Island, Bora-Bora

I have read contradicting information about the number of inhabitants Bora Bora has. The number varies from 6000 to 7000. Wikipedia cites the 2007 census which counted 8880 inhabitants. So still not a real lot… ;-)

About 4000 of those people live in Vaitape, the main town.

Not only there it is sometimes hard to determine where the town ends and no-man’s-land starts, or if some lonesome houses belong to the previous or the next village.

There is a green sign with the name of the township at the official start of a village, and soon after that you normally spot a church.

As you can expect, you find all kinds of businesses and public service in Vaitape, including post-office (Bureau de Poste), police station (gendarmerie), town hall (Mairie), school, pharmacy, bank (Banque de Polynésie), Maison de la Presse (newspapers, magazines, books, and tobacco products), fire brigade (Pompiers), petrol station (Station Service), car rentals, hairdresser, etc..

Anau on the east coast is the most typical village on Bora Bora because it is the most isolated settlement. It is built along a rocky stretch of coastline.

In the Hidden Guide I read that it is, I quote: “not a terribly friendly place”. As we stopped for some minutes only I can neither agree nor tell you the opposite. It was hot, and nobody was around.

Our main interest was to have a look at the Protestant church (Eglise Protestante Maohi; Paroisse Sion, in Tahitian: Paroita Tiona/Anau).

Sunday mass is at 10am.

The three major churches on Bora Bora look like cloned, with their pointed red roofs, and the open porch in front of the entrance under the tower. Only the colours are different. Whereas the churches in Vaitape and Faanui have pastel colours, the one in Anau is white. And it is set on the lagoon-side, whereas the other two are on the mountain side, so they are set in front of the magic mountains and offer quite dramatic vistas.

1 more image

When looking at my photos you might be impressed by the many spectacular mountains of Bora Bora. But this impression is completely wrong.

You somehow permanently circle around the two giants Mt. Otemanu and Mt. Pahia, and they change their faces so dramatically with every turn you take that you would not think they are the same mountains.

Sometimes a lower mountain adds to the picture, but the highest ones are always only Mt. Otemanu (727 metres) and Mt. Pahia (662 metres).

The next-highest peak is Mt. Hue with 619 metres, followed by Mt. Mataihua (314 metres) which sits between Faanui and Vairau Bay, and in the very north you have the Popotei Ridge.

You can walk up to the summit of Mt. Pahia. This will take you several hours (about 5 hours return). The hike starts in Vaitape. You have to take the inland road south of the Protestant church, and find your way through the bush. Either take a guide or get good instructions before you start. And, of course, do not try it in wet conditions, as the track will get muddy and slippery.

Do not try to climb Mt. Otemanu. Its crumbling face would make an ascent very dangerous.

A short walk I would consider is the island crossing from Faanui (start/end on a dirt track starting at the church) to Vairau Bay, south of Fitiiu Point. We saw the start of the track on the Vairau Bay side when we passed there on our bicycles.

On photo 2 you see the mountains the other way round, as you see them from Nunue, south of Vaitape.

This bay was rather unique as the colour of the water was neither turquoise blue nor turquoise green but just a brilliant green.

You have a great view from a lookout off Fitiiu Point. This comes after a steep climb on the unsealed stretch of road, where the road leaves the coastline and goes inland, and before a long descent down towards Anau.

If you are interested, the lookout area is rich of places to check out. Further out to Fitiiu Point you can walk on a jeep track to a spot from where you can see some of those useless American defense guns. If you look down to the shore you see the Marae Aehuatai.
(If you want to have a close look, just drive down the hill towards Anau, at the bottom a track leads to the marae - and from there up to the guns.)

North of Anau on the eastern side of the island, there is a short unsealed stretch of road.

It also is a short steepisch winding uphill section, ending at the former Club Med which was relocated after being devastated by hurricanes several times.

As I did not succeed to pedal to the top on my one-gear bike, I could see what the road was made up of . And it was not just red soil but under the soil emerged the original coral road.

This coral, of course, was once under the water’s surface and was pushed up by volcanic eruptions.

Although you see banana trees in the foreground, let me tell you about the fruit you see as yellowish dots in the centre – and under the spectacular panorama of Mt. Otemanu. Read more about the pamplemousse in my General Tips.

If you enlarge this photo you might spot some caves at the base of the rocks. They are ancient burial sites.

You get this view just north of Anau.

Bora Bora is only 72 kilometres from Raiatea, and Raiatea’s sister island Tahaa is even closer.

You get a great view of those islands (more of Tahaa than of Raiatea) from the east/southest coast of Bora Bora, behind a chain of small motu(s).

This photo was taken just north of Anau.

You can see Maupiti from the area around Vaitape. It is off the Teavanui Pass to the west.

… at the view of those crystal clear waters that surround Bora Bora.

Yes, you cannot help stopping every some minutes. Sometimes you think you have taken the greatest photo of all, and after some minutes you drive/cycle around another curve, and you have to get off the bike or out of the car again, and take another greatest photo of all. And so it goes on. You can't count the number of bays, there are so many, and so many points.



Please do not rate this tip!