French Polynesia - Day 5 (Bora Bora)

I think it is fair to say that everyone on the boat was most excited to arrive in Bora Bora on day 5.

You can imagine our disappointment when we opened the blinds that morning and saw that it was cloudy. 

We had an early morning snorkeling excursion booked and when we stepped off the Tender, it was not only cloudy, but also really windy. But if that wasn't enough, it also started pouring rain.

This is how we all felt about it:

(Thank you Amanda for the picture!)

I think on some level we were all wishing that they would cancel the excursion and we could crawl back into our warm beds, but before we knew it, they whisked us off into the small boat and out to the ocean. We all sat there, huddled in the cold, while the rain was literally splashing into our faces, soaking our clothes within minutes and the wind hit us in the face with a huge force. 

It was so ridiculous, it was funny. When we finally arrived at our first stop in the middle of the ocean (after about 20 minutes),  I couldn't imagine having to take my clothes off and go into the water, but when the guide told us that the water was warmer than the air, I was the first one to jump in. 

Now, it wasn't warm by any means, I was still shivering to the bone, but it was definitely warmer than on the boat. 

And all of the sudden, there were HUGE sting rays swimming all around us!

And before I knew what was happening, we saw shark fins swimming all around us. It was crazy. They were so close, only a few feet away, circling us. It was the craziest thing I have ever done and I loved every second of it.

Here we are, shivering in the freezing cold. We kept saying how beautiful this excursion would be and how clear the water would be if the sun was shining, but you know what? Because the weather was so crazy and we had so much fun on the boat, it was an experience we will never forget and will laugh about for a very long time. 

Although we were in the middle of the ocean, the water was only up to our chest, but the waves were rough and high.

Katie touching the sting ray

This is how close we were to the sharks...insane!

Katie and Aimee

Our next stop was a private island where they prepared a Polynesian feast for us! We still don't really know what they served us, three of us asked and we received three different answers, so it was either stingray, shark or tuna....ha!

They also had this pig on a spit, grapefruits, banana pudding, bread fruit and lobster.

Soaked and cold, but happy!

These were our plates, and we had to eat with our fingers!

The water was so beautiful, and we were glad that we would have another chance to come back to this gorgeous island later that week. 

When we arrived back at the boat, we were chilled to the bone. I took a long hot shower, until Katie kicked me out, worried, I would use all the hot water of the entire boat.

We met with Aimee and Amanda later for dinner and the Show on the Boat, we were all exhausted!

Amanda kept telling us that we had to take advantage of the photographer on board and all of his cheesy backdrops...so we did. ;)

We had an incredible and unforgettable day together, but like I said before, what made this vacation truly amazing, were the people.