Our 2nd Honeymoon in Paradise – A 9 Hour Bike Ride Around Bora Bora

Emily Jablon: After breakfast, Daraius and I had plans to go for a glass bottom boat tour, but the trip got canceled because of the high winds and strong currents.  So we rented bikes and went on a bike ride around the island.  It was very easy to rent the bikes from the Intercontinental Thalasso, but there were slightly cheaper options right outside of the hotel (there were two shops within walking distance).

The bikes came with baskets and a lock and key.  The lady who rented the bikes gave us her phone number (it was on the bike key chain) and said to call her if anything happens.  I scheduled a spa appointment at 6:00 pm for both of us since we’d be tired after biking around for the entire day.

Daraius:  We were ready early in the morning for our glass-bottom boat tour, so we decided to rent bikes instead.  I love riding bikes and set my mind on biking around the entire island.  What could be more fun than biking around an idyllic tropical island, right?  Bora Bora is only 18 miles in circumference, so I thought this would be a short easy ride, except that I went on a route with the wind blowing against us, instead of with us.

It cost only 2,200 XPF (~$24) to rent a bike for the entire day.  This was by far the cheapest activity we had in Bora Bora.  We rented the bikes through the activities desk at the InterContinental Thalasso, but picked the bikes up at the InterContinental LaMoana on the main island.  We took the free shuttle boat between the Thalasso and LaMoana.

Emily Jablon:  We soon biked past a small real estate shop and peered against the glass to look at the house prices in Paradise.  365,000 euro for a bungalow on its own motu was certainly cheaper than some of the houses we had seen in Orange County.

Emily Jablon:  After about 15 minutes on the bikes, Daraius got a flat tire on his bike.  We went into a nearby shop and called the lady who came with a new bike within 15 minutes.  She only had an electric bike left (without a basket), so we took that one instead.  I rode the electric bike and Daraius rode my bike.

We stopped at the famous restaurant Bloody Mary’s but it was closed since we there early in the morning.

The Moon guide to Tahiti said that there was a viewpoint just after the restaurant, but we couldn’t find it.

We did find a chained off dirt road with angry dogs barking and a local woman warning us about the “chiens” (dogs in french) to so we went back to the main road.

We then cycled on to Viatape, or the main shopping area and got some souvenirs.  As we kept cycling, we noticed two supermarkets.

We went in to each one and found much lower prices than what we paid for water and snacks at the touristy boutique shops.

We went for lunch at Restaurant St James which had a nice view but the food was not very good (and it was a little expensive too).

Daraius ordered mahi mahi with coconut sauce.  I had a Power Bar and bacon flavored Pringles, and ordered a trio of chocolate, vanilla, and pistachio crème brulee.  With my fish allergy I have to be careful and on a remote island cannot afford to take risks.

We continued our bike ride around the island (Daraius was stubborn and wanted to make the full loop).  We saw fruit stalls on the road.

We had just had lunch, but the glutton Daraius stopped to buy banana bread.

We passed docks where they were unloading containers from ships.

After we passed Viatape the road was mostly empty and we had absolutely gorgeous views.

We could just stop by the side of the road…

…and sit by the beach and realize how lucky we were to be surrounded by such beauty.

We drove by what appeared to be private overwater bungalows.

And saw more beautiful views.

We saw boats and…

…stopped to smell the mangoes on the trees.

And chill out under the coconut trees.

After 4 to 5 hours, we realized that we were a little too ambitious to cycle the entire island since the wind was blowing against us. We were more worried about making it back in time for the 5:30 pm boat back to the Inter-Continental Thalasso for your spa appointments (we’d forfeit the money if we didn’t show up).

If we had two electric bikes it would have been fine.  The wind was pretty strong and Daraius couldn’t keep up with the electric bike.   Our loop took ~8 to 9 hours and we only made a few short stops for lunch, shopping, and chilling out.

Daraius did most of the manual cycling (poor honey).  I offered my electric bike to Daraius several times, but being a man he refused (sigh!).  So I took pictures of the flowers while waiting for Daraius to catch up.  But towards the end, when we realized that we were very close to the end, Daraius switched to the electric bike.

After our bike ride, we took the boat back to our resort, and went for a massage and pedicure.  I’m not sure I’d do this again on a regular bike (the electric bike was easier), but it is great story to tell our family!

Daraius:  I’d totally do this again, except that I’ll be more careful about which direction the wind is blowing!