This morning we started the day with a snorkel in our newly discovered location. The water is really shallow in this spot, as well, but the snorkeling was nice. There were some pretty coral formations and some nice color to the coral. There were a lot of sea anemone stuck to the coral, which are pretty to look at. There were still a lot of sea urchins around. There wasn’t a ton of fish, but a decent amount, though not too many colorful fish. There were small Parrotfish and Trigger fish. There were a lot of angel fish. The fish are obviously used to being fed and have no fear of getting close to people. They wouldn’t let us touch them, but we got within inches.

After snorkeling, we got the boat ready and headed out. With four people, we were able to get the boat ready in record time. Much to our dismay, we found three small, brown cockroaches on the deck. We are not sure if they came onboard when we were tied to land in Papeete a few days ago, or if they came in on the fruit yesterday. Christi had washed all the fruit in bleach water before bringing it inside, just like all the cruising guides tell you to. But, unsure of the best way to deal with the backpack the fruit had been carried in, she had just left it sitting on the deck, so they bugs could have easily fallen off the fruit into the bag and then crawled out of the bag.

View of Tahaa and Raiatea from outside the reef. You can see the waves breaking on the reef.

Of course, since it was a day trip, the seas were really calm and no one got sick. Like Tahaa, Bora Bora has a main island in the middle of the lagoon and motus of raised land along the reef surrounding the main island. Bora Bora looks really tall from the distance, but it turns out there is only one tall peak and the rest of the land is quite low, much lower than Tahaa. In the lagoon between the reef and main island there are a few small islands. At one time they were connected to the main island and have sunk into the lagoon over time. The majority of the lagoon is a light-blue green color, with patches of sapphire blue. It is really gorgeous.

We arrived in Bora Bora at 1530 (3:30 pm) and anchored in Povai Bay near a notorious restaurant called Bloody Mary’s. We had been told the place was overrated and expensive, but that it was definitely worth going to once. We picked the spot largely because we knew it had a wi-fi connection. We got Kosmos situated, the dinghies down, put boric acid all over the boat for the bugs, and were ready to go in record time. We may not let Shelley and Pete leave since they are good little workers.

We headed over to Bloody Mary’s. They have a new-looking, really nice dock that you can pull the dinghy up to. We made dinner reservations for later in the evening. Then we went to the “big market” Shelley and Eric had seen from Kosmos. It turned out to be a pearl store. We went in and compared prices. The pearls were much less expensive at the farm.

We headed back to Bloody Mary’s for a drink before dinner. From the outside, it looks a lot like the nice hotels, with the palm frond structure and neatly landscaped entranceway.

They have an interesting tiki along the walkway

As you walk in, you notice the ground is covered in white sand, and there is a shoe check. Directly ahead are the tables, which are made of rough hewn wood, with tree stumps for seats. The bar and waiting area are to the right, made of the same wood. To the left is a display table featuring lots of raw food on ice. There are a couple of large grills behind the display table.

We sat at the bar and ordered drinks. The guys went to the bathroom and came out laughing. To flush the urinal they needed to pull a penis-shaped handle. They also had a waterfall sink. You pull a handle and water comes out of the top of the waterfall, down the rocks, and into the bowl at the bottom. The gals went in to see if we had the same things in ours. The sink is the same, but with no urinal, there was no urinal handle.

When it was time to be seated, we were ushered over to the display table. The owner pointed out each item and described it, then took our order right there. All the cooking was done on the grills.

We were escorted to a table where a waitress came out and asked us if we wanted more drinks. We got two appetizers, calamari steak and a steak and shrimp skewer. The calamari was breaded and had an interesting thick caper topping on it. The shrimp and beef skewers were tender. We each got a different fish entrée. We cut our fish in fourths and all had a little bit of each. We all agree the Opah was the best. The rest were good, too. There was a seasoned Wahoo, a peppered Ahi, and broadbill, which was like swordfish, but better. The dinners came with a small salad, veggies, rice, and a couple pieces of fruit. In French Polynesia, most everything comes ala carte, so in most places we would have only gotten fish and rice and everything else would have been extra. We had crème brulee and warm coconut tart for dessert. It was expensive, but the food was really good, the portions were large, and the environment is fun, so we didn’t think it was overrated. It was a much better value for the money than the place in Moorea we went to on Bastille Day.

As we were leaving, we bumped into the people from San Francisco that we had met in Fakarava. They were with another boating couple. Eric was wearing a DivX t-shirt. When Eric introduced himself to the guy, he said “Wow, you must be a real geek to be wearing a DivX shirt”. It turns out they were from Silicon Valley and he is also a software engineer.