Tips to save some money in BORA BORA

As BORA BORA is an island most of the food is imported, so yes it's expensive. Here are some tips you might find useful to save some money. 

1)     The most expensive thing of course if the lodging. Of course you want to be in a bungalow over the water, but if you are going for more than 7 days you might want to spend some days in a garden bungalow. They have their magic too!! You would have a private terrace and a small pool. These rooms are really nice and you would save a lot of money.

2)     You can bring up to 2 liters per person of alcoholic beverages into French Polynesia, either packed in your checked luggage, or carry on from the Duty Free shop. Some hotels offer a picnic basket to have a nice picnic in the beach. You can save a lot of money if you already have the wine and you only ask for the food. Also you can have a nice dinner in your room with one of these bottles.

3)     Late breakfast. You are on vacations no need to wake up early!! You can have a late breakfast, more like a lunch. Almost all breakfasts in the hotels are buffets so you can take advantage of this and have a really good lunch. Then you can have an early dinner, let say around 5pm and then just have some snacks in between if you are hungry, like French fries, paninis, sandwich, etc... This way you will only do 2 big meals saving some money there.

4)     Make a one day trip to the main island. You probably want to go to one of the restaurants in the main island. That’s a most!! So to go to the main island you need to take a boat taxi, this are expensive, so instead of going twice one to know the town and another to have dinner. You can organize yourself and do both the same day.

5)     Tips. A lot of people is use to give tips. In French Polynesia, tipping is not customary and not expected. You may see a tip line on your receipts; this is a relatively new development. You can disregard it, or if you feel like giving a small tip for excellent service, tip European style, $5 or $10, but not 15% -20%.

Bora Bora Turtle Center

Bora Bora Turtle Center is a place where injured turtles of French Polynesia found protection and medical care. The center is located inside Le Meridien however it’s open to be visited by everyone. A turtle feeding is organized at 10.30 am every day and the «Turtle team» will be happy to explain all you want to know about turtles. Every person coming from another hotel is asked to pay a 2000 XPF fee for the turtle association.

The turtle center is really small, however it’s really interesting what they show you there. You can touch and see some other sea animals. The thing I like most was the big turtle they use to explain you how they look from the inside. Of course explanation gave by the biologist was really interesting, I really enjoy it!!

The good thing about this turtle center is that it's not a place where they keep turtles forever. What they do is take injure turtles and take care of them until they are healthy. Once they are ready they are released into the ocean. In order for them to release a turtle they need to be able to eat by themselves (meaning fish by themselves) and be aggressive with the humans. This last step is really important as they need to protect themselves from human to avoid being caught. Even though hunting for turtles is prohibited there are still a lot of people that fish them to eat, so they need to be sure that they will not get close to humans.   

ECOFRIENDLY TIP: It’s really important to mention that you can’t touch the turtles. Creams and sun screen that we have in our hand damage the turtle shell, after a couple of year sun will break that damage shell and the turtle will die. Taking care of nature is our responsibility!! 

Swimming with Sharks in Bora Bora

One of the main attractions on Bora Bora is swim with sharks. It sounds kind of scary but actually is really fun. Sharks in Bora Bora are not the type of sharks you see on movies or in shark attacks.

This are blacktip reef sharks.Timid and skittish, the blacktip reef shark is difficult to approach and is not a danger to humans unless roused by food. Before going into the water your guide will throw some fish into the water so the shark get near the boat. If you don't want to go inside the water, it's OK you will still have fun seeing them from the boat. Once they are all around the boat then the guide will go in firs. Believe me sharks are more scare of you than you from them.

Once you are inside follow all the instructions of your guide. This is a safe activity however you need to always pay attention on what you are doing, you don't want to step into a shark or make a shark angry. As I say this is a safe activity, sharks are getting use to have people around them. So don't worry just follow the safety rules and you will be OK. Don't try to touch them, they will swim around you no need for you to chase them.

ECOFRIENDLY TIP: Remember to always use biodegradable sun screen. Normal sun screen may damage corals and fish. Please DON'T touch the corals as you might damage them and even kill them just by touching them.
 

How to get to the French Polynesia ?

So now we know were French Polynesia is located, but how can we get there? Well this is quite easy as there is only one Airline that goes there and that's Air Tahiti Nui.

From the U.S.A, all flight leave from LAX, from Latin America there is also a flight leaving from Chile. All flights arrive to the capital Pappete, from there you can take a local flight to go to Bora Bora or take a ferry to get to Moorea, the two most important islands after Tahiti.

The flight from LAX to Pappete is approximately 8 hours; the good part is that you travel at night so time goes fast real quick. If you are not a flight lover and you get nervous when traveling by plane, it’s important for you to know that you might find some parts with a little bit of turbulence since you are crossing a lot of currents, but don’t worry this is normal so enjoy your flight and try to sleep as the fun is about to start!!!

Where is Bora Bora ?

Bora Bora is part of the French Polynesia. The French Polynesia is located in the Pacific Ocean. You can say it's between Chile and Australia. Since that's quite a big place here is a picture to see where exactly the French Polynesia is. 

French Polynesia is composed of 118 islands; the most important one is Tahiti where the capital Papeete is located. All international flight gets first to Papeete and from there you can take a ferry or a plane to the other islands. 

They speak French; however as they basically live from tourism they all speak English as well. I was also really pleased to find out that there are a lot of people who speak Spanish, so if you only speak Spanish don't worry there is a lot of people that speak Spanish too.