Le Bora Bora by Pearl Resorts | French Polynesia

Ah, Bora Bora, a bucket list honeymoon destination for many, and certainly for me! Having never stepped foot on any of the Polynesian islands, French Polynesia was always high on my list for its mix of mountainous landscapes and stunning lagoons. After spending 3 nights in Mo’orea, it was time to experience true luxury in Bora Bora. Most of the resorts are actually situated on smaller islands that encircle Bora Bora to maximise the views of its most famous peak, Mount Otemanu.

How to get there

We flew Air Tahiti from Mo’orea to Bora Bora, an incredibly scenic flight with unassigned seating, so you should sit on the left hand side of the plane for views of the islands and surrounding lagoons. When we left Bora Bora and flew back to Papeete, the scenic views were on the left side as well. There is a cafe selling sandwiches, ice creams and confectionary at Mo’orea airport, as well as a couple of small souvenir shops. Boarding was called 15 minutes before what was stated on the boarding pass, so stay vigilant if you want first choice in seats. The check-in counter will weigh both your backpack (carry-on) and check-in luggage, so make sure these are within the weight limits.

Upon arrival at Bora Bora airport, we were greeted by a Le Bora Bora staff member with a flower crown for me and a flower necklace for Rich. You can pre-book your boat transfer to the resort via email, as it is not included in the room rate, and the ride itself takes only 10 minutes along the most dazzling, light turquoise water.

Le Bora Bora by Pearl Resorts

We had a lovely reception girl handle our check-in and walk us to our pool overwater villa at the end of the pontoon. The resort is very eco-conscious and provides a free jute tote bag (nice and sturdy as a beach bag), two reusable metal drink bottles that you can fill up at the various drinking stations along the pontoons, wooden luggage tags and room keys, and eco-friendly toilet paper. They do not use any petrol-fuelled modes of transport, instead, opting for electric boat shuttles and push bikes to deliver luggage and maid service. There were some mini cakes, cookies and marshmallows when we arrived in the room, and a free mini bar fridge that is restocked daily with chips, a Mars bar, Coke, beer and juice.

Tip: If you want to take a plunge immediately, make sure you have a swim suit on you as our luggage took about 1.5 hours to be delivered to our room after check-in.

Le Bora Bora underwent a renovation and expansion in 2020, and became part of the Relais and Chateau group. It is situated on Tevairoa Island which sits to the west of Bora Bora. The villas, pontoons, restaurants and resort amenities were noticeably clean and modern with little to no wear-and-tear. Funnily enough, Le Bora Bora is a 4-star resort, and the Hilton Mo’orea a 5-star resort, however, our experience in terms of the service and quality of the rooms, restaurants and grounds would say the opposite. Highlights of the pool overwater villa include a spacious outdoor deck with loungers in the sun (the sun hits the deck at 7am), a daybed in the shade, a dining table with chairs, an infinity plunge pool, lounging net, and more privacy being at the end of the pontoon. There is an uninterrupted view of Mounts Pahia and Otemanu for sunrise – there wasn’t one morning I didn’t get up for this! I appreciated the fancy slippers and robes, that the floors are mopped daily during cleaning service, unlimited pool/bath towels upon request, and the turn down service. There is a glass table at the end of the bed with a lid that opens directly over the coral plantings in the water.

When you first walk into the villa, you are greeted by shimmering light that bounces off the ocean through well placed windows, a sizeable room with a seating area, king bed and closet space, and a spacious bathroom with thoughtful lighting, a work desk, a separate enclosed toilet, bath tub, double vanity and rain shower. There is a window that can open from the bathroom to the bedroom for a view of the outside, and there are beautiful wood carvings on the walls and drawings on the wallpaper. The room wifi was great (faster and more reliable than at Hilton Mo’orea), but the bath products were average (the body lotion had the strangest runny soap-like texture). There were no mosquitoes, no rooster noises and no bird poo (which was very noticeable on the pontoons at the Hilton Mo’orea), but you can hear the drums from the Polynesian shows at the resort’s Otemanu Restaurant twice a week until 10.30pm.

The resort has 3 high-end boutiques, 5 bars/restaurants and a concierge service that helps to make all your activity, excursion, transfer and restaurant bookings. I had emailed ahead to book a snorkelling tour and sunset cruise after perusing the detailed excursions brochure that the hotel sent via email.

Sunset cruise

Le Bora Bora’s Okeanos Pearl is the first electric catamaran of Polynesia, with zero emissions and quiet operation. We departed the resort heading south at 4pm, watched the sun light up Mount Pahia and Otemanu’s west faces, and enjoyed sweet and savoury canapés and unlimited wines, beers and soft drinks. The cruise takes you around To’opua Island where the Conrad Bora Bora Nui is situated, so that you can watch the sunset over the ocean. We saw reef sharks in the shallow lagoon on this side of the island, and the staff on board also fed tuna to birds that impressively caught it mid-air with their beaks!

Snorkelling tour

One of the afternoons, we went out on a 3-hour snorkelling tour with Reef Discovery Bora Bora who took us to four spots around Bora Bora. The coral garden near Bora Bora airport is stunning (the best of all the coral gardens we had seen), and our tour operators entered the water with us, guiding us through the maze and pointing out different types of colourful coral and fish. They also pointed out Motu Tane, a private island owned by a French makeup mogul with an impressive mansion that is featured on Architectural Digest. We continued clockwise around Bora Bora to the manta ray location, where a 9-12 foot long manta ray came up close. We saw cleaner fish at its tail and mouth, and it swam over and around the coral which wasn’t very deep, hence our gasp when we first put our faces under the water. We were told that they are usually solo travellers and more prevalent in the morning so we were lucky to have our encounter that afternoon. The next location was on the southeast side of Bora Bora, far enough away from the airport to do a bit of droning, and to observe the school of brown spotted eagle rays. The Four Seasons and St Regis Resorts are located to the east of Bora Bora between these two snorkel spots, getting the classic east face view of Mount Otemanu. Our final snorkel location was at the ‘aquarium’ where there was more coral and fish to be seen, although at a deeper level so it isn’t quite as stunning as the first coral garden location. The snorkelling tour takes you around the entire circumference of Bora Bora and a towel, water/soft drinks are included, as well as fruit and coconut bread.

Other excursions that the resort can organise for you include scuba diving, underwater scooters, helmet diving, scuba/snorkelling jets, fly boarding, parasailing, helicopter tour, safari 4WD, ATV, private dining experiences, fishing trip, jet skiing, whale watching, coral workshops and wine tasting.

Free activities

There are different free daily activities you can sign up for at the resort that take place at 11am by the beach. We did the poisson cru cooking class and flower crown making class, the former where you watch the staff make the dish and then everyone gets to have a taste, and the latter which is more hands on where you can each make your own crown with the assortments of flowers and leaves provided. Here is the recipe for poisson cru:

Mix together fresh red tuna pieces, salt, sliced onion, shredded carrot, shredded cucumber, sliced tomato, lemon juice, coconut milk (freshly squeezed from coconut flesh). Season to taste.

Beach, pool, coral nurseries and resort grounds

The overwater villas are a vibe, and I wouldn’t blame you if you want to spend most of your holiday tucked away in your own little square of paradise! Room service is available (you can view the menu online), and you can access the gorgeous lagoon right off your villa’s pontoon. There is a small coral planting underneath each overwater villa, but if you want to see more coral, you will need to walk or swim over to the resorts’ coral nurseries, closer to the beach. Since our villa was at the end of one of the pontoons, it is a fair distance to swim in the strong current, and we opted to explore the coral nurseries from the beach. From our deck, we could also see the water line demarcation where the shallow lagoon floor drops steeply and suddenly as you look out towards Mount Otemanu. We also noticed that staff would come around via the water and scrub and remove the slippery growth on the lower rungs of the ladders going into the ocean.

The resort’s white sand beach is lined by coconut and palm trees, and there are plenty of sun beds with umbrellas and pergola options. You can rent kayaks, stand up paddle boards and snorkelling equipment for free, and there were also electric stand up paddle boards for rent at 35USD/half hour. We spent a couple of mornings/lunch times poolside in a pergola which was very comfortable, and ordered fresh coconuts at Manuia Pool Bar, and yummy zucchini and aubergine tacos. Happy hour at Manuia Pool Bar is from 5-6pm with 50% off selected cocktails and mocktails. I have to say that the paper straws are terrible and you have to suck gently so that they don’t become deformed and blocked up.

The resort has beautiful and extensive gardens with statues, ponds and bridges, amazing tropical plants and huge trees, as well as ping pong tables and tennis courts. Tavai Spa and the gym is tucked away in the back of the lush gardens, offering a sauna and a variety of massages and treatments.

Dining at Le Bora Bora

Buffet breakfast was included in our room rate and served at Otemanu Restaurant. The selection ranges from a changing daily pastry, eggs cooked to order, deli meats, fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, cereals, yoghurt, breads and spreads including an assortment of exotic jam flavours like coconut, pineapple, mango, guava, and tiare. You can also ask a waiter for an iced americano/cappuccino/hot chocolate instead of just the instant coffee jugs that they provide.

Uaina Bar

Located on the first floor with plush velvety seating and views over the pool out to Mount Otemanu, Uaina Bar has an intimate atmosphere and serves sushi and charcuterie/cheese platters as well as a large selection of wines and cocktails in the evenings. We sat in a window seat and ordered California rolls – tori katsu, spicy tuna and ebi, and they were accompanied by a Tahitian style sauce made up of oyster sauce, mustard, soy sauce and honey.

Miki Miki Restaurant

This outdoor restaurant by the pool serves unlimited dinner rolls and has a great relaxed vibe. We enjoyed the dishes we ordered including tuna tartare, chickpea pumpkin curry and shrimp risotto. On Sundays from noon, there is BBQ option dependent on the catch of the day. When we were there, they had grilled lobster and beef. On Wednesday nights, there is a buffet option accompanied by fire dancing.

Otemanu Restaurant

Two nights of the week, Otemanu Restaurant offers a buffet with Polynesian dance show for 9000xpf pp. On the other nights, you can order off the menu. We found the free focaccia to be below average but the squid ink shrimp tagliatelle was good.

Poerava Gourmet Restaurant

There are only 8 tables at this fine dining restaurant that is open from Tuesday to Saturday. We didn’t try this option so I cannot speak to how it is!

To secure a booking at Le Bora Bora, I paid one nights deposit and wasn’t charged again until check-out at reception. The hotel emails you an invoice the night before you leave so that you can double check the room charges in advance, which makes for a more seamless/faster check-out day. There was one hiccup when another guest tried to forge our signature and charge a meal to our room, so we would recommend that with each bill you get at a restaurant, make sure you sign and hand the bill back to the staff member (don’t leave it on the table), and try not to say your room number too loudly. For help with your planning and budgeting, we spent 45,950xpf on food and drink between two people for the duration of our 4-night stay.

As our flight back to Papeete wasn’t until after lunch, we spent a few hours by the pool after check-out and there is a ‘transit room’ available if you need to take a shower. Bora Bora airport has a small cafe and 2 gift shops, and although there are some fans blowing, it is generally hot inside the airport. Arriving into Faa’a airport at a more reasonable hour this time, we found the McDonald’s for a quick snack before heading to the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti for half a night, and then onwards back home. (For an overview of the Intercontinental, check out my previous Mo’orea blog post).