Editor’s note: This is the second of three posts on the Hilton Bora Bora. Check out our other posts here:
Today is a continuation of yesterday’s post on the Hilton Bora Bora. Whereas yesterday I was talking about how to get to this amazing resort, and how beautiful Bora Bora is, today I’ll be discussing what you can actually do there – other than the usual relaxing, eating, and napping, and taking long walks on the beach.
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I jest of course, though there are plenty of beaches for strolling if you like that kind of thing. Not those shelly beaches either – these are powdery sandy white beaches!
Diving in Bora Bora
Since Mrs. Selfish and I are both certified divers, we decided a dive in the crystal blue-green waters of Bora Bora was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, options in Bora Bora are pretty limited, with only 4 companies. The 2 larger ones felt a little crowded and impersonal to us, so we ended up going with Dive N’ Smile, which was a one man operation run by Patrick.
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Patrick picked us up promptly from the Hilton and suited us up. Not only was his equipment brand new (and very nice!), but he also had steel tanks, which is not something we’ve never seen before.
Although the reefs around Bora Bora are dead, thanks to a hurricane that ripped it up a few years, there is a ton of wild life! We ended up spotting half a dozen lemon sharks, a giant school of blue-spotted eagle rays, and a couple of very active eels.
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Visibility was great, the animals were amazing, and the equipment and instruction were on point. Overall this was definitely one of our better dive experiences and I would highly recommend Dive N’ Smile. If anyone is thinking of going, shoot Patrick an email at: diveNsmile@mail.pf.
DIY Fun
Snorkling at the Hilton Bora Bora is excellent, thanks to their artificial reefs. Around the resort we spotted an eel, several puffer fish, and even a shark!
Other water activities include kayaking and long boarding, though we had a lot of fun just jumping off the dock.
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Thanks to the Hilton’s bountiful supply of coconuts, we had a lot of fun harvesting coconuts. After knocking them off the tree with a stick, we took the coconuts to the pool boy, who sliced them open with a machete…
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…and turned them into an awesome coconut-water drink.
Free Activities at the Hilton
The Hilton itself offers free activities in the form of three daily “classes” that try and teach you a little about local culture. The first one we watched was the “Coco Show.”
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Using a stick mounted in the sand, the pool boy cracked open the coconut’s hard exterior shell, then cut open the coconut. He then drank the milk and shared the coconut meat with onlookers.
The other “classes” were less show and more substance. We took a cocktail class where the result was a free cocktail.
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Tasty AND free – too bad we couldn’t sign up twice!
The other class was a cooking lesson on poisson cru, where a staff member made and served us a meal’s worth of the delicious local dish. If you look closely, it looks like she’s flicking us off, but that could just be how they point in French Polynesia…or the Hilton.
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Incredibly fresh and delicious!
The Expensive option: Massages
Last, we hit up the Hilton’s Spa for some Polynesian massages, and a warm coconut milk bath. While a little pricy, the coconut-milk filled jaccuzzi was very relaxing, and the Polynesian masseuses had great pressure and technique.
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From the top of the spa was the “Million Dollar View.” You could pay to get massaged out there, but the view probably isn’t worth the extra cost unless you’re on your honeymoon.
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That’s it for Bora Bora activities. Tomorrow I’ll discuss the food!
Filed under: Accommodations, French Polynesia, Hilton, Oceania, Travel Hacking Tagged: AXON award, Bora Bora, Hilton, Hilton Bora Bora, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tahiti, Travel Hacking Image may be NSFW.
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