Bora Bora has a problem. The photos are so over-the-top that you assume they have been filtered to death. No place can have water that blue. It’s the island where Kim Kardashian famously lost her diamond earring on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, where honeymoon Pinterest boards are born, and where couples fly halfway around the world to get married barefoot over the lagoon. It is so over-the-top romantic of a place that it doesn’t seem real or possible.
Then you get there.
And you realize the photos weren’t exaggerating. If anything, they didn’t even do it justice.
The lagoon really does shift from pale mint to neon turquoise to cobalt, sometimes within a few hundred feet. The water is so clear you can spot blacktip reef sharks cruising beneath your boat, coral gardens look close enough to touch (but don’t), and Mount Otemanu somehow dominates every single view. I probably have 200 photos of just water on my phone because every time I looked up, it had changed again.
Sure, you can spend your days doing absolutely nothing — and you’ll be perfectly happy. But Bora Bora rewards curiosity. Get on a boat. Swim with reef sharks and stingrays. Snorkel the coral gardens. Visit the turtle rehabilitation center at The Westin Bora Bora where injured sea turtles from across French Polynesia are cared for before being released back into the wild. Every time I got on a boat, I was reminded that the resorts aren’t really the main attraction. The atoll is. That said, where you stay still matters. We based ourselves at The Westin Bora Bora, which reopened after a complete renovation and occupies one of the island’s prime stretches of lagoon. The overwater bungalows check every box: glass floor panels, ladders leading straight into the water, and uninterrupted views that make it surprisingly difficult to leave your deck.
A few things I didn’t know before arriving. Bora Bora doesn’t have a single traffic light — well, I think — because boat transfer from the airport was arranged via our hotel, so we never saw a single road or car. Most people get around by boat, so the lagoon is basically the highway. The airport sits on its own motu, which means everyone starts their vacation the same way — with a boat transfer. Those dark blue streaks in the water are channels where the lagoon suddenly drops from a few feet deep to dozens. And those blacktip reef sharks everyone gets nervous about? They’re locals. They’ve spent years around people and are shy so jumping into the water and swimming with them is a must. But if you’d rather not, that’s okay, too. There’s plenty of water for everyone to enjoy Bora Bora the way they want to.
Getting here takes time, but it’s worth it. It’s about an eight-hour flight from Los Angeles to Tahiti, followed by a 40-minute hop to Bora Bora. Grab a window seat on the left side of the plane when you’re arriving and the right side when you’re leaving. Trust me on this one. As the island comes into view, you’ll understand why people obsess over Bora Bora. The reef circles the island like a giant hug, and everyone who picked the wrong side of the plane suddenly starts leaning across the aisle.
Once I landed, something shifted.
Maybe it was the humidity kissing my skin. Maybe it was my partner. Maybe it was because I hadn’t looked at my phone except to capture water views. Whatever it was — the flight delay getting here, unanswered emails, if I remembered to lock my front door — just a few minutes here and everything really does seem to fade away.
Then I walked into my overwater bungalow to find a glass panel on the floor. A ladder from my deck disappears straight into the lagoon. I did one of those running jumps that feels purposeful for the ‘gram,’ but honestly wasn’t… I didn’t even capture it. The water is warm enough that I was in and out anytime I wanted. But even getting into the water becomes romantic. In some places it’s deep enough that I instinctively latched onto my partner. We waded in further until we were wrapped around each other in the middle of the South Pacific. You do the math. It’s quiet. Really quiet. No packed beaches. Just water, boats, and Mount Otemanu staring back at you. Every view, every boat ride, every place you look somehow feels designed for two.
Captain Ron, our boat guide for one of the days we booked through the concierge at The Westin, knew just about everything having grown up in Bora Bora. Every few minutes he’d point to another part of the lagoon and explain why the water looked different there than it did a hundred yards away. He pointed out villas and the famous people who stayed there (like the Nars family home where Barack Obama once checked in). He talked about the reef protecting the lagoon from the open Pacific, why some areas stay perfectly calm, and how quickly the water changes depth. November through April is the moodiest time of year, but even then, the weather changes by the hour. Mount Otemanu might be perfectly clear one minute and wrapped in a ring of clouds the next, making it look like a villain’s lair while the rest of Bora Bora sits under blue skies.
“This place makes people slow down. When people slow down, they notice each other,” Captain Ron quietly shared between songs he was strumming on his ukulele as we headed back to the resort after our day out on the water.
I finally understood why Bora Bora has become the unofficial romance capital of the world. It isn’t because someone leaves Champagne in your room. Most destinations, from the Caribbean to Italy to the Seychelles, offer romance. Bora Bora is one of the few places where geography forces intimacy. There are so few distractions. You’re literally in the middle of the South Pacific. No city to wander. No places to go shopping (don’t worry, I survived). No museums you feel obligated to see. Most days, the only decision I had to make is whether I was getting in the water before or after lunch, or both. It leaves a lot of room to pay attention to the person you’re with.
The afternoon I joined Captain Ron for a lagoon tour, it ended up being one of my favorite memories. We snorkeled coral gardens, swam with dozens of blacktip reef sharks and stingrays, and stopped often enough for him to point out things I never would have noticed on my own. At one point we stopped in the middle of the ocean where waves were crashing against a non-existent shore while passing around homemade pineapple bread. It was relaxed, a little random, and exactly the kind of afternoon I hoped I’d have in Bora Bora.
But, this also isn’t a place where you can optimize your itinerary. You get on a boat. You swim. You have lunch. You swim again. Maybe you take a nap. Maybe you watch the sunset from your deck with a glass of bubbles in hand. Maybe you and your partner take a bath while looking out the window at the lagoon. Maybe you hang up the do-not-disturb sign and relish the literal and metaphorical swath of ocean that separates you from everyone and everything else around you. What happens next is none of anyone’s business. But that’s sort of the point. And that’s pretty much the day, and honestly, I can’t recommend it enough.
Lots of places offer romantic stays. I’ve loved every weekend in Paris. Every getaway to a luxurious Mexican resort lounging on a daybed for two. But nothing like this. It’s a vibe that takes over… for everyone. Even dinner at Maere, The Westin’s intimate restaurant with just a handful of tables. The experience starts with a Champagne cart, followed by a secret tasting menu — the chef creates something different every evening. Like so much of Bora Bora, it didn’t feel flashy — it just felt like it was made for intimacy.
I kept thinking about how many destinations get hyped to the point where reality can’t possibly keep up. Bora Bora isn’t one of them. If anything, the opposite happens. The photos can’t capture how incredible this place actually is or how quickly the water changes color. The most unforgettable memories are the ones I keep to myself and can only allude to here. Bora Bora is something you have to experience for yourself.
Feature image courtesy of The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa.
