There are a lot of operators who offer four-wheel-drive tours of Bora Bora. We booked with Vavau 4×4 Adventures and took the Le Meridien boat to Vaitape to meet the tour. The vehicle was a light truck, with the passengers sitting on benches along each side of the back which was covered by a light tarp.
Four wheel drive transport
On the flat the truck was quite comfortable, but we soon found that climbing up and down the steep, rutted tracks that lead to the heights caused great difficulties for the passengers, who had few handholds.
We turned off the main road not long after leaving Vaitape, about 100 meters before Bloody Mary’s. There is an unmarked dirt road on the left that leads to a 4 wheel drive route, that gets steeper and narrower the further you go up the hill. At the top is the island’s TV transmission tower. From there you get a fantastic view looking back towards Vaitape, as well as the lagoon and the southern end of the island.
Track leading to the TV tower lookout
View back towards Vaitape, with liner “Paul Gauguin” anchored in the lagoon
Looking south east over the lagoon, with the island of Raiatea in the distance
After bouncing down the track again, and squeezing past several vehicles waiting to drive up, we headed along the main road again. We soon passed Bloody Mary’s, the famous restaurant.
Bloody Mary’s is a Bora Bora institution and was established in November 1979. It has had a lot of famous clients over the years and two boards out the front have a list of 230 famous guests, including celebrities like Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Prince Rainier, John Denver, Cameron Diaz and Johnny Depp.
After passing Bloody Mary’s we drove past Matira Beach – the only public beach on Bora Bora –
Matira Beach
and then crossed over Matira Point and took a narrow track up to Taurere Lookout. This showed great views across the lagoon to the east and south.
Looking across the Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach Resort to Matira Point
At the lookout
Driving down from this lookout required our driver to keep to two narrow concrete paths, raised up considerably above the ground. If the tyres had slipped off it would have been a jarring fall! Just across from where the track rejoined the road was the driver’s family property where he gave us a demonstration of opening coconuts and squeezing coconut milk. He also showed us the various stages of coconut maturity.
Scraping coconut flesh from the husk before squeezing it to extract the milk
Four stages of coconut maturity
His family also made black pearl jewellery and coloured pareos here and we were treated to a demonstration of dyeing the cloth and using masks to add designs.
After some of us purchased souvenirs we climbed aboard the truck and headed along the road up the east coast. Our driver showed us pandanus trees, which have many uses in the tropics, with the dried leaves used for thatching buildings. Every resort on Bora Bora is required to use pandanus for its thatch.
He also took us past some of the early accommodation on Bora Bora, patronised by the likes of Marlon Brando, as well as the last coconut ‘farm’ on the island. We then came around the north of the island and again turned up a rough track on the left.
After a steep and rough climb that shook us all around we reached one of the US gun sites on Bora Bora. After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the rapid Japanese advance through the Pacific the US decided to fortify some of the Pacific islands, including Bora Bora. In early 1942 they built the road around the island, the airport and a flying boat base. They also brought seven 7″ (17.8cm) naval guns to Bora Bora and placed them on strategic locations around the island. These guns had been manufactured on the early 1900s as the secondary armament for battleships and were provided to the US Marines during WW1. They were never used in that war, but were brought into service again to meet the emergency of WW2.
Two were placed in the Fa’anui district above Tereia Point in May 1942 where they could cover the sea from the airfield to the main passage through the reef near Vaitape. One of them has been stolen recently and it is lying on a property in Vaitape. However, the mount is still on the high ground and its companion gun remains intact nearby. The bunkers that stored ammunition are still visible in the jungle.
7″ naval gun on Bora Bora
Gun covering the lagoon
Bunker in the jungle
The tour rejoined the main road and headed back towards Vaitape to pick up our boat back to Le Meridien. There was a lot of work in progress, laying pipes alongside the road, so traffic was stopped in several places. This made for many anxious moments, thinking that we would miss the 12 noon boat back to Le Meridien and would have to wait until 4pm! However, we just got there in time and jumped on the fast boat that was just waiting for us!
The Le Meridien boat leaving Vaitape at high speed