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Our 2nd Honeymoon in Paradise – Is Food Expensive in Bora Bora?

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    Cheap Food in Bora Bora

    Eating In Hotels

    I reviewed the dining options at the InterContinental Thalasso in this post and at the Hilton Bora Bora in this post.  Eating in the hotel is expensive, but you can save ~$32 per person for breakfast at the Hilton in Bora Bora if you have Hilton Gold elite status. You can get Hilton Gold status with a virtual move to Australia or with the Citi Hilton Reserve card.

    Both hotels had an electric kettle to heat water.

    Electric Kettles

    So you could bring soup or noodles with you and make it in your room to save money.

    A Frugal Lunch

    Supermarkets

    Perhaps the best way to save money would be to go to the supermarket and buy food and bring it back to your hotel and eat sandwiches, cold cuts, etc.

    We went into both large supermarkets while biking around Bora Bora.  We love seeing what the local stores sell when we travel!

    Both Chin Lee and Super U are walking distance from the Viatape dock.  The Hilton charges ~$7 for a boat ride to Viatape.  If you stay at the InterContinental Thalasso, you can take the free boat from the Thalasso to the La Moana and then take a cab from the InterContinental La Moana to get to the supermarkets.

    The first supermarket was Chin Lee.

    Chin Lee in Bora Bora

    They had a mixture of European and American groceries and products.

    Cheese

    The next grocery store was Super U which was further up.

    Emily Outside Super Us

    Super U was much larger than Chin Lees and seemed less busy than Chin Lees.

    We got a kick out of seeing Cheesburger Lays chips, but didn’t have the courage to try them!

    Cheeseburger in Paradise

    A liter of water was only ~$1 in the supermarkets!  I had the tap water at the hotels, but Emily preferred the bottled water.

    Cheap Water

    If you stay at the InterContinental Thalasso, you can take the free boat to the InterContinental La Moana and walk to Tiare Market and stock up on provisions.

    Tiare Market

    Stalls

    There are fruit and produce stalls just off the road in Bora Bora.

    Fruit Carts

    I tried the banana bread which was yummy!

    Roulettes

    In the evening outside the main dock of Viatape, there are roulettes or food trucks.

    Food Trucks

    The prices are more reasonable than elsewhere and it is ~$10 for a dish.

    Food Trucks

    Restaurants

    There are restaurants in Bora Bora.  Our favorite was Villa Manaha which had great atmosphere and food, but it was expensive.

    Around the corner from the InterContinental La Moana (which you can get to for free from the InterContinental Thallaso) is Snack Matira.

    Snack Matira

    We didn’t eat there, but the prices seemed more reasonable, by Bora Bora standards.  About $6 for a hamburger and about $10 to $20 for a meat or fish main dish.

    Snack Matira’s

    We also visited restaurant St. James which had a great view, but the food was okay.

    Restaurant St. James

    Salads were about $17…

    Salads

    And main courses were about $25+, though you could get pasta for ~$17.

    Main Courses

    I had the fish with vanilla.

    Fish with Vanilla

    Emily had a fish allergy so just had dessert and the safe snacks which she brought from the US.

    Emily’s Lunch

    Some say that the popular restaurant Bloody Mary’s is a tourist trap, some say it is worth visiting.  It was closed when we biked past so we couldn’t check it out.

    Bloody Mary’s

    Here’s a list of other restaurants in Bora Bora from Frommer’s.

    Bottom Line

    Food at the hotels in Bora Bora is expensive, but you can save money by either bringing snacks with you, shopping at a local supermarket, or eating outside the hotel.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)