Bora-Bora Update
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Tue 31 Aug 2010 11:00
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Anchored in the south west of the lagoon when we first arrived
and the colour of the water really is amazing and goes on for mile after mile.
The depths are quite shallow - 15ft and a lot less in places - and the seabed is
sand - the combination of the two gives the beautiful colour. There
are a few coral outcrops in the area, but not that many, so not a lot of
fish to be seen here. Eagle rays and others 'fly' across the sand
from time to time and several have gone under the boat. While this is
an idyllic spot, the wind has continued to blow, giving quite a chop on
the water - almost needed the masks and snorkels for the dinghy trip
ashore! The trip to the only 'town' on the island is too far for our
dinghy so we moved to the other end of the main island to the
Bora-Bora Yacht Club and picked up a mooring. At $7 a night it's quite
reasonable and as the depth on the mooring is 85ft, it's easier than
anchoring. The Yacht Club used to have a restaurant, but it got blown away by
the last cyclone, so it now only has a bar. The main town is not so touristy as
we thought it would be and is quite low key. We think the resorts, of which
there are several, are quite self contained and people stay within them.
We're told it takes an hour to drive round the island, but at £100 to hire a car
for 2 hours, we'll give that a miss! We had planned to be on our way west by
now, but Mike's still suffering with a throat infection following his
Tahiti cold a month ago, so it's a few days of rest to let the new medicine
(from the doctor here) do its trick (we hope!). There are worse places to
convalesce!
 The huge expanse of turquoise water at the south
of the lagoon.
 Shoreline along the south of the main
island.
  Quite a chop on the water. The dive boat to the
right offers helmet dives - a transparent helmet sits
on
your shoulders and is filled with air to allow you
to walk on the seabed below. We preferred to snorkel.
 The difference in colour of the shallow water to
the left and deep water to the right is clearly seen
here.
 Looking over the side of the boat at
anchor.
 On a mooring at the Bora-Bora Yacht Club, in 85ft
of water.
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