Now that we’ve dabbled into the FREE activities you can enjoy while vacationing at one of the most expensive locations to visit, let’s talk on the things that may strike your pocket book a bit. We guarantee you that it’ll be more than worth it.
When we were originally looking at Bora Bora for our honeymoon, we were driven by the fact that we wanted to lay around and do absolutely nothing but enjoy the newlywed life and play it by ear. But once we really started looking into this trip, we realized that Bora Bora is one of those places that you MUST research and plan out before you visit if you plan on doing more than getting your tan on and sippin’ on piña coladas. It’s not like the other vacation spots where you can always live spontaneously and visit without reservations. If you visit Bora Bora without a GP (game plan, for those not in the know), you can run into the issue of activities selling out before you’re able to book. To maintain the small island feel, they usually take smaller groups of people per tour, we’re talking 4-8 people per tour. Our biggest tour group was filled with a whopping 9 people, 10 if you include the tour guide. So booking early is key! Another issue you may run into is finding yourself over paying for a specific activity – which doesn’t always fit into ones budget. So! before you head over to this GORGEOUS French Polynesian island, make sure you find out what activities you want to do and which activities are actually worth the arm and leg you will more than likely have to pay. From there, you can plan and purchase accordingly.
Shockingly, there are quite a few options to add to your itinerary in Bora Bora (more than we were expecting anyway). After a couple hours of research, here is the list of our favorite activities that we decided to take on:
4x4 Jeep Tour
The first activity on our Bora Bora itinerary was the 4x4 Jeep Tour on the main island of Vaitape. This tour was one of our favorites: Aaron’s because he absolutely loves history and Tey’s because of the unbelievable views! This ended up being the best tour to start our vacation because we learned a lot about the local populace, what the main island has to offer and we even discovered the creation of the island itself.
The “jeep”, which was actually a dilapidated/questionable Land Rover, takes you on several stops around the island. You’ll drive around the main island and quickly learn how there is no such thing as driving laws and also find out why Land Rovers don’t really depreciate in price. Even though our jeep was at least 20 years old, we found ourselves literally climbing the side of the mountain despite the ditches, boulders and slick terrain.
Once we stopped worrying about tipping, flipping and/or skidding down the mountain to our death we were instantly taken aback by the unbeatable views. Even with gray skies on the day of our tour, we were still able to enjoy the lush greenery that surrounded us, along with the amazing panoramic views of the barrier reef, valley, and lagoon.
We made about 4 stops in total and each provided detailed history about the island. One of our favorite stops brought us to cannons that were actually remnants from World War II, remaining in their original positions. These beasts were placed here by the United States in defense attempts against naval attack. Pretty awesome!
Our last stop took us to explore the fashion trends of the Island. We learned how sarongs are created and designed using stencils and sun stains. Also, we were randomly provided the “option” to hold live crabs. And by option I mean they told us, “Here take it” as they threw these feisty beasts our way.
We shared our time on this tour with a couple from France; they couldn’t speak English very well and we couldn’t speak French … at all (thanks for nothing, Señora Trueba!). But sharing the experience with people from the other side of the planet that were just as curious and intrigued as we were, was an experience in itself. By the end of the tour we were the best of friends laughing about Aaron’s attempts to learn the romantic language of French. TIP: “Photo” in French is literally…wait for it… FOTO! We should have taken on the task of learning French before we went to the French Polynesian….. #RookieMoves
Jet Ski Tour
We booked this through Matira Jet Ski Tours directly and combined it with their ATV tour. Although you can likely rent jet skis at your resort, we recommend doing so through Matira Jet Tours. The price is almost 50% less than what our resort wanted to charge us, twice the distance and likely twice the fun! Something to note: you cannot rent jet skis anywhere in Bora Bora and have free reign. Something about liability of death, yadda yadda. Therefore, all rentals are guided, limited in exploring space or require you to sit caboose, what’s the fun in that? So Matira is definitely the way to go.
The jet skiing here is incredible (obvi). The tour with Matira takes you around the entire island of Vaitape which is built around Mount Otemanu, a volcano created island (impressive, ey). The day we toured, was quite possibly the worst day to tour. We’re talking rain and super choppy water. Regardless, we were having the time of our life darting around from island to island looking at all the beautiful scenery Bora Bora had to offer with a cool ocean breeze that was more like a 40mph “breeze”, in our face. Never have we ever swallowed so much ocean water and had so much salt in our eyes.
At the halfway point of this tour, our guide made a pit stop for a small picnic on a random island in the ocean (that also doubled as someone’s backyard… talk about a friendly community). Our guide showed us how to shuck coconuts, get milk from them (which is GREAT for your skin and delicious), and also showed us the proper way to crack one open for coconut water. For the record, fresh coconut water tastes NOTHING like the carton, grade B “coconut water” we drink state side – it was so good! Our guide also prepared the best fresh fruits we have ever had. The pictures we were able to snap were some of the best on the trip. If you go, be sure to pack your cameras for this one! … just don’t drop it in the ocean unless you invest in a camera/phone float like we did! Thanks, GoPro!
ATV Tour
This tour covered most of the jeep tour spots we covered the day previous, minus a couple different areas that you can only access using a 4x4. Even though the stops were the same and there were some similar history facts shared, we recommend doing both!
Weaving between dogs, trees, and people around the whole island was a blast! This ride is not for the weak hearted – you will without exaggeration be climbing sides of the mountain that carry a 45 degree slope. You will feel like you’re going to tip backwards when you’re climbing up and your instincts will have you “leaning back” like Fat Joe on your way down. It’s EXTREME quad riding. And it’s amazing!
You just cannot beat these views...am I right!?
Dinner at a Different Resort
We stayed at Le Meridian but ventured on over to our neighboring resort, the St. Regis, for dinner. The fact that we couldn’t afford to stay at this 5 star resort didn’t stop us from splurging on a 5 star dinner. And boy oh BOY are we glad we did!? The fact of the matter is, you’ll likely be paying about $125+ on dinner anywhere you go so you may as well spend the extra $50 and go all out one night. Typically, we don’t spend $200+ on meals but we figured we were in Bora Bora on our Honeymoon, and that was a special enough occasion to drop a Benjamin or two. Go big or go home! Le Meridien coordinated our taxi to and from the neighboring resort which was a nice touch and once we arrived, the St. Regis taxi ushers knew us by name before we even spoke and made us feel like we were royalty. They showed us to our table which was right on top of one of the see through floor panes they had throughout their restaurant. We sat in awe and slight panic as you see all the fish and SHARK activity below. The food was incredible and the wine was even better. If you want a romantic dinner, this is the place to go. Whether you decide to splurge on a 5 star dinner or not, we highly recommend exploring different resorts so you can get a taste of what other resorts have to offer both view, scenery and activity wise.
