By Charul Bhatia
Our March trip to Bora Bora was one of the most memorable trips we had as a family of three. We spent the week at the Four Seasons.
The island
The beauty of this island is in the water, its lagoon, and the calm sea. The water was a shade of turquoise I’ve never seen before. And the experience of staying in an over-water hut at the Four Seasons made it even better. The over-the-water villas were very generous in size, beautifully furnished, with views of the lagoon and the mountain.
Our bedroom and living room we’re quite large. Our daughter slept on the sofa bed. There is a huge walk in bathroom separating the living room and the bedroom. It had views of the lagoon and a glass floor providing views of the aquatic life below us. The patio was quite big as well and perfectly furnished with a thatch roof sitting area (so you can still enjoy the outdoors when it rains) and open air lounge beds. Our most favorite experience there was lounging on our deck, with immediate access to the shallow lagoon, perfect for swimming and kayaking around the villas.
One thing noteworthy is the complete privacy that you enjoy because of the way they have designed their huts. You cannot see your neighbors patios, so you can totally relax in this blissful scenery.
The Four Seasons Bora Bora
The staff at the Four Seasons Hotel went above and beyond in servicing all of our needs. From bringing kayaks and huge swan floaties when we needed them, to catering to our daughter’s food allergies, to arranging a very memorable swimming experience snorkeling with sharks. The hotel also features a beautiful lagoon, separate from the one right by the villa, for snorkeling and made all the gear available for us when we needed them.
There is very little to do on the island beyond water activities. So choosing the best hotel with a kids club was key for us. Sadly, we didn’t see many kids when we visited the club so our daughter didn’t end up using the club besides the one time. Luckily she was interested in exploring all the water activities with us, which was a pleasant surprise for us as she has been afraid of snorkeling in the past. But here, the water is so clear and calm that my 6-year-old’s fears melted away.
The property is huge and there were plenty of golf carts to take you around. Each time we were greeted extremely warmly and the staff doted on our daughter. She had a great time chit-chatting with the drivers and riding in the front seat discussing the island’s fish species and fauna. They gave her a cool activity pad listing the various types of fish that she diligently checked off after her snorkeling experience. I found this property extremely kid friendly. The pool was huge and gorgeous and our daughter spent hours there.
The food
The food was good but not exceptional. But then again, we live in New York, so it’s hard to compete! There was a Japanese restaurant, which served fairly decent sushi, a formal French restaurant, which was fine but quite expensive, and casual dining available at their breakfast area, as well as pool and beachside. All of the restaurants featured a standard kids menu. They were able to accommodate my daughter’s egg and nut allergies. Breakfast was probably the best meal for us. I enjoyed the extremely fresh selection of fresh island fruits, especially the papaya and mangoes.
Other trips
After Bora Bora we visited Moorea Island, which offered some land activities like visiting pineapple farms and 4×4 Jeep ride to the mountains as well as good restaurant options but the hotels and lagoon in Moorea simply failed in comparison to our amazing experience in Bora Bora.
So?
Overall, this was a memorable trip but getting there didn’t come easy. The journey itself is excruciating — Air Tahiti runs at odd times, requiring long layovers on top of the lengthy flights. We flew back to New York from Moorea and it was a late night flight. Then, we had to take a ferry from Moorea to Tahiti and had to leave the property much earlier than our fight to make it to the last ferry to Tahiti. We had to kill 4-5 hour hours waiting at the Hilton Tahiti and the hotel restaurant was at capacity from all the passengers waiting for their flight. All of us were quite exhausted. In hindsight we could’ve just busted Bora Bora and that would have made the trip more manageable.
The trip was quite expensive, everything from the flights, to the Four Seasons stay, to the food. But it was a once in a lifetime trip and the experience was extraordinary. So it was worth it in the end.