S+S Honeymoon 2008

More fun in Bora Bora

Here is some eye candy that I shot around the beautiful Thalasso resort. The water is made up of amazing shades of blue. Even the Caribbean (and possibly Hawaii), which I both love, cannot compete with the amazing lagoon that surrounds Bora Bora. Note: all my pics are taken with a Canon Rebel xsi with only the kit lens and a circular polarizer filter. I love that camera!

Jet Ski Tour...Vroom Vroom!

On one day of our trip we did a jet ski tour around the island. It costs about 250 USD for 2 people on 1 jet ski and it's about 2 hours long. It was a lot of fun, but the waves can be really rough especially over the deep water so be prepared to hang on tight. There were about 4 couples and a guide and you go in single file. There are 2 small storage bins on the jet ski so you can bring a small bag and a camera and they won't get wet. There was minimal instruction, but I guess most people looked fairly comfortable with the jet ski. Steve drove the first half, and then I drove the 2nd. There are 2 breaks where they take you to the shallowest parts of the lagoon to rest and take pictures. They were filming a movie over at the St. Regis resort so we did a drive by (or should I say a jet-by?) and waved to the camera barges. We were wondering what they were filming there. It looked like a really big production. All pics here taken with my point-and-shoot.

The water was nice and warm and perfectly clear! This is the same area they feed stingray and sharks during the morning but unfortunately we didn't see any on our breaks.

We did see a stingray back at the Thalasso though. We named him Ray, like our friend, but I don't think the stingray eats strawberries (it's a private joke LOL). He was right below us when we took this pic, amazing right?

That little dark spot in the water is Ray!

Later that night, I realized that my lips were slightly sunburned! It looked like I got lip injections. They didn't really hurt but they did feel a bit swollen. That was the only part of me ever to get burned! I never burn usually but I guess my lips are more sensitive. It did give my lips a nice rosy glow though. Look! A cheaper and better alternative than plastic surgery!

Vaitape

We went to the town of Vaitape, which is the biggest town on the main island in Bora Bora but you can literally walk the entire length of the town in about 5 minutes. It has banks, a post office, shops and churches. It also has a fairly large grocery store called Chin Lee. We bought a ton of stuff here since we enjoy snacking a lot. There is a shuttle from Le Moana to Vaitape but you have to pay a few bucks for a round trip. The van driver, Ibu, was very funny though and he said he owns all the shuttle services in Bora Bora for the Intercontinental hotels. Everyone in town seemed to know him. But then again on an island with only a few thousand residents I'd assume most people would know each other! We took this moment to go to an internet cafe and check our emails, I think it was about 7 USD for 15 minutes. The keyboard is not a qwerty so you end up taking a while to type everything. It might be more worth it to go to the business center at the Thalasso which is twice the price but I think they had conventional US-style keyboards. We bought a few souvenirs in Vaitape, but they are very expensive here. T-shirts were about 30-40 bucks each at a minimum. Pareos were about 27 dollars for the cheapie looking ones but I fell in love with one that was about 70. We also bought a few black pearls. Those are definitely not cheap!

They sell fresh fruit by the roadside. Note, watermelon here is really expensive! I'm surprised they served a lot of it at every buffet we had. We wanted a fresh coconut but they ran out. I got ice cream instead from a roadside stand. Mango, Coconut and Vanilla, yummy! The vanilla really is delicious here.

Bloody Mary's

We had arranged to have dinner that evening at Bloody Mary's, one of the few places run by Americans on Bora Bora. It was also the place where the Bloody Mary was said to have been invented. We were scheduled for a pickup at Le Moana but we were delayed at a pearl shop, so the shopkeeper gave us a lift to Bloody Mary's. The people are very friendly here!

When we got there it was a few minutes before dinner service, but the bar was happening. We drank a few bloody marys, and they are some of the best we've had. We also tried the vanilla rum punch which was good too. The place had a very kitschy tiki bar vibe - typical Polynesian, although classier. The food pretty good and very reasonably priced for Bora Bora. We were pleasantly surprised as we were expecting something rowdy like Margaritaville, but it was a quite a wonderful experience. The service here was also excellent.

Once you check in, you are taken to the "menu" which is pretty much the fresh catch of the day laid out in a buffet and you get to pick and they will cook it for you. They also tell you what appetizers you can get. I started with the crab in a garlic cream sauce and Steve got the steak and shrimp skewers. For entrees, I chose a combo of steak and filet of wahoo grilled, and Steve got the mesquite marinated ono fish. All entrees come with bread and salad to start, and served with white rice and sautéed vegetables. Our food came out perfectly cooked and tasty. Presentation is a little hokey but I guess it suited the décor. Note, they have things other than seafood, like steak, chicken and ribs.

Dining on the sand-bottom floor. You are only allowed sandals and bare feet here. If you are wearing other shoes you have to leave them in cubicles at the entrance. We left all the groceries we bought at Chin Lee up at the front too, they were really nice in accommodating us. Shuttle service is also free from various hotels.

My appetizer(s) and entree. I loved my creamy crab appetizer. My steak was perfectly med rare and the fish (wahoo) was yummy and not fishy at all. I didn't like the lemon caper sauce that came with my fish, but good thing it was on the side. Steve had a really nice butter sauce for his fish though.

Thanks for an amazing time, Bloody Mary's! We'll be sure to come back one day!

Next...cheeseburgers, Villa Mahana...and is that who I think it is!?!?

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