Bonjour Bora Bora!

As soon as we stepped off the plane, Bora Bora's unique volcano could be seen in the distance and we knew we had arrived in paradise. They loaded our bags onto a trolley and pulled it to the open air terminal with a tractor. While we were waiting for the luggage, we found our hotel desk where we were give a flower lei and informed about the 20 minute ride to the hotel and she pointed to a speed boat docked just outside the airport's front doors. Being on a speed boat was nothing new, but taking it from the airport to our hotel was definitely a first for us - very cool!  

Upon checkin we were informed that while our room would not be ready for several more hours (major bummer!), we had been "triple upgraded" to an over water bungalow (major surprise!)  I totally felt like a kid at Christmas as I could not keep the smile off my face and I could not wait to see the room. When we finally stepped into the room later that afternoon, it definitely did not disappoint! There was a huge glass window in the floor to admire the clear blue water and any fish that might swim by. There was even a light that lights up the water under your bungalow at night - in case you're jet lagged - the fish don't sleep either so there was always something to look at. There's a sun deck with two lounge chairs and a circular staircase down to a platform for jumping into the water -  you don't even need to leave the room!

The hotel prides itself on having the only turtle santuary on the island. Everyday there is a turtle feeding with the hotel's resident marine biologist. He tells stories about how each turtle ended up there and the names for the green sea turtles. You can even swim with the turtles - for a price of course..which is quite steep I might add, but something I promised myself I would do...next time! 

There were not many tours offered, but the most popular was the half day snorkeling - with a sting ray feeding and swimming with sharks. Melissa had reservations about the sharks but she reluctantly agreed to go on that tour. The tour guides were quite entertaining telling jokes and playing their drums and guitar while we went from stop to stop. Our first stop was snorkeling at a coral garden. The reef was absolutely teeming with fish and when they threw out some bait it was like swimming in an aquarium. We were literally touching fish as we swam. The reef was 20 feet tall and home to lots of colorful coral, countless clams and even an eel protecting his home with an open mouth full of little white teeth.

Next stop was the ray feeding. As we put on our snorkel gear, they threw out bait for the rays and it was like ringing the dinner bell. Before we knew it they were everywhere! I would pluck the bait out of the water and use it to lure the rays over to me. I will admit I would get a bit anxious as they swam on over to me, but at the last minute, they flip up (their mouth is on the underside) and suck the food straight out of my hands. Before long 4 foot black tip reef sharks started circling the the boat and more importantly - us that were in the water.  However, they were less interested in us and more interested in the sting ray bait. Still at times they would get a little too close to me or I was too far from the boat, never the less - I got closer to the other targets (I mean snorkelers) and instantly felt a little bit safer. The last stop was in deep water outside of the reef, swimming with the black tip reef sharks on the surface and much larger yellow sharks about 15 feet down below the surface. Due to the size of the yellow sharks, we were a bit apprehensive, but after the guides jumped in, I jumped in too. The yellow sharks always stayed well below the surface. At one point I dove down behind one of the sharks until my ears hurt, just at that moment I was looking face on with a yellow... I practically jumped out of the water! Melissa stayed in the boat for a bit until she worked up the nerve but even she made it in the water - I was so proud of her. 

On our last day, we took it easy and enjoyed the beach and warm water. It was sad taking the speed boat back to the airport but we knew from the moment that we arrived in Bora Bora that we would be back - and hopefully in the not so distant future!