Prior to the cruise, we did not plan any specific tours for today, but somehow we still had a very busy day.  Here is the daily schedule for today:

 As you can see in the schedule, PG runs a different tender towards their private beach than towards the main island in Vaitape. The first tender to the beach does not leave until 10:15am, so we had no need to wake up early today since that would be our first stop of the day.  I kind of wished that they would start running these tenders earlier in the morning because the late start meant we wouldn’t have much time to enjoy the private motu, but I do understand that the staff needs time to set up the beach before our arrival.

I did not set an alarm this morning, and as luck would have it, I was able to sleep until 8am!!  How wonderful it was to wake up after sunrise for once! Haha

We decided to eat breakfast outside at Le Grill so we could enjoy the view of Mt. Otemanu while we ate.  Since we didn’t need to rush off the ship for
a tour, this was the one morning when I took the time to order from the
breakfast menu.  I ordered nutella pancakes and fried eggs, and they arrived about 10 minutes later.

 After breakfast, we lounged around until it was time to catch the tender.  No matter where you look, there are such beautiful views here in Bora Bora.

 By the time 10:15am rolled around, there was quite a crowd down near the
elevators on deck 3.  Apparently we were not the only ones who planned to go to the beach this morning!  PG uses a much smaller tender to get to/from both of the private beaches (here in Bora Bora and in Taha’a to get to Motu Mahana) so it was questionable if everyone would make it on the boat for the first ride of the day.  Luckily everyone did get a seat because this tender ride is looooong!  It took us 30 minutes to get to the beach, and the tender schedule dictated that there was only one tender leaving per hour, so if you missed this one, you had to wait until 11:15 for the next one.

When we finally arrived, they lowered the back of the boat so we could step off right into the ankle-deep water.  I think it may have been low tide because there was a section of sand there for us to walk along until we reached the main part of the beach.  This is a photo of the next tender arriving an hour later, but just to give you an idea of what it is like…

 This beach was absolutely stunning!  The white sand was soft under your feet as you walked along the shore, and just a few feet back from the water’s edge was a line of palm trees so there was more than enough shade without needing an umbrella. There was a small cut out of very shallow water just in front of the beach area so you could sit in the water and cool off without needing to swim.  If you preferred deeper water or wanted to do some snorkeling, that was also available just passed the peninsula of sand jutting out into the water.  If you looked to the left across the lagoon, there was a gorgeous view of the PG and Mt. Otemanu.  What more could you ask for?!

 Pardon me while I bombard you with photos from the beach… I can’t decide which ones not to post, so when in doubt, I choose to post more photos!

 The water was so clear… I loved the effect of the sun shining on it

 Pay attention if you are walking out into the water because it does drop off quickly in some spots… DH is standing in waist-deep water here…

 When I took this next photo, I was standing at the spot where the tender drops you off, looking out towards the beach and the palm trees for shade.

 Just to clarify, when PG calls this their “private beach” they do not mean “private island.”  PG has this beautiful section of beach reserved just for their guests, but the island is shared with other hotels and I think there’s also a section of beach used by the locals.  Down on the far right side (when facing the water), there is a fence and there were about 50 locals on the other side of that fence and in the water, playing and having a grand ‘ol time.  They were a bit loud and it did take away from the peaceful serenity of our beach since the PG guests were all very quiet and respectful, but I just tuned them out. You can see them in the background of this photo on the far left side:

 You will notice one thing missing from this beach… lounge chairs.  If you want to sit down here, you can either sit on your towel or directly in the sand. Normally, I am fine with that, but we noticed that there were a lot of ants crawling around in the sand.  One or two ants is tolerable… this was like hundreds of ants!  They crawled all over our towels, into our beach bags, and I kept finding myself swatting them off my legs when I was trying to sit in the shade and write in my journal.  Eventually, I just gave up and had to walk around (which I suppose benefits all of you because that meant that I took more photos! Haha)  

There was a table set up towards the back where they had coolers filled with bottles of water, cans of soda, and cans of beer. They also had 2 bins filled with potato chips and peanuts.  It wasn’t much, and it certainly wasn’t lunch, but we knew what to expect and had eaten a big breakfast, knowing we couldn’t eat again until we were back on the ship.  There are no bathrooms at this beach either, so maybe it’s for the best that they didn’t have much else to eat or drink!

 I liked the shredded empty cans hanging up around the perimeter… I guess that’s one way to get rid of trash!

Even after the second tender arrived at 11:45am, it never felt too crowded and there was still plenty of space for everyone to spread out in their own little spot.

 These over water bungalows are from the hotel on the other side of the island where our beach was

 As we were taking that last photo, we saw the tender quickly approaching and that was our cue to pack it up!  Since the tenders only run once per hour, we needed to take the 12:45pm ferry to be on time for the rest of our plans that day.  That meant we only had 2 hours at the beach, but it was actually plenty of time and I don’t know if we would have wanted to stay another hour even if we could.  

Once we were back on the ship a little after 1pm, we went up to La Veranda for lunch.  Today’s theme was Greek Buffet, and they had a make-you-own gyro station! I was thrilled since I love gyros, but I also couldn’t resist the made to order pasta station.

 The dessert station

 The bar waiter was able to bring me today’s drink of the day: Bounty Bay- a refreshing mixture of Bacardi White, Myers Rum, Malibu Rum, Orange Juice, and Sweet and Sour Mix.  Yum!

 We were scheduled to take a tour of the bridge today at 2pm.  If you are interested in taking part in this complimentary tour, make sure to sign up ASAP (we did it within minutes of boarding the ship on the first day!) because there are only 10 spots available.  We saw a few people arrive in the lobby who said they were on the waiting list, so I assume the tour was ‘sold out’.  I have never done a bridge tour on any of my cruises, so this was a great opportunity to learn some interesting facts and see all the equipment. Once everyone had gathered in the lobby, we were escorted upstairs to the bridge on deck 7.  The tour was lead by 2^nd Officer Larry Samson because he was the person assigned to watch over the bridge at that hour.  

At first I was annoyed that the tour was scheduled on a day we were in port because I was hoping to do it on the sea day when it wouldn’t take away from my limited time to explore an island.  Then I thought about it and realized they probably don’t want passengers on the bridge when the ship is moving and they are busy working and steering the ship!  I guess that means we need to do this while we are anchored, and if that meant missing a few hours in Bora Bora when we had already been there a day and a half, that was okay with me!

Larry gave a very through and informative tour that lasted about 45 minutes, and he was kind enough to allow us to take as many photos as we wanted.  He explained that they have a team of 5 people to assist with sailing in and out of port, and then once they are out at sea and the Captain deems it safe, they have just 2 people working to drive the boat for the distance to the next port. He showed us the computerized charts and how to look up a location, the depth of the water, and a few other things.

 They use this wheel to steer the ship when going in and out of port…

 …and they use the little 2 inch tall joystick on the top right of this panel to
steer the ship once at sea.

 Not surprising to see a perfect view out the front windows on the bridge!

 Larry explained that this panel shows the fire detection system.  The ship is broken down into 4 sections and they must test that the doors close properly on the first day of every cruise.  If the ship hits something that breaks a hole in the hull such that water fills a compartment, the doors will close.  If a crew member is inside of that compartment, they will not drown (like you see in the movie Titanic!) because there is an escape hatch in the ceiling of each level.  As long as you can find the hatch, you can crawl through it to a dry deck above you, then close and seal the hatch behind you.  

 Big brother is watching you!

 Wings off the side of the bridge to get a better view down the ship…

 I took note of this sign in case we heard any announcements during the cruise and wanted to know what the codes meant. Luckily, we never heard any of these codes being called!

 Larry showed us that even though they have a computerized charting system on the bridge, they also have paper maps as a back up for every area we will visit on this sailing.  

 I really enjoyed the bridge tour and thought it was worth the time missed
exploring Bora Bora.  It was very kind of Larry to answer all of our questions and let us take as many photos as we wanted.  We left the bridge around 2:45pm and had some time to kill before the 4pm Galley tour, so we went up to the pool for a bit.

 At 4pm, we met the Executive Chef in the lobby and he escorted us up to the main galley in L’Etoile.  When we walked into the galley, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and a platter of cookies.  Unlike Larry, he would not permit us to take any photos during this tour, so we just listed as he spoke about the kitchens on the ship.  There are 4 total galleys on the PG: one in each of the dining rooms (L’Etoile, Le Grill, and La Veranda) plus one for the crew on deck 4.  38 people work in the 4 galleys but the executive chef is the only one who is French.  They make all the pastries and breads fresh onboard, and they bring in fresh fish and produce on most port days. All of the cheeses served onboard are imported from France, and most are unpasteurized which is why they taste so much better than the cheese we eat in America!  The chef was happy to answer all of our questions and even said he would give us the recipe to anything we ate onboard (I did not take him up on this offer, but I assume he held his word if anyone else asked).  I think there were about 20 guests on this tour, and then it repeats again a little later in the afternoon so many more people have a chance to tour the galley versus the bridge.  Even still, I’d recommend signing up as early as possible if you want to attend.

The tour ended within 30 minutes, so we went upstairs to the pool deck for the sail away party.  Santa Rosa was playing a fun set of Beatles songs, and there was a good crowd of guests enjoying the views.

 Once we were out of Bora Bora’s lagoon and sailing in open water, we noticed a friend swimming alongside the ship… there was a whale following the boat!  I was not able to get a photo of it above the surface, but I did get this photo of it’s spout of water to prove it was there!

 Once word spread that there was a whale in the water, everyone rushed over to that side of the ship to catch a glimpse.

 Bye bye Bora Bora!

 We made our way back to La Palette to observe a beautiful sunset as we sailed north towards the Tuamotu Islands.

 I just can’t get enough of these beautiful sunsets in French Polynesia!  Just as the sun dipped below the horizon, Cruise Director Claudine came on the overhead to announce the start of the Block Party!  This is another interesting part of cruising on a small ship.  The stewardesses bring bottles of wine to each deck and guests are encouraged to gather in the hallway to meet the “neighbors.”  Since there’s only 14 cabins on Deck 3, it was a small turn out at our Block Party.  Half the cabins attended, but that was only 12 or 14 people haha  It was still nice to get to know the other people on our deck, and we made friends with a few people who we might not have met otherwise.

The Block Party lasted until 6:30pm, and then we went upstairs for dinner. When we arrived at L’Etoile, we requested a table for 2 and were treated to much speedier service than we had had the previous nights there with group tables.  We were perusing the dessert menu just one hour after being seated!

Tonight’s dinner menu:

 Spice Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna Medallions

 Duck Pate in Puff Pastry Crust

 Seafood Brochette of Shrimp and Scallop

 Local Wahoo on Carrot Mousseline

 Dessert Menu

 Vanilla Profiteroles

 Cardinal’s Delight

 Abundance Horn

 Over the course of this cruise, DH developed a passion for their cheese plate.  It was listed as part of the dessert menu every night, but by the end of the cruise, he requested it as an appetizer instead.  One of the waiters was assigned ‘cheese plate duty’ so sometimes it took a while for the cart to arrive if they were serving it to a different table at that time, but when he came over, it was quite a presentation!  There were 5 different cheeses on the cart and you could pick any or all of them to sample.  Then he pulled out a bowl of crackers and breads that you could choose from to go with the cheeses, and there were also grapes and other fruits if you wanted something sweet. The cheeses tended to be bolder than I personally cared for, but DH loves bold cheeses so he was always happy with the selections.

 I mentioned earlier that we were reading our dessert menu one hour after being seated.  Had we just ordered normal desserts, we would have been out the door about 15 minutes later.  Unfortunately, the cheese plate was our bottleneck because it took the waiter 30 minutes to arrive!  We were long finished with our other desserts by now.  I guess there is only one cheese cart and the waiter may get backed up if many tables request it at the same time?  

Once DH had his fill of cheese, we spent a few minutes listening to Alex play at the piano bar.  He typically played 3 sets each night… the first set was around 6pm and he usually just played instrumentals, the second set was around 7:30pm and that’s when he started to sing.  We rarely went to the last set because it was usually late enough that I was falling asleep and ready for bed!

 You could pretty much order any drink you wanted from the bar here, but there is a drink menu if you needed some inspiration.

 We stayed at the piano bar until it was time for the main show in the Grand Salon at 9:30pm.  Tonight’s show was the first of two performances by a guest act called The Rolling Keys.  They are a duo- Will plays the piano, and Sarah sings, and they were accompanied by the musicians from Santa Rosa.  Sarah is a very energetic lead singer and she performs a fantastic show.  I think this was their first and only time booking a gig on the PG, but I do hope they are asked to return because all the guests seemed to enjoy the show.  They played a good mix of upbeat current songs from Bruno Mars and Beyonce, plus a few ballads from Adele and Alicia Keyes.  

We actually got to chat with Will and Sarah throughout the cruise.  Unlike cruises in the Caribbean where guest acts can easily fly in the day of their performance, sleep one night on the ship, and fly out the next port day from whichever other Caribbean island the boat docks at, the PG sails to remote places without convenient international airport access.  Guest acts must stay onboard for the full duration of the cruise, and since we had a slightly longer cruise with 10 days, the guest acts each performed twice.  They told us they had a few days with rehearsals with Santa Rosa, but otherwise were free to enjoy the ship and the ports just like the passengers.  Not a bad gig if you ask me!  

 When the show ended, we went upstairs to La Palette for karaoke, but the room was empty aside from the Gauguines. Eventually a small crowd formed and people took turns singing karaoke.  

DH sang Sweet Caroline

 When no one volunteered to sing the next song, one of the Gaugines picked a song for us… John Denver, Country Roads.  DH and another passenger (who we had not yet met) were good sports and took the lead, but most of the rest of us sang along too without microphones.

 At 11pm, they shut down karaoke and turn La Palette into a disco, so we took that as our cue to head back to the cabin and go to sleep.

Located just 143 miles northwest of Tahiti, the beautiful island of Bora Bora is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef.  The main island is created from an extinct volcano and features two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, reaching a maximum height of 2,385 feet.  Bora Bora is quite possibly the best known island in FP, maybe with the exception of Tahiti.  They have evolved into a famous international tourist destination, best known for their luxury resorts with over water bungalows. The biggest town, Vaitape, is located on the western side of the main island, opposite the main channel into the lagoon, and the island has a population of around 9000 residents.  

Our itinerary gave us the wonderful opportunity to spend 2 full days in Bora Bora, as the PG would remain anchored in the lagoon overnight.  All of my research told me that Bora Bora is best known for their lagoon, and we should spend as much time as possible doing water-based activities and save the land-based excursions for other islands. Paul Gauguin has a private beach on one of the motus around the lagoon, so we wanted to spend some time relaxing there and checking out the views.  We also wanted to take an excursion on a small boat where we could do some snorkeling during the day, and hopefully do a sunset cruise on Friday night.  

There are several companies who offer similar itineraries for a day of snorkeling at the coral garden, swimming with reef sharks and sting rays, and doing a circle tour of the lagoon.  Some include lunch on a motu, but we did not want to do a full day tour as then we might not get back in time for a sunset cruise on the same day (Plus the fact that we already have lunch pre-paid for waiting for us on the ship so why spend more money to eat lunch on the beach?  We did intend to do that on one island, but not today if we had any chance at 2 tours in 1 day!)  When I discovered the 4-hour Lagoon Safari tour offered by Raanui, it was just the right combination of snorkeling stops, beach time, boat time, and all for the price of 8000xpf ($80 USD).  Booking was easy with a few emails back and forth to the owner, Arieta, and she told us to meet her on the tender pier at 8:30am on the morning of our tour.

I originally looked into booking a sunset catamaran sail through a private vendor, but I found that to be cost prohibitive.  Once we knew we would have a substantial on-board credit, and I saw that PG offers a sunset tour for $120, it was a no-brainer that we would book through the cruise line! The bigger debate was what type of boat should we go on?  They offered the tour with both a catamaran and an outrigger canoe, and I spent a lot of time debating back and forth about which we should pick because there really wasn’t much information on how the tours differed. Had I seen a photo of the boat they use for the outrigger tour, I probably would have opted for that one because I think that is more of a Polynesian experience (we can go on catamarans anywhere in the world, but outrigger canoes just seem more Polynesian to me).  The reason I did not pick the canoe was that I assumed the boat they used had 2 long benches along either side of the boat and I did not envision that to be romantic at all.  As it turned out, we walked passed the outrigger on our way to the catamaran tour that night and the boat is set up with several rows of love seats on alternating sides of the boat, all facing forwards, so it probably did feel private when you were sitting side by side with your partner on your own love seat, and not looking straight ahead at a stranger on the opposite side of the boat.  Oh well, maybe if there is a “next time” that we are on the PG, we will pick the outrigger canoe sunset tour!

Here is today’s daily schedule:

 Oh!  Here’s when I took a photo of the room service menu!!  I knew I had it somewhere but I wasn’t sure which day I took the photo haha

 When I woke up this morning (as always, before the alarm clock went off!), I was so excited to be in Bora Bora!  This was on my bucket list, for sure!!

Good morning, Bora Bora!

 We had a busy day planned for today, so we got dressed and went upstairs to La Veranda for a quick but filling breakfast.  That long and thin pastry with powdered sugar has an apple filling and it was delicious!  I wish they served that every day, but this was the only day we saw it.

 We took the first tender of the day at 8:30am for the quick 5-minute ride to
Vaitape.  Tenders to shore run every 30 minutes in each direction to Vaitape, and every 60 minutes to the private motu.  Pay attention to which tender you are boarding so you don’t end up in the wrong place!  This was a great day to sit up on the top of the tender… we avoided it many of the days because we wanted to stay in the shade on the lower level, but this ride was so short and it was still so early in the morning that we took advantage of the opportunity to sit outside.

 Immediately after we stepped off the tender, I heard someone calling my name and he had my name printed on the sign he was holding. I am still not sure exactly who he was, but he told us to follow him over to the side where he introduced us to Arieta and her husband who were sitting on a bench.  They told us to take a seat because our ride would be here soon. There was a lot of activity in the port area, with small tour boats, tour buses, and tenders all coming and going.

 20 minutes later, a boat pulled up with 4 passengers plus a driver and another guide.  The driver turned out to be Arieta’s son, named Raanui (hence the company’s name!), and the other guide was Arieta’s niece (I don’t remember her name). She was really just there to stay back on the boat while Raanui was in the water with us at each stop, in case anyone came back to the boat early and needed assistance.  We boarded the boat and took our seats as Raanui took us back into the lagoon to pick up the last 2 people from the Conrad hotel.

 As we sailed, Raanui explained how the day would go. We would be making several stops to snorkel with reef sharks and sting rays, then the coral garden, then eagle rays, then lemon sharks, and we would end our day with a 20 minute stop on their private motu before returning back to our hotels/cruise ship tender.  He had beach towels and snorkels/masks that we could use during the tour, and there was a cooler on the boat with waters, sodas, and beers.  

Approaching the Conrad resort to pick up the last 2 people on our tour (there were 8 of us in total, although Arieta had told me there would be a maximum of 12 guests)

 We waited at the Conrad for a few minutes for someone to bring us ice for the drinks cooler, then we continued on our way to the first stop on the tour.

 This is Raanui driving the boat, and his cousin in the bright green outfit (she spent most of the day playing on her iPhone lol)

 All of a sudden, Raanui stopped the boat in what seemed like a completely random spot in the middle of the lagoon.  He threw some fish in the water and, like magic, at least a dozen black tip reef sharks surrounded the boat!

 We had already gone swimming with reef sharks when we were in Moorea, so we knew they wouldn’t hurt us, but it’s still a bit intimidating to see that many sharks in the water!

 Hey, Honey, do you want to be the guinea pig and jump in the water first?? Hehe

 Once I saw that the sharks were more interested in eating fish than humans, I climbed in the water to join him.  After I was in the water, I noticed that Raanui had a friend he wanted to introduce to us!

 Hi Mr. Sting Ray!  These sting rays were extremely playful, just like puppies, and they kept jumping up on us!  There was one girl on our tour who was terrified of the sting rays, so just a warning that you need to be comfortable with the rays touching you if you take this tour because as long as you are in their water with them, they will jump on you! It’s their lagoon, you’re just a visitor! hehe

 The water here was only about 3 feet deep, so it was nice to be able to stand on the sandy bottom and feel grounded as we played with the sharks and rays.  It pays to arrive early because we were the only boat out here, and we had 30 minutes to enjoy the experience.  This was by far the best interaction we had with sharks and rays over the entire 2+ weeks we were in FP!

I can’t believe I am in the water with this many sharks!!

 Oh yea, and sting rays too!

 Despite all the activity in the water, it was still so clear!

 Note that I was not using a zoom lens for these photos… the sharks were really this close to us!

 Taking a selfie with the sharks

 Just me, a sting ray, and a few reef sharks… no biggie!

After letting us snorkel for about 15 minutes, Raanui brought over some fish so we could feed the sting rays.  I was a little hesitant given my experience on the jet ski tour, but Raanui assured me that it would be okay… and it was!

 And then Raanui scooped up the sting ray for a fun photo op!

 We spent a few more minutes snorkeling until we were too tired to swim anymore.

 After an unforgettable 30 minutes in the water, we were exhausted and ready for a break.  Raanui offered everyone a drink from the cooler… either water, soda, or Hinano.  It was now 10:15am… that’s an acceptable time for a beer, right???

 Once we were all settled on the boat, we continued on our journey around the lagoon.  The tour takes you on a giant loop around the whole lagoon, so we passed the different hotels with their classic over water bungalows, and Raanui was great about pointing out which hotels and sites we were passing on the way.

 The water was the most incredible color… it wasn’t even blue, it was closer to an aqua green!  I felt like we were taking a boat ride inside a giant swimming pool!

 After 40 minutes in the boat, we arrived at our next stop: the coral garden.  There were approximately 50 other people snorkeling here when we arrived, but the coral garden is so big and spread out that it didn’t matter and there was plenty of space for everyone.  My favorite part of this snorkeling experience was that I got to see my first clam… but not just one clam… there were tons of clams embedded in the coral! It was so exciting to see a clam for the first time!!

 Raanui swam around the coral garden with us to help find the best parts.  Every so often, he dove down into the nooks and crannies of the coral formations to get the fish to come out for us.

 My camera has a mode where it can take macro photos while under water.  Usually, I feel a little rushed at snorkeling stops on tours like this, and I don’t have the opportunity to play with all the settings on my camera.  This tour was such a relaxed pace and I felt as if we had more than enough time at each stop, so I could really take my time to explore and see every little detail of this underwater world.

This is another one of my favorite photo from our vacation:

 I am a bit obsessed with all these clams!

 Such a pretty fish with fluorescent colors!  It actually matches perfectly with a parachute material track suit I used to wear when I was a child (Hotdogger brand for those who are familiar haha)

 When we were there, I thought these rocks spelled out “I ❤ Bora Bora”… that’s actually not what it says…

 Hmmm… “I ❤ Love Bora” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it!

So many fish!

 Interesting pieces of coral…

 Pink coral!

 I have tons more photos from the coral garden, but I’ll save you from looking at all of them haha

After 30 minutes of snorkeling (I love that I can look up the time stamp in the file info of my photos to know what happened at what time), I swam back to the boat.  This was the outrigger canoe we used today:

Just as I was about to climb back on board, Raanui popped up behind me with a surprise… an octopus!!

 Before he would let me touch it, he did some magic trick to squeeze the ink out of all the tentacles.

 He then told me to hold onto the side of the boat, and he proceeded to do this…

 OMG there is an octopus on my head!

 That was probably the weirdest and craziest thing I have ever done in my life!  When he tried to remove it, the tentacles had suctioned onto my face so it didn’t come off as easily as I thought it would.  I felt like I had a hundred suction cups leaching onto my head.

***Do not try this at home!

 Eventually I just had to dunk under water to get the octopus peeled off of me.  This was certainly a day I will never forget!

 Then I had a chance to hold it and play with it.

 I took this photo after I got back on the boat… the dark area that you can see under water is where the coral is, so even though you can also see lots of snorkelers, we were all spread out with plenty of space to explore.

 Once everyone had their turn playing with the octopus (or at least everyone who wanted a turn!), we piled back on the boat and cruised around the lagoon for 20 minutes until we reached our next stop. Raanui said we would see eagle rays here, but that it may be hard to find them.  It took a lot of work swimming against the current, but it was worth the reward because we did eventually find one eagle ray!

 Once we found him, we could drift with the current because that was how he was drifting.  It was so peaceful just to float there and watch him from above (he never came up to the surface and he had no interest in interacting with us).

 By the time we got back on the boat, we were completely exhausted, but we still had 2 more stops on the tour!  It was now 12 noon.  Our tour was scheduled to end by 1pm, and we knew there was a 20 minute beach stop at the end, so when we set off for the next stop, we assumed it was close by.

We were wrong.

We were on the boat for 55 minutes from when we left the spot with the eagle rays until we reached our next stop!  The one thing that I did not like about the tour was that Raanui never gave us an idea of how long we’d be on the boat between stops. Had we known we had nearly an hour journey ahead of us, we probably would have taken off our wet swim shirts to let them dry (plus it was quite cold to wear the wet shirt while the boat was speeding along).  I suppose had I asked him, he would have told me how long it would take to get to each stop… it’s not like this was his first time doing this route!  It just didn’t occur to me to ask.

Anyway, here are a few photos from along the ride…

 Sorry for the fingerprints on the lens that blurred these photos!

This was one of the big resorts (I don’t remember which one, but I know it’s not the Conrad because we were already there first thing this morning!)

 These bungalows were HUGE and even have their own pool on the balcony!  I don’t think I’d ever leave my room if I was lucky enough to stay here haha

 If you look very closely up on the side of this hill, you will see a canon that was left behind after WWII.  I know a lot of the land-based island tours will take people to see this canon, but we only did water-based tours in Bora Bora so this was as close as we got.

 A verrrrry zoomed in photo (I could not see the canon with my naked eyes)

 We continued through the lagoon until we reached the reef, and then we continued even further until we were out in the open ocean water.  Finally, Raanui stopped the boat in yet another completely random spot (although he always seemed to be aiming for a specific location so there must have been markers in the water to guide him).  The seas were a bit rough as it was getting windy and started to rain, but amazingly, the water was still
clear!  

We came all the way out here for a chance to see lemon sharks, but by the time we arrived, everyone was freezing cold and beyond tired, and none of us wanted to swim again.  Raanui got in the water and tried to find the sharks.  A few minutes later, a 10 foot long shark appeared just below the surface of the water! 

 There were some black tip reef sharks here too!

 I was happy to stay on the boat and just observe from above, since the water was clear enough that I could see as the shark swam by, but the longer we sat there, the heavier the rain fell.  It got to the point where we were getting wet sitting on the boat anyway, so one by one, everyone grabbed their snorkels and got back in the water.

 It was incredible that despite the cloudy, rainy skies above, and the rough, choppy seas, the water was still clear enough that we could see straight to the bottom 35 feet below us.  Much like the reef shark, the lemon sharks swam around us but had no interest in eating us for lunch!  

 As if just being in the water with the sharks wasn’t enough entertainment, Raanui wanted to put on a show for us.  He swam down under the water, grabbed the shark’s dorsal fin, and let it pull him through the water, swinging his free arm overhead like a cowboy!  This man was fearless!

 By the time we got back on the boat, it was after 1pm.  We were supposed to be back at the tender pier by now, but we were still out in the middle of the ocean and had yet to make the 20 minute stop at the motu beach. DH and I feared that we might miss the tender because the ship stops serving lunch at 2pm, and we had to be showered and dressed for the sunset catamaran tour by 3:45pm so we didn’t have a huge time window to work with.  We were still quite cold (by now, I had used the one towel I brought off the ship with me, plus 3 of the towels Raanui had for us to borrow, and there were no more dry towels left) and it was still raining, so what’s the point of spending 20 minutes at a beach??  We knew we would have a few hours at PG’s private beach tomorrow, when hopefully the weather would be a little better, and we valued eating lunch more than huddling beneath a palm tree seeking shelter from the rain haha Given how late we were running, we weren’t surprised that one of the other couples on our tour also wanted to skip the beach.  We asked Raanui if we could just go straight back to the tender pier (and if that couple could go back to their hotel), and he agreed to drop off the other 4 people at the beach because they still wanted to go (I have no idea why!), and then he would shuttle us back to where we needed to go, and then return to the beach to pick up the 4 people he left there.  We were very grateful that he was willing to accommodate us, although had the tour not been running so late, it wouldn’t have been an issue in the first place!

We got back to the tender pier and said our goodbyes just as the 1:45pm tender pulled up.  Overall, we thought this tour was an excellent value and was one of the best tours of our trip.  I would not hesitate to book with Raanui Tours again if I ever return to Bora Bora, but I might not book multiple tours on that day because things definitely run on island time.

We got back to the ship at exactly 1:55pm and ran up 3 flights of stairs (not wanting to waste time waiting for the elevator).  We raced down the hall and stepped into La Veranda for lunch literally seconds before they were going to clear the food!  How come our excursions all seem to run on island time, but PG’s dining room staff keep time with military precision?!  They told us to take whatever we wanted now (including our desserts) because then they would clear all the platters.  Today’s buffet theme was “Pacific Buffet” and included lots of prepared Chinese dishes, sushi, and the made-to-order station was chow mein stir fry.

 By the time we finished eating, it was 2:30pm, so we had just over an hour to get showered and ready for our sunset catamaran tour.  We had to meet in the lobby by 3:45pm, which I thought seemed a bit early considering sunset isn’t until 6pm.  I actually thought the tour wasn’t supposed to start until 4:30, which would have given us a little more time to get ready, but oh well.  

 PG ran a special tender just to transport people taking the 2 sunset tours.  As we were walking down the steps from the ship to the tender, the skies opened up and it started to rain.  The weather really was not cooperating with us today, and I couldn’t believe that rain would ruin ANOTHER sunset tour for us!!  The rain continued for 30 minutes, as we sailed across to the tender pier, unloaded, assembled in groups based on which boat we were on, and walked over to our respective boats.  Luckily, the rain stopped as we boarded the catamaran and did not return!

Prior to boarding the catamaran, they ask you to remove your shoes.  I mention this because some of the men were dressed for the evening and already had on socks and closed toed shoes.  You might consider wearing flip flops or shoes that are easily removed.  The catamaran is very large, with plenty of seating under cover.  Had it not just rained, this would have worked out a bit better, but unfortunately most of the padded seats were now wet, leaving fewer options where we could sit and stay dry.  There are also 2 large nets out in the front of the boat, but of course they were wet from the rain too.  There were about 25 people on this tour, so it was definitely not romantic, but about half the people on our Roll Call were on the tour with us so it was fun getting to chat with them.

 Once everyone found a seat, the 2 guides introduced themselves and did a quick safety briefing.  They explained that we would sail out to a spot where we had a view of the cruise ship and Mt. Otemanu for about an hour, and then we would move to another location with a view of the sunset over an island in the distance, Vai’ea.  They also came around and served us some snacks of fresh slices of papaya and grapefruit, bowls of Doritos (I haven’t had those in ages!!), as well as soda and Tahiti Drink.

 I will admit that there were times when it felt a bit boring as we waited for the sun to set, but it was worth the wait in the end.

 As the nets dried off, people eventually spread out to sit outside and watch the sun go down.

 Just as the sun dipped below the horizon, the catamaran started to make its way back to the pier.  We stared at the sun with hopes of seeing the elusive “Green Flash” but no such luck!  Overall, the excursion was a fun activity but it was definitely not romantic at all with over 20 other people on the boat with us.  You can see similar views of the sunset from the PG, so if you are debating between this and a different excursion on a different day, this may be one you could skip.  I was glad we did it though… it’s not every day that you get to watch the sunset from Bora Bora!

The PG looked so pretty as we sailed passed it on the way back to the pier.

 We got back to the pier around 6:15pm and could see the tender sitting at it’s dock a short distance away. We grabbed our shoes from the bin, threw them on our feet, and speed walked over to the tender before it pulled away without us.  Sure enough, a second or two after we sat down on the tender, it pulled away without waiting for the other people on our excursion.  Then, I’m not sure if they saw the others coming, or if they flagged down the driver, but the tender returned to the pier so everyone else could board.  Why doesn’t PG do a better job of coordinating these tenders with returning excursions?  I understand that they have a schedule to keep, but when it is a 30 minute wait between tenders, there’s really no excuse for them to pull away when they can see people walking towards the boat!  

 Once we were back on the ship, DH stopped back at the cabin to change into pants and shoes to comply with the dress code.  We had 7:30pm reservations tonight at Le Grill, but that was over an hour away and we were already hungry, so we decided to go up to L’Etoile to order an appetizer to hold us over.

This was tonight’s menu in L’Etoile.  

 We shared 2 of the appetizers and both were tasty as always!

House Made Salmon Rillette

 Potato Gnocchi

 After our pre-dinner snack, we went out to the piano bar to listen to a few songs until it was time for our Le Grill reservation.

 When we got up to deck 8 and spoke to the maitre’d in Le Grill, he told us there were no tables for 2 available, but he could seat us outside beside the pool at a shared table with 2 other couples if we wanted to.  We were happy to share, especially when we realized that one of the couples was the Australian couple we ate dinner with last night, and the other couple was our friends from our roll call, GenoaAspenGirl and her husband!  It’s really amazing how well you get to know your fellow passengers on a ship with only 330 guests.  It’s so much more likely that you will cross paths with people you already know, and it starts to feel like you must know everyone on the ship after only a few days!  We had a wonderful conversation and enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed the food.

As I mentioned earlier, the menu at Le Grill remains the same for the first half of the cruise, and then it changes to a new menu for the second half of the cruise.  On our sailing, they were changing menus on Sunday, so since today was only Friday we still had the first menu.

 Polynesian Prawns

 Caesar Salad

 Seafood Brochette

 While we were eating, Les Gauguines came over to sing for us.

 I wish I thought to take a photo of the pool deck set up at night because it was so pretty to eat dinner outside on the deck with the dim lighting and light breeze.  We specifically booked dinner here tonight because the ship was anchored in Bora Bora and we didn’t have to worry about heavy winds or other issues that may arise when the ship is sailing at night.

Paul Gauguin’s Pineapple Cake

 Dinner took about an hour and a half.  When we finished at 9pm, we went upstairs on deck 9 with hopes of star gazing, but unfortunately all the lights from the ship blocked our view of the sky.  

At 9:30pm, we went down to the Grand Salon to see tonight’s show, Que Bola. They perform a magic show with a quick change act, card tricks, and a few other tricks.  I thought they had an okay show, but most of what they did were things I had seen before on America’s Got Talent so I wasn’t very impressed.  One thing I will say is they asked for lots of audience participation, so make sure to sit up front if you want to be part of their show!  When that ended, we went back to the cabin and called it a night.