Russ and Jan's World Cruise: Sunday, January 22, 2023

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Bora Bora, French Polynesia

After 5 days at sea, we arrived this morning in Bora Bora. Mid-morning we went up to the Explorer’s Lounge to see this island in front of us. We are supposed to drop anchor around 11:00 so still aways to go. WOW!

We sailed through a narrow opening in the reef and into a bay where we dropped anchor. Rain is forecast for much of the day but it is 80 F so very comfortable. The island is beautiful! I’ve seldom seen such green. We are here in their rainy season which may be attributing to the green. We have a 3:30 included tour which consists of a 1-hour boat ride.

We headed into the pier a little early so we can walk around what little bit of town there is. There are souvenir shops, lots of pearl shops as this area is known for the black pearls. We walked through the little supermarket and could definitely feel the French influence. The pearls were fun to look at through the windows. A beautiful 3-strand necklace was only $20,000 USD.

Tour time came and we found our boat along the dock. The captain was very engaging. There were 5 boats altogether on this excursion. Each had 10-12 passengers. Our guide gave us some local history as we headed out to the shallow water along the reef and then sang and played the ukelele for us.

As we approached the shallow water, the color changed from a deep deep blue to a very pale blue green. In the distance, you could see breakers along the outside of the reef. We came to a stop in an area known for eagle rays and other fish. We spotted some rays as well as puffer fish and parrot fish and reef sharks. The other boats in our group gathered and one of the other guides got into the water to play with the fish. The water is only about waist deep.

He had some bait for the sharks and the rays and they seem to know him. He really enjoyed playing with one of the rays. After a while, we all went on to the rest of our tour. We had a good view of a high-end bungalow resort. And were shown the “best” beach on the island. It’s the only beach on the island. We also spotted a whole school of reef shark. Between 20 and 30 individuals. Our guide commented that when there are only a few, you can go in the water. When you see that many, you stay out of the water.

For at least half of our tour, the rain had been falling. Gradually getting harder. By the time we finished our tour and got back to the tender, we were pretty well soaked. But it’s just water and it’s warm. We’ll dry.