo Cool !
Glad you had a good time