🇵🇫 Bora Bora, French Polynesia — Cruise Port Guide
A drowned volcano ringed by a lagoon of impossible colour, with Mount Otemanu rising black and sheer in the middle. Ships anchor inside the reef and tender in, which means you are in the lagoon all day.
Updated September 2026
Quick facts
Getting ashore
When to visit Bora Bora
May to October, when the lagoon is calmest and the humidity drops. The cyclone season runs November to April.
Good to know
Everything here is expensive and the good lagoon tours sell out on board within hours of the cruise starting. Book early rather than waiting for the day.
Things to do in Bora Bora
Lagoon tour by outrigger
The reason to be here. Snorkelling with rays and blacktip sharks, coral gardens, and a grilled-fish lunch on a sandbank. Book the small-boat operators.
Matira Beach
The one genuinely good public beach on the island — white sand, shallow water and no entry fee. About 20 minutes from the tender pier.
Circle the island by road
Only 32 kilometres round. Hire a bike, a scooter or a car and stop at the wartime guns, Bloody Mary's and the viewpoints.
Snorkel the coral gardens
Shallow, sheltered coral between the motu with extraordinary fish density. Many tours include it; independent operators run from Vaitape.
4x4 into the interior
Rough tracks up the volcanic slopes to the American gun emplacements and viewpoints over the whole lagoon.
Vaitape village
The tender lands here. Black pearls, pareo, and a small market — prices are resort-island high, so haggle politely.
What to eat
- Poisson cru
- Grilled mahi mahi
- Coconut bread
- Poe
- Hinano beer
Weather by month
Best time to visit: May–Oct (dry season) — the lagoon is calmest then
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 88° | 76° | 12.5" |
| Feb | 88° | 76° | 9" |
| Mar | 88° | 76° | 8" |
| Apr | 88° | 76° | 5.5" |
| May | 86° | 75° | 3.5" |
| Jun | 85° | 74° | 2.2" |
| Jul | 84° | 73° | 1.9" |
| Aug | 84° | 73° | 1.7" |
| Sep | 85° | 73° | 2" |
| Oct | 86° | 74° | 3.4" |
| Nov | 87° | 75° | 6" |
| Dec | 88° | 76° | 11" |
Local phrases
A little history
Bora Bora is the eroded remnant of a volcano that erupted around four million years ago; Mount Otemanu at 727 metres is the old basalt plug.
The lagoon is roughly three times the area of the island itself, and the reef makes it almost entirely enclosed — which is why the water is so still and so blue.
American forces built an airstrip here in 1942 as a supply base, and the runway on the motu is still the island's airport. Coastal defence guns remain in the hills.
Over-water bungalows were invented in French Polynesia in the 1960s by three Californians who needed rooms with a view on an island with a poor beach.
Ships anchor inside the reef and tender to Vaitape, the main village — so unlike most tender ports, the whole day is spent inside the lagoon.