Bora Bora hotels collection

Bora Bora is reached by sea, even by air: the runway lies on Motu Mute, and a boat crosses the lagoon to Vaitape. At the centre, Otemanu raises a block of dark basalt where the clouds catch, above water that turns from pale green to blue with the floor beneath, sand or coral. All around, a ring of motu planted with coconut palms keeps the ocean swell out of the lagoon. At the Fare Opu marae, in Faanui, turtles are carved into the stone: the animal was sacred, kept for chiefs and gods.