Day 7 (March 22, 2019): POST UNDER DEVELOPMENT

After a 6:30 AM breakfast, we decided to do one last snorkel just off the Sophitel Private Island. It is among the top three coral gardens in Bora-Bora, and based on our experience yesterday, we knew we wouldn’t find a better snorkelling site anywhere else.  We finish the morning just relaxing on the beach and taking in the scenery one last time.

That’s the Sofitel Private Island where we are staying. We swam from the pier on the top left-hand side of the island, out to the “aquarium snorkelling location”. You can see by the dark spots, how large the coral garden is, and the number of boats anchored there in the satellite photo show how popular it is for snorkeling tours. We were so lucky to have it on our doorstep!




Ahhhh... that amazing mountain view from the Sofitel Private Island. 

Leaving the Sofitel Private Island for the last time, in  our water taxi to the airport.

What follows are several pictures of the highest peak on Bora-Bora, Mount Otemanu (727 metres), enroute to the airport.  It is essentially a call Dara from a volcano, of which part of the sides have collapsed. The mountain takes on a completely different look depending on the vantage point.

Arriving back at the Bora-Bora Airport.


The Air Tahiti ATR-72 arrived on time at Bora Bora and left right on time.

This day is mainly about getting back to the main island of Tahiti. We decided to book a flight that was a milk run, touching down on other islands, instead of taking the direct flight to Tahiti. We just wanted to get a close-up look at a little more of the territory. So most of the pictures below show the journey, and the look of several islands.

Final view of Bora-Bora

You can see some overwater bungalows on the Bora Bora lagoon. I think these are the Saint Regis and four Seasons properties.

The view of Taha’a Island, upon descent intoRaiatea. 

 

View of Apooiti Marina as we were about to land in Raiatéa

Raiatea airport. As with all the airports on the small islands, they are the size of shoeboxes.


The main town on the island of Raiatéa, Utuora. 

The lagoon of Raiatéa

Last view of Raiatéa

The view of Huahine upon descent to the island. 

Huahine Airport. We ended up having a 30 minute delay for our take off from the island, due to some issues with the flight’s paperwork. And let me tell you, it got very hot inside that aircraft as we waited on the tarmac!

View upon takeoff from Huahine

Huahine Is actually comprised of two islands joined by a bridge. To the right is Huahine Nui, and to the left is  Huahine Iti 

Although we didn’t stop in Moorea on the way back, the views of the island were absolutely stunning. So I couldn’t resist inserting a couple more photos. It has to be the most beautiful island I have ever seen.



Upon descent into Pape’ete, on the island of Tahiti.

We arrived at our hotel, the Tahiti Ia Ora Beach Resort,  about 5:15 PM, About an hour later than anticipated, due to the flight delay and the absolutely horrible rush hour traffic. The property has an amazing view of Moorea and has a mountain backdrop. We enjoyed a swim in the ocean as the sun went down. 

The overwater bungalows at Tahiti Ia Ora Beach Resort

Sunset with the mountains of Moorea to the right

The hotel had an impressive Polynesian cultural night. Although we didn’t attend officially, we got a partial view from our balcony.