August 22, 2012
The east side of Bora Bora has beautiful clear water and manta rays you can swim with. The problem lies in getting over there. About half-way around the north side of the island (there is no pass on the south side), the water gets very shallow. There is one area in particular, the dreaded “S Curve,” that is the most shallow, but all of it is a little scary.
If we were totally on our own, we never would have tried it. Our friends Alan and Marlies had urged us to go, but we put it off as we were waiting for our replacement radar to arrive (that’s another story). In the meantime, one by one, other people we knew started to head over. And one by one, they made it over unscathed. We kept hearing how nice it was there; so after we got our radar, we finally succumbed and headed over.
The trip around the north end of the island was a little hair raising. We saw a minimum depth of 8 ½ feet in the S curve, and we draw almost 7! From there on the depths averaged 15 to 20 feet, but there were a lot of areas with rocks and coral over the bottom—too many to avoid. I would just hold my breath as we went over them.
Finally, after about a 3-hour trip, we arrived at the anchorage. It was actually along the long sandy motu surrounding the main island. This is where they have built the newest resorts, and we were nestled in an area between the St. Regis and the Hotel Le Meridien. The depth was about 18 feet, and the bottom was sand. This was a nice anchorage and worth the stress we had to endure in getting here. Unfortunately, because of the weather forecast, we wouldn’t be able to stay long. -Cyndi
