We start each day with the breakfast buffet in the dining room. Our new best friend, the 2nd cook, makes these tasty morning omelets with peppers and onions so light and fluffy you hardly felt like you ate anything. That just leaves room for more fresh pinnapple and yogurt.
Best day on the trip so far, Bora Bora did not disappoint.
Bloody Mary’s / Bora Bora Hotel
The water sports crew took us to the Bloody Mary’s pier on one of the Zodiac speed boats. We were too early for a drink at 9:30AM so we set off for a beach. Up the road was the Hotel Bora Bora but it was closed for “renovations”. Security guards made sure that we didn’t enter from the front entrance, so we found a way to this beautiful beach though from the back. We walked all around the over water bungalows and viewed the huts where other friends have stayed. Over water bungalows go for $2000 a night, but we have almost the same thing with our sailboat. Tourism has really been affected by the economy and some of the hotels are operating at 15% occupancy. Not great for the hotels, but OK for us.
The water sports team has snorkel tours usually every hour. They take us by Zodiac to some of the best snorkeling spots with tons of colorful fish and turquise blue water that is so beautiful it looks fake. Wouldn’t you know it that this is were the best SCUBA diving is, too?
Our cruise director (Lyidia) recommended a the Helmet Dive which got great reviews online. We were taken by boat and tied up to another boat with all of the diving equipment. With very fashionable jelly shoes on our feet, we walked to the back of the boat where they winched an old-school 30 Kg “diving bell” helmet onto our heads. Our SCUBA guide helped us climb down the ladder to the sandy bottom of the ocean.
Attached to our helmets are a mesh bags filled with bagettes which attracts fish like no one’s business. I felt like they were going to eat me! Instead of chasing fish while we were snorkeling, they came so close that I could touch them easily.
We ran out of pictures on our under water camera just before our guide pulled out a bucket of chum fish and started to feed a 3 foot long barracuda with big teeth. He swam right between Sara and me. Lots more pictures underwater in the picture gallery. He also showed us a gushy sea anemone about 2 feet wide complete with a tiny Nemo Fish.
When we got back to the boat it was windy so we took out the sea kayak to get a view of the area around the boat. The water was choppy, clear and warm.
Today the sports team let us climb the mast using a ladder on the bow of the ship to the crows nest. This challenging and fun (harnessed) climb rewarded us with an amazing view of Bora Bora. The hardest thing to do was getting from the ladder through the small square hole into the crows nest above. Check out the view and hear the wind in the video below!
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