Bora Bora, Part One

​I think just about everyone has seen photos of French Polynesia (used to be called
Tahiti) and the famous over water bungalows. I've seen many as a Certified French
Polynesia Travel Advisor, but even knowing what to expect, I was blown away by the
vibrant shades of blue water as soon as I landed.

​French Polynesia is the name for this island group in the Pacific---Tahiti is one of the
islands within French Polynesia. So is Bora Bora which is where we started our trip.
The international flights all land in Papeete on Tahiti and then you take a smaller plane
to Bora Bora (or many other islands). The flying time from Los Angeles is about 8
hours.

​Our flight was met by traditional ukulele players to welcome us and the airport has some
beautiful views. However, once inside the airport, the welcome was less beautiful.
Many international flights arrive around 5am and there are only a handful of immigration
officers, so on our arrival, we waited over an hour to clear immigration. That wouldn’t
have been terrible if we weren’t trying to catch our little flight to Bora Bora----I had given
us 2 hours and 40 minutes to connect which should have been plenty, but you must
check in and check your baggage with Air Tahiti (the operator of most of the smaller
flights) one hour before boarding. We made it by 2 minutes. I’m not sure how strict
they are, but it gave me some stress waiting in line. Security was also slow, but they
had you line up by flight and you knew the flight wasn’t going to leave without you as
everyone on the plane was standing in the same line :) In the end we were delayed
about 30 minutes to Bora Bora. Our plane held about 80 people and was very
comfortable.

Bora Bora has very few roads and the main form of transportation to get from point A to
point B is by boat. The airport has a runway right next to the ocean and when you
arrive, you walk to one of the resort stands or the public ferry for transportation
wherever you are going. We were headed to beautiful Conrad hotel and we received a
lei greeting and the representative took our luggage while we waited the few minutes for
the boat to arrive. The views were gorgeous so way more enjoyable than most airport
arrivals.

The boat journey to the Conrad took about 25 minutes. We arrived during the windy
season and there was quite a bit of spray kicking up as we went, so the windows on the
boat were closed (the back of the boat was open so you could still feel the breeze). We
arrived at the resort about 9:30am and since I knew we would want to go relax after the
red eye flight, I booked the night before so we could go straight to our room and eat the
included breakfast from the night before. As a Virtuoso advisor, I could take advantage
of the complimentary perks that my clients receive----complimentary breakfast (about
$130 value for 2 people, per night) and a $100 resort credit----in addition to an exclusive
sale when I booked which gave me my 4 th night free. That means the night I booked
before my arrival cost me only the amount of taxes for the night (the room rate was
free). Booking with me gives you quite a bit of added value to your stay (rooms start
around $800 per night here).

The Conrad is beautiful and has some great snorkeling right from the beach. They also
partner with non-profit organizations to educate guests on coral reefs and Mantas and
offer the opportunity to snorkel with marine biologists and even do a coral cutting to help
grow some of the artificial reefs in the area. I’m a science geek and really enjoyed the
evening presentations. The marine biologists are also available many days to answer
questions and tell you what type of fish and other marine mammals you are likely to see
in the area.

Like many properties in French Polynesia, the Conrad has many categories of
overwater bungalows to choose from. They also have garden and beach villas. I
stayed in a garden villa and honestly preferred this type of accommodation. The
outdoor space is a bit larger, and I think had more privacy than most of the overwater
bungalows. It was about a 2 minute walk to the beach and we had beautiful beach
views. Like I mentioned, we are here in the windy season and having all the lush
plants and trees surround our villa buffered us from much of the wind.

We are moving to a new property on the other side of Bora Bora and I will let you know
how that compares in my next blog post.