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Bora Bora is a spectacular island that offers all of the comforts of home while maintaining it's tropical beauty. A lot of people will call it boring, but we beg to differ. We stayed 11 days there and still couldn't accomplish everything that we wanted to do. They have tons of excursion and activities to experience. Some of them you can do on your own accord. What really makes it memorable are the people. Get to know them and their way of life. Don't just stick around in the hotel lobbies or eat at the fancy restaurants. Get out and mingle. Walk up to someone while they are in their front yard, walking down the street, and ask them questions. Eat at the small places and get to know the workers. That is the only way to know the Tahitian way of life. If you don't do that, you will always be on the outside looking in. Walk into government buildings and schools to see what they do and how they do it. Trust me, you won't experience any of the rudeness that people will talk about.

Before we went, we expected people to be rude and not really talk to us. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. NOT EVEN ONCE!! In fact, it was the opposite. People were always telling us where to go, how to do something, etc. And if they don't, then just ask. Tahitians really were anxious to share their knowledge.

While we knew that the islands are owned by the French, we still expected people to primarily speak Polynesian. This was not true. Everything was geared towards the French. That was also the language that we came in most contact. The locals spoke Polynesian to each other a lot. In the schools, they taught the children French, Polynesian, and English. Although sometimes people's English might be limited, Tahitians always knew what we were saying. Of course, a lot of Tahitians were fluent in English. Bottom line: the language issue was not a barrier.

The island was small and at first glance it looked as if every building on it was a business. After driving around and talking with people, we encountered a lot of homes. The homes ranged from extravagant to shacks. As with every country, some people seem to get the short end of the stick.

The environment was very clean. We never saw any signs of pollution. After we snorkeled in various spots around the island, it seemd that most of the coral was dead. They have two trash dumps that are right on the beach in the same cove. It just so happens that the water in that cove looks the darkest. In fact, it was a dark solid green the whole time. Coincidence? We all know too well that a lot of pollution is microscopic so I am sure that it is there.

Although we sustained a couple of mosquito bites, mosquitos were never a problem. Everyday we saw people burn natural debris such as tree leaves, coconut shells, etc. We were told that they do that to get rid of mosquitos.

We flew on Air Tahiti Nui from Los Angeles to Papeete during a midnight flight. They allow one carry on (115cm/45in. & 10kg/22lbs.) and two checked (158cm/62in. & 32kg/70lbs. each) baggages per person. They have special restrictions with guitars, surfboards, etc. so check their website. There were a lot of empty seats so we sat in the middle row with an empty seat on each side of us. However, we still found it very hard to sleep. The staff aboard were very professional and courteous. We even received flowers to put in our hair. We have flown nigthtime flights before but this was the first time that anyone bothered to turn on the heater. Plus, we used the blankets from the empty seats as well. While the food was not gourmet cooking, it was the best that we have ever had on a plane. We always received two meals to choose from. Since there are a lot of security measures, we were checked several times on our way back to the States. For some reason, Elena seemed to always get chosen for a random search. By the way, you will have to fill out a customs form while on the plane. We didn't think that they need such personal information so Elena decided to stretch the truth on hers. Come to find out, we had to give these papers to the Customs Officer along with our passport. The moral: Don't lie on the forms!!

We stayed at Le Maitai Polynesian Hotel with a garden view room. It's the cheapest way to go unless you rent a pension. A shuttle to and from the boat dock in Vaitape is offered when you first get there and leave. The staff was extremely nice and helpful. They always made us feel at home. The hotel was kept very clean and neat. Even the pond outside our window was clean. They have a restaurant that was just as good as Denny's in the States. Le Maitai is conviently located near a market, phone, couple restaurants, and a couple of gift boutiques. They gave us beach towles, snorkel and mask, and kayaks to use during our stay. We brought our own snorkel gear so we don't know of the quality of those items but evething else was in good condition. You can book all your activities through them or call the companies themselves. Also, we experience no kind of theft whatsoever. We used the electronic safe in our room to store valuables but sometimes we didn't. Frank left our $1,000 USD camera equipment out in the open a few times and it was never taken. Neither were two $20 bills ever touched. The staff didn't even eat our Tim Tams.

Power: Nowadays, people have all sorts of electronic equipment. What they don't realize is that a lot of power supplies that come with their equipment is rated for a wide range of voltages. Our digital camera and Mindstor are both rated for 100-240 volts so all we needed was an adapter plug. You can buy a set at Radio Shack or any other electronic store. It should run about $10 USD. If you need a power converter, then don't buy a cheap one unless you will just use it temporarily such as with a hair dryer. These days, most hotels have 110 volt outlets in the bathroom. I know ours did. Just check with the hotel before you leave. Tahiti uses 230v for their power.

All written and oral communication is controlled by the Postal Department. The phones take phone cards instead of coins. Phone cards can be bought from the Post Office, supermarkets, etc. No matter where the card is obtained from or how many units you buy, it's a flat rate and will cost the same per unit. A 30 unit phone card costs about $8.23 USD. To call Southern California, USA from Bora Bora, one unit lasted about 20 seconds. we were told that mail takes about 10 days to get to it's destination. We sent some post cards but some people didn't receive them until 20 days later. The stamps cost about $1 USD each. We mailed a couple of letters from there but we forgot how much that cost.

While you are there you will probably want to eat. Just about all of the restaurants will supply transportation to and from your hotel if you have a reservation. The cheapest way to eat is paying a visit to the little local restaurants around the island. We found one and it cost about $3 USD for a chicken sandwich. The best bang for your buck is to go on all day excursions. They will feed you lunch. We gourged ourselves on the food and when it came time for dinner, we really weren't hungry. Nice restaurants will cost about $65-$75 USD for two people including dessert with no alcoholic beverages. Unfortunately for us, we dined at the most expensive restaurant in town, TopDive. It was about $85 for two with no dessert or alcoholic beverages. The best dessert that we had was Tim Tams. They can be bought at any of the markets there. They are a MUST eat treat!!! Everyone says that it's safe to drink the tap water, but people drink bottled water. So we did the same. Not to worry. Bottled water is just slighty more expensive there than in the U.S. We were happy to see that since we drink lots of water.

Bora Bora was definitely worth the trip. The whole trip was flawless and everyone was polite and nice. The people of Bora Bora welcomed us with open arms while we were there. We will do the same if they ever visit America. All written and oral communication is controlled by the Postal Department. The phones take phone cards instead of coins. Phone cards can be bought from the Post Office, supermarkets, etc. No matter where the card is obtained from or how many units you buy, it's a flat rate and will cost the same per unit. A 30 unit phone card costs about $8.23 USD. To call Southern California, USA from Bora Bora, one unit lasted about 20 seconds. we were told that mail takes about 10 days to get to it's destination. We sent some post cards but some people didn't receive them until 20 days later. The stamps cost about $1 USD each. We mailed a couple of letters from there but we forgot how much that cost.