25 Socially Distant Views of Bora Bora

Bora Bora is the stuff of vacation lore. Crystal clear turquoise lagoons, lurid sunset, and the craggy profile of Mount Otemanu conspire to spoil visitors with brochure views at every turn. It's all underpinned by the curious paradoxes of French Polynesia: sophisticated Gallic cuisine served up with Polynesian warmth; peaceful mountainsides haunted by the fossils of combat gunnery; armfuls of baguettes costing mere pennies reflecting in shop windows containing Tahitian Pearls with price tags approaching the price of a luxury car-it's all to be found here.

French Polynesia is open to international visitors. Read on to discover the best socially distant views from this cozily distant corner of the Pacific.

Photo Location: InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana

Matira Beach is on the far south end of the main island of Bora Bora. The west side is public, with white sands and bathtub-warm water. The east side is primarily the provenance of the InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana Resort, where guests can enjoy happy hour or dine with their toes in the sand while gazing at the overwater bungalows stretching toward the horizon.

Photo Location: InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana

Guests of the hotel can also borrow beach equipment from the beach hut to venture onto the lagoon to snorkel or kayak in water so clear the marine life can clearly be seen several feet below the surface even without the help of a snorkel. During sunset, keep an eye on the water for rays, which come to shore to feed at dusk.

Photo Location: InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana

While not on the beach or exploring the island, guests spend their days lazing in their overwater bungalows, which come equipped with oversized bathrooms and private lagoon entries. The undersides of the bungalows can be lit in the evening to attract marine life that guests can view through their glass-bottomed coffee tables.

Photo Location: InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana

This is not the land of gigantic tour buses. Circle island tours are numerous, but most are done in small groups. Masked guests take advantage of natural air conditioning sitting in the covered beds of trucks while guides make frequent stops at points of interest with narration in English and French.

This particular island tour includes stops at the ruins of a marae (temple) deep in the interior forests, sweeping views of both sides of the island from an old US Army radio tower atop a hill, and a waterfront pareo shop where the cotton wrap garments are made with dyes sourced from French Polynesia.

Photo Location: Faanui, Bora Bora

Bora Bora was the site of one of the first major undertakings by the US armed forces during the Second World War. Needing a fueling station between the Panama Canal and Australia, the US began Operation Bobcat in early 1942, building the station on Bora Bora (the island is surrounded by an atoll with just a single pass, which was ideal for defense) and putting up artillery guns for defense on the four cardinal points of the island. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt even visited to rally the troops.

The guns were ultimately never fired in conflict, as Bora Bora was thousands of miles from the nearest hostilities, but the guns remain in position to this day, standing sentry over the lagoons and their luxury resorts.

Photo Location: Fitiiu Point, Bora Bora

The tallest of the three peaks on the island, Mount Otemanu's craggy, crooked peak is the focal point for many postcard photos. Perhaps it's the weathered rock face blanketed with what appears to be eons-old flora that gives the island a sort of King Kong quality that has visitors fully expecting to run into Fay Wray wandering through the coconut groves.

The mountain takes on a distinct shape from every different side of the island. It appears as an obelisk from the east, a crooked spear from slightly further north, or a truncated mountain peak from the west, which local legend holds the peak of which was shot off by the spear of the god Hiro, enraged at not being invited to a feast.

Photo Location: Fitiiu Point, Bora Bora

Situated on the motu (atoll) that surrounds the island, this enchanting resort has Otemanu views on one side. When viewed from Otemanu itself, the island of Tahaa is visible across the channel. Visitors to Bora Bora often daytrip to Tahaa via speedboat to visit its pearl farms and vanilla plantations.

Photo Location: Fitiiu Point, Bora Bora

The mountain dominates the views from the Thalasso (the shorthand name used to distinguish the resort from it's sister Intercontinental Le Moana).

There are stunning views to be had at virtually every turn, and often the most trying decision each morning is deciding whether to walk the expanse of the boardwalk to the motu for breakfast or call for a ride in an electric cart. Breakfast spreads here are lavish, with a fine selection of fresh fruits and juices, cold cuts, cheese, pastries, bread, locally-made preserves, poisson cru (Tahitian raw fish salad served in a coconut half), bacon, sausage, pancakes, french toast and an omelet station.

Photo Location: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

Overwater bungalows at InterContinental Thalasso almost seem made for social distancing. They're self-contained units with plenty of space that almost beg for guests to spend much of their stay holed up in the rooms. Well-equipped with facilities like Nespresso machines and refrigerators, plus plenty of indoor and outdoor space (including direct lagoon access) it's alsmost a shame to leave such gorgeous accommodations for other parts of the resort.

Photo Location: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

Visits to the South Pacific always seem to yield unforgettable moments in bursts of tiny space, like this view captured walking back from dinner. The resort's wedding chapel sits atop an inlet from the lagoon and is well-lit at night, Here, the well-reflected lagoon is about to be set upon by a tropical rain shower, illuminated from behind by a full moon.

Photo Location: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

Even when the resorts are healthily booked, most of them continue to give an air of seclusion. During my visit, there never seemed to be a lack of available beach or pool chairs or restaurant reservations. The only time one might have run into more than one other party at a time was typically breakfast, especially during the midmorning hours.

On several of the motu resorts, there are select places near the exterior of the motu, where the rippling calm of the lagoon turns to roaring surf and vistas of the deep emerald open ocean.

Photo Location: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

The resort is ultimately quite spread out, which is why a handful of guests I noticed preferred to camp out at the resort pool. Not only was it convenient to the resort dining, shopping and spa, it also boasted its own spectacular view of the lagoon.

Photo Location: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

Another delightful luxury resort on Bora Bora is The St. Regis, modeled after the 1904 original in New York. Among the many traditions brought to the South Pacific is the brand's Bloody Mary, which each property in the portfolio faithfully executes with a local twist. On Bora Bora the twist is the addition of fresh watermelon juice courtesy of a nearby patch.

Photo Location: Fitiiu Point, Bora Bora

Iridium Spa sits upon the resort's Lagoonarium with views of Otemanu beyond. It's one of the signature shots of any Bora Bora brochure. The spa offers a full range of services and its own private beach on the Lagoonarium, where guests can snorkel in crystal clear waters teeming with friendly-looking parrotfish and gigantic napoleonfish.

Photo Location: The St. Regis Bora Bora

This resort boasts a wide, curving shoreline of the lagoon joining with the bungalow pontoon to create a sheltered bay for snorkeling and watersports. The expansive beachfront has widely spaced, umbrella-shaded beach chairs, overwater hammocks and sunscreen on tap.

Photo Location: The St. Regis Bora Bora

One of the highlights of a stay on Bora Bora is a breakfast delivered by outrigger canoe. Upon delivery, a lavish table is set outside with crisp linens, tropical foliage and rose petals. Guests breakfast on a basket of pastries, banana cake, fresh tropical fruit, bread with housemade jams and coffee.

Photo Location: The St. Regis Bora Bora

A surprise feature of the canoe breakfast is that guests go for a ride in the outrigger while their table is being set. While it certainly attracts attention from guests in neighboring bungalows, the feeling of being out on the lagoon in a flower-adorned canoe as the sun peeks over the horizon is one to be savored long after departing the resort.

Photo Location: The St. Regis Bora Bora

Lagoon Restaurant by Jean-Georges serves an exclusive: Uravena, a deep-sea oilfish only caught in French Polynesia. The firm-fleshed whitefish is served with a passionfruit and Thai chili sauce with Marquesan potatoes and olive tapenade. The bar serves up a fine selection of locally-created cocktails, perfect for socially-distanced sunset hours on the terrace.

Photo Location: The St. Regis Bora Bora

Conrad Bora Bora Nui offers an alternate view of Bora Bora. Instead of facing the island on the lagoon side of a motu, Conrad Bora Bora Nui sits on a larger motu, called Motu To'opua, and faces out over the open ocean, although Mount Otemanu still peeks through a narrow channel.

To'opua gets its name from its formation legend, which holds the god Hiro who tore the top off a mountain on the neighboring island of Maupiti and used a long wooden pole to steer the rock to the lagoon of Bora Bora, where it got stuck. To'opua is a name in reference to Hiro's wooden pole.

Photo Location: Conrad Bora Bora Nui

A large number of the bungalows (both overwater and garden) at Conrad Bora Bora Nui have infinity-edge plunge pools, perfect for a dip after a day spent exploring or lounging and watching the sunset over the horizon.

Photo Location: Conrad Bora Bora Nui

While Conrad Bora Bora Nui has features similar to other resorts on Bora Bora, the fantastic terrain the resort occupies is a differentiator. The other resorts are built on flat motus, while the Conrad climbs up a hillside. The spa sits at the crest of the hill, offering spectacular views of the lagoon, as do many of the garden bungalows.

Photo Location: Conrad Bora Bora Nui

Stargazing on Bora Bora reaches new heights for city dwellers. The near-complete lack of light pollution means that much more of the heavens are visible to the naked eye at night, including the Milky Way and other celestial delights.

Photo Location: Conrad Bora Bora Nui

Conrad Bora Bora Nui has two fine restaurants for dinner: Iriatai for French cuisine with Pacific flavors, or Banyan for traditional Chinese cuisine. Before dining, guests should check out the first floor of the lobby next to the resort shop to peruse old photos of Bora Bora during WWII. Plenty of the shots show GIs installing artillery and eating chow off tin plates in decidedly less luxurious circumstances.

It's a pleasing feeling of continuity to think those men so far from home must have enjoyed the same Otemanu views, the same lurid sunsets during their time on Bora Bora.

Photo Location: Conrad Bora Bora Nui

Whether a visitor travels to Bora Bora in the age of social distancing or after face masks have again become a historical footnote, they're certain to find plenty to inspire awe. They'll also enjoy the sense of life force that pervades everything in these fantastical islands. Mana is the energy that drives each warm 'Ia ora na in greeting, and the sense of interconnectedness with the sea, sky and land that has been the siren call of the South Pacific since the earliest days of exploration, and Bora Bora is just one of the Islands of Tahiti waiting to share that special energy.

To learn more about planning a Bora Bora vacation, visit Tahiti Tourisme.