The exotic outline of Bora Bora from afar
Island Hopping Through Oceania: When it rains in Bora Bora, it Pours
It was the perfect start to four months of island hopping through Oceania. Tropical heat, the jagged peaks of Mo’orea lit up orange in the early morning, an exotic island city slowly waking up around us as we waited for the Apetahi Express to Bora Bora.
And then the voyage. Over seven hours, sailing through crystalline waters under a sultry sun. Palm-clad islands rising out of aquamarine lagoons, fringed by rolling breakers, the occasional surfer thrown in for scale.
Huahine, Rai’aitea, Taha’a. The names scream tropical idyl. Each was a stop along the way until we reached the holy grail of tropical paradise getaways: Bora Bora.
The lagoons of French Polynesia are every shade of blue
It does rain in Bora Bora
And that’s where the paradise island fantasy ended. From a distance, Bora Bora’s central peak, fringed by desert-island motus, was bathed in sunlight. As we drew close, working our way round to the lagoon passage, the island disappeared. Instead, a grey mass of sheeting rain and thunder clouds blotted the view. Grey ocean, greyer clouds.
Bora Bora in the rain isn't as appealing
Inside the island’s fringing reef, the ferry glided effortlessly through the calm lagoon waters (without the sun, no longer aquamarine) as the rain hammered against the windows. Disembarking, we dodged muddy puddles and a surprising traffic jam to reach Chin Lee’s grocery store. An essential stop before we left the main island for Motu Piti A’au.
After 20 minutes with the world’s grumpiest taxi driver (yes, he was French), the short boat trip to Alaroots sped past five-star bungalows thrown out into the lagoon like chains of pearls. We didn’t stop. Instead, we gingerly puttered into a narrow inlet, avoiding a grounding by what seemed mere millimetres, until we pulled up to a rickety jetty made of pallets, with tumbledown sheds in the background.
Camping in Bora Bora
Alaroots Bora Bora sits on Motu Piti A’au, sandwiched between five-star overwater bungalow resorts. Five stars, though, Alaroots is not. And that’s precisely why we chose it; it fell within our price range. While some cabins are available (those tumbledown sheds), we went even cheaper and opted for an oceanfront campsite.
The nearby overwater bungalows were clearly visible from the campsite beach
It would’ve been perfect if only the sun had been shining, but with a brisk onshore wind and driving rain, we began questioning our life choices. Thankfully, the rain eased off enough for us to set up our tent in the dry. But not long enough for us to get the tarp up too; the heavens opened, and we got thoroughly drenched.
You don’t see pictures of Bora Bora in the rain. It had to be a one-off.
Well, the one-off lasted for four full days. We did get the odd hour or two of dry. The sun even came out a couple of times, too, at which point we rushed to the beach for photos and a swim. But mostly, we sat on the dodgy plastic chairs (stack two together, and they probably won’t collapse under you) in the ramshackle kitchen hut and bemoaned the disappointing start to our trip.
Camping in the rain on Bora Bora
The sun did briefly come out, but not for long enough to dry the tent out
A rough start to our island hopping adventure
And it wasn’t just the weather. Air Vanuatu’s liquidation still hadn’t miraculously sorted itself out as we’d hoped. Neither had the unrest in New Caledonia – the airport still closed to all but a handful of flights each week. The wifi was surprisingly reliable at Alaroots, but we were unsure whether that was a blessing or a curse, as we gradually received confirmation that our next five flights were all cancelled.
As our moods darkened, we stewed in the confines of the dingy kitchen, the incessant dripping of water running off the roof adding to the relentless monotony. It didn’t help that I was almost deaf in one ear from an earlier flight to Chicago or that my leg was sore after our flight from Singapore to Auckland. And then I started to sniffle, sneeze, and cough. And still, it rained.
We spent most of our time on Bora Bora in the kitchen shelter
“Welcome to paradise!” as one of the French guys also camping at Alaroots quipped to a couple of Kiwis who turned up, soaked to the skin, during a hefty downpour.
Bora Bora is still beautiful in the rain
That’s not to say it was all bad. We did manage a few hours in our travel hammocks on the first afternoon until we were chased back to the kitchen hut by the rain. And on the second morning, behold, some sun and 30 minutes of sunbathing until it disappeared for the final time.
But even in the rain and partially shrouded in clouds, the precipitous peaks of Bora Bora’s central mountain, across the lagoon, were breathtakingly beautiful. We could only imagine what it would be like at its best.
Bora Bora is still stunning, even in the rain
Giant Bora Bora crabs
On the final night, it seemed like the tent had finally given in, and I woke to the heavy drip of rainwater on my shorts. It was 2 am, four hours until sunrise. Weirdly, after scrabbling around in the dark for my head torch and inspecting the damage, there was no sign of a hole or rip.
“What are you doing?” Rico croaked, bleary-eyed and still half asleep
“It’s leaking”, I shot back, followed half a breath later by “what is that?…. It’s a crab. A massive crab!”
“Oh”, was Rico’s groggy response as I finally shooed the giant crab from the top of our inner tent back out into the forest where it belonged.
“I can’t believe I just got peed on by a crab!”
At least the tent wasn’t leaking.
Leaving Bora Bora
In the morning, as we packed the tent up at 4 am for our 5 am departure, it was actually dry. Of course, it didn’t last, and by the time we got back on the ferry for the return journey to Tahiti, the rain was sheeting again, and the mountain was shrouded in grey.
The dream of sailing through Bora Bora’s turquoise lagoon, with the view of its emerald green mountain towering over us, went unfulfilled. And the journey back turned out to be a nightmare of seasickness, a faucet-like nose as my cold went from bad to worse, and aching tiredness.
It wasn’t all bad, but it would take some time to recover from Bora Bora in the rain.
Bora Bora is a spectacular place to camp
This Leg
Days: 4
Flights: 1
Boats: 4
Islands: 3
Countries & Territories: 1
Total
Days: 4
Flights: 1
Boats: 4
Islands: 3
Countries & Territories: 1