Bora Bora - March 22nd

March 22nd......  It’s not hard to understand why many say Bora Bora is one of the most beautiful islands in the Pacific, and some would say (as James Michener did)  in the world..... Covered with lush green volcanic peaks, a huge lagoon, and a chain of sandy beach motu’s along it’s coast, it probably got as near to the picture perfect tropical paradise island as we’ve seen yet. 

The Island of Bora Bora 

We went ashore yesterday morning about 10:00, looked around in some of the shops for an hour or so,  then took a shuttle to the famous “Bloody Mary’s..... Just as described, with a sand floor, open  walls in a beautiful garden setting, wooden tables, and a welcoming atmosphere, you feel at home when walking in....  We had lunch there and a Bloody Mary, and bought a couple of souvenir tee shirts....  We caught the shuttle back to the pier where we had a tour scheduled for 1:00 in the afternoon.

Pier area at Bora Bora, Tours & Shops

Mary at Bloody Mary's

The Dining Room at Bloody Mary's

Our Table for Lunch

Jim's Fish Plate

Pretty little tables everywhere

Surrounded by beautiful gardens

It was a great tour - aboard a typical Polynesian outrigger motorized catamaran we were taken to a beautiful motu where we had about 2 hours to snorkel, swim, and relax....  We seen lots of pretty fish, some manta’s and abundant coral gardens...  

On the tour boat going to a motu beach

Large Manta just under the surface of the water

Our Private area on the beach

Jim in his snorkel mask

Jim Snorkeling - Notice the color of the water and how clear it is

Mary in Snorkel gear

After we left the private motu we took the long way around the island where we could get a good look at all sides of it.....  Towering over the island is Mt. Otemanu 2,385 ft.  The remains of the original volcanic rim, it’s appearance changes depending which angle you see it from.. beautiful from all directions.

Mt. Otemanu watching over us

As we left - Our last view of Bora Bora

It takes so much energy to snorkel so we were worn out when returning to the cabin..  We showered the sea salt off and it was all we could do to make ourselves go down for dinner...  as usual it was very good, and was just the ticket for a good night’s sleep following our busy day......Returning to our cabin that night as usual there was a little towel animal to greet us, this one leaning against the pillow.