Bora Bora, French Polynesia

We've arrived at Bora Bora. It's one of the smaller islands in the Society archipelago, but one of the most famous. Islands like Fakarava and Rangiroa were new to me, but we've all heard of Tahiti and Bora Bora. Haven't we?

Bora Bora is in the Society Islands, about 250 km northwest of Tahiti. Like so many of these islands, it was formed by an extinct volcano, and is surrounded by a lagoon and a fringing reef. The main island is surrounded by a number of small islands (motus), and it's a beautiful thing to sail into the lagoon on a ship.

The total area of Bora Bora is less than 40 square km, including all the motus around the main island. The main island is only only 8 km long and 5 km wide. It's peppered with swish resorts and fancy over-water bungalows ... Tahiti by comparison is the poor cousin, in terms of expensive resorts. Bora Bora has a population of fewer than 10,000 people, and the island's economy is driven almost entirely by tourism.

Coral reefs surround the central island and protect it from the open sea. There is only one opening to the ocean: the Teavanui Passage, which allows large cargo and cruise ships to enter the lagoon. Another cruise ship was already anchored in the lagoon when we arrived, but like ours, it was a small ship (technically fewer than 1000 passengers — my advice is never to go on anything larger) and we were hardly aware of those passengers on land.

Bora Bora was settled by Polynesians around 3 CE. The first Europeans spotted it early in 1700 and Captain Cook saw it in 1769 (with the help of a Tahitian navigator!). The London Missionary Society arrived in 1820 and founded a Protestant church in 1890. Bora Bora was an independent kingdom until 1888, when the French annexed the island as a colony and forced its last queen to abdicate.

On the tender to shore, we were again joined by youngsters in their canoes. The ferry in the fourth photo travels between Tahiti, Raiatea and Bora Bora. Travelling from Bora Bora to Tahiti (or vice versa) on this ferry takes 7 hours.

During World War II, the US Army built an air base on Bora Bora and 5000 American GIs made what's called a 'friendly invasion'. (What a great place to be based!) However, there was no combat on the island and the Americans on Bora Bora had a peaceful time. They left behind some bunkers and cannons, a road or two, and an air base. The air base was French Polynesia's only international airport until 1960, when a new airport was built in Tahiti. Oh, the GIs left behind quite a few babies too, according to our guide, who told us it was not unusual for locals to have some American heritage.

We were in Bora Bora for two days. Our guide on a tour around the island was a young German woman called Julia, who had arrived in Bora Bora eight years ago for a one-year contract. She's still here. Our vehicle was a truck converted into a bus by the installation of plastic seats. It's well known around the island and is called Le Truck.

Bora Bora has a number of luxury hotels, but the locals live as they do on other islands. Everywhere we went, we saw local people — families — swimming in the sea. It's definitely not just the tourists!

I was also impressed that Bora Bora does not allow motor boats to be anchored in the lagoon close to shore, to protect the coral. Boats have to be lifted and secured in these cradles.

This is a typical house on the island; note the tomb in the front garden. Members of the family who die are buried in the garden, and a nice little memorial erected to them. Not only does this honour the dead and ensure that the family remembers them, it also means that the land will never be sold to an outsider. (Would you want someone else's dead granny in your garden?) Everywhere we went, fruit trees were bursting with produce. Even if you're not wealthy, you will never starve.

Two local women gave us a demonstration of how they dye fabric into pareos. They start off with cotton made in China, dye it in home-made vegetable dyes, then use stencils to create additional patterns on the fabric. This was followed by a lesson in how to tie the knots. My pareos/sarongs always fall off when I wear them, so I paid close attention but I bet my knots won't work. They haven't in 60+ years, so why would they work now?

When Hollywood stars 'discovered' Bora Bora in the 1960s, it became the place to be — and the place to make movies. Marlon Brando not only lived here when he filmed Mutiny on the Bounty, but married a Polynesian actress and bought his own island. Technically, he got a 99-year lease: the resort on the island is called the Brando. He also had these over-water bungalows built on Bora Bora itself. You can stay here (they're on AirBnB) for about $1000 per night. Four nights minimum.

There are quite a few over-water resorts in Bora Bora but not all of them are in great shape. The cyclone in 2010 (there's been a few) ripped through the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and it's been abandoned since then.

It wasn't only Marlon Brando who made Bora Bora famous. Bloody Mary's cocktail bar is currently being refurbished, and closed, but it still lists the names of all the celebrities who have been there. The two wooden plaques at the entrance list 230 names, many of a certain period of history, like John Denver, Charlton Heston, Tony Danza, Raquel Welch. I wondered why certain names had been erased ... Maybe they've been literally cancelled?

One can drive around the island in about two hours. One of the nicest things about the volcanic Polynesian islands is the distinctive shapes of the mountains. And do you remember the purau flowers on Tahiti? The ones that change colour from white in the morning to deep red in the evening? As the flowers fall on the ground, they are eaten by tupa crabs. We were invited to scatter some flowers near crab holes and watch the little chaps emerge.

One of our stops was on the single public beach in Bora Bora, on the other side of the island. It's a really nice beach. You could do a lot worse than stay at a cheaper hotel close to this beach for your next holiday.

But look, all this talk about mountains and beaches is just delaying the main event: the water. Like all the islands we visited, the water around Bora Bora is crystal clear, the perfect temperature for swimming, and sparkling clean. No litter, plastic or otherwise. Now that we had seen the island, it was time to spend the whole day in the water. Our guide was the gloriously extroverted Manu, a local man who displayed his Polynesian-ness — and traditional clothes, or lack thereof. Just saying. We're being shown how to crack open coconuts in the second and third photos.

We headed out to a popular snorkelling spot, where (bliss!) it's so shallow that you can stand in the water and snorkel. We snorkelled among stingrays and black-tipped reef sharks, sometimes schools of four or five passing within touching distance. It was sublime. I asked Manu why these critters congregate here. He said that since 2017, no one is allowed to feed the fish (and we didn't see anyone doing so), but the rays and sharks still come when they see the boats.

Back on the boat after one of the best snorkelling experiences I have ever had, we headed off past another over-water resort ...

... to a small privately owned motu (islet). For a swim, some fruit and those coconut lessons.

As you can see by the dark clouds gathering, we headed back to the main island through a squall. Typical summer weather in these southern Polynesian islands: sunshine punctuated by some short, sharp bursts of rain. But it's never cold, so what the heck.

Back on the ship, I watched a local dance/music group from Bora Bora that had been invited to perform in the ship's theatre. Really enjoyable, with a bunch of talented youngsters — who then corralled a group of men from the audience and persuaded them to join them on stage. Hilarious and heartwarming, to see these older men with dad bods trying to shake their booty and move as lithely and rhythmically as the young Polynesians.

Next stop: Raiatea

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