Day 14 -Bora Bora

Weather
High of 81, partly sunny.

Map

First Impressions

First Impressions
We were overwhelmed by the natural beauty. We also felt lucky as the weather was much better than anticipated. As we drew closer to the island, we kept taking better and better pictures as it became more and more beautiful. They say Bora Bora is the most beautiful island in the world and while it clearly ranks up there, we haven't been to all of the islands in the world, so that would be premature to say so. However, it is lovely. A small bank of clouds surrounded the volcanic mountain peaks. Gorgeous. We had to tender to the island as their pier cannot support our ship size; giving us a beautiful view of the island from our balcony.

What We Did
We started the morning in the Explorer's lounge and saw a pod of dolphins welcoming us to the island. Bora Bora is surrounded by a lagoon and the waters are calm and crystal clear. We opted to do the black tipped shark and stingray snorkel excursion which was the number one excursion Amy wanted for this entire trip, and it did not disappoint! The old saying "if you don't bother them, they won't bother you" worked great. The sharks swam very near to us as did the stingrays. Although we tried, we quickly abandoned trying to take a photos of them, so our initial picture's aren't the best, but what an experience! The waters were gentle as the island is surrounded by a lagoon and coral reefs. In most places we swam, you could stand if necessary, but careful not to step on/touch/disturb the coral. One one of our guides first met one of the stingrays six years ago and she does this tour twice a day. As you can see from the photos below, the stingray was quite friendly and gentle with her, it was amazing to watch.

Viking had a special grill party set up by the pool and we were able to enjoy live music and eat al fresco, taking in the scenary as we departed Bora Bora. We ended the day back in the Explorer's lounge for a nightcap before turning in.