Return to Bora-Bora, French Polynesia

 Saturday, June 13, 2026

Having visited Bora-Bora ten years ago (see my previous blog post), it was finally time to return to The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort. We had considered other resorts on Bora-Bora, especially the Four Seasons, but the cost differences were substantial, and the Costco package to St. Regis was very compelling. I purchased the transfer flight from San Jose to Los Angeles separately on Southwest Airlines because I still had unused points.

Our trip started with a short hop from San Jose (SJC) to Los Angeles (LAX) aboard Southwest Airlines flight WN4541, departing SJC at 17:00 and arriving in LAX at 18:00. The flight was only half full, and we had our own private seats.

Once we landed in LAX, we walked over to Terminal B (Tom Brady), in the hope of getting into the Virgin Atlantic lounge (since Inna had the special Chase Sapphire credit card). However, when we entered the lounge, we learned that Virgin Atlantic was only accepting passengers on existing Virgin Atlantic flights.

We decided to hunt down a reasonable place to eat dinner and walked over to Santa Monica Brew Works, but we couldn't find a table (there was one bar seat available). We decided to return to the main dining area, where Pret-a-Manger, KFC, 800 Degrees, Border Grill, and Umami Burger were located. Inna found a table at the Border Grill, a Mexican restaurant, and we sat down, ordering the following:

• Boris: Chili Relleno Burger (8 oz. Angus beef, chili cheese relleno, chipotle aioli, lettuce, salsa fresca. Served with kettle chips.)
• Inna: Fish Taco

My Chili Relleno Burger was not horrible, and Inna's Fish Taco was edible. Since Border Grill did not sell any hot drinks, I stopped by the Pret-a-Manger and ordered two hot teas (green and Earl Grey).

The NBA playoffs were going on, and everyone was yelling, cheering, and screaming. The New York Knicks clinched the championship over the San Antonio Spurs with a score of 94-90.

At around 22:00, we walked closer to our departing gate 202 and waited for our Air France AF0026 flight to Papeete (PPT) to start boarding. We were in Premium Economy (group 2) and had to wait for the large Business Class (group 1) to board first. Our group had a lot of wheelchair-assistance folks, and we had to wait a very long time to board the plane. The Air France AF0026 departed at 00:20 for the 7.5-hour flight. 

The premium economy seats were a significant upgrade from basic economy, with more room and better reclining ability, but they were not the lie-flat seats in business class. We had a very pleasant flight to Papeete. I tried to sleep on the plane and managed to nap for a few hours. I didn't watch any movies (there were none that interested me), and the selection was a bit sparse. Furthermore, I read my Kindle for a short time.

Sunday, June 14, 2026

The flight proceeded uneventfully, and our jet landed in Papeete at 05:30 local time. There is a 3-hour time difference between Papeete and LAX, just like Hawaii.

Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia on the island of Tahiti. We could tell immediately that we were in a different world, with the warm weather and French spoken everywhere. The airport was relatively small and very crowded, even in the morning.

Once we picked up our luggage (it's not transferred automatically), we got in line for the connecting flight to Bora-Bora aboard Air Moana NM164, departing at 07:45. The check-in line was moving slowly, and we almost missed our connecting flight. 

Since I was traveling with my Sonicake Travel Guitar, I was expecting to take it on every plane with me, but the small puddle-jumper plane from Papeete (PPT) to Bora-Bora (BOB) did not have sufficient luggage space. I had to check in the guitar.

After a short 50-minute flight to Bora-Bora, we landed in a tiny airport there, and I waited for the luggage. Once we had all of our bags, we checked into the St. Regis stand and waited for our boat transfer to the hotel.

On arrival at St. Regis, we were assigned a butler - Lydia - who showed us around the property and took us to morning breakfast while our bungalow was getting ready.

The breakfast was excellent but slightly different from what we had eaten 10 years ago. I still had fond memories of delicious pastries that were impossible to resist.

After breakfast, we walked back to the lobby and waited for our bungalow to get ready. We waited about 45 minutes, and Lydia came back to take us to #325. She showed us how to use the shower, to make coffee or tea, and to adjust the thermostats. The staff had made a custom “Happy 25th Anniversary” chocolate dessert, and it was such a wonderful touch.

Lydia warned us about the strong current, with red flags out, to warn everyone about swimming. However, we decided to take the plunge anyway, as we saw a few other people swimming too. There was a strong current but we managed ok.

I used my DJ IAction 5 action camera to record some of our initial swimming, but its 'USB-C door came open and the camera got wet. It would not power on anymore, and after some attempts to revive it failed, I disposed of it. It was such a shame, as it was a very nice camera.

We rested for the rest of the day, as we were tired from our long overnight flight. I spent some time reading Love Over Scotland (44 Scotland Street #3) by Alexander McCall Smith. I also spent some time practicing my Sonicake guitar.

I was sad to learn that the Hobiecat catamaran that I was looking forward to sailing had broken down and was not replaced. There were no other small sailboats either. It would have been so enjoyable to have something, like windsurfers or sunfishes.

At around 19:20, we headed to Bamboo, St. Regis' Asian restaurant, for dinner, where Inna had made prior dinner reservations for 19:30. Although it was blustery, we decided to sit outdoors, where we could enjoy the scenery and listen to the nearby live musician playing a medley of songs, including:

•  “Hotel California” by The Eagles
• “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits
• “Time” by Pink Floyd
• “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd
• “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls

After looking at the menu, we ordered the following items for dinner:

• Drinks: Water, Hot Green Tea (in tea bags)
• Appetizer: Tuna Tartare, Miso Soup, Dynamite Roll
• Main Entree: Pelonesian Shrimp, Fresh Mahi-Mahi Fish
• Dessert: Creme Brulee

I didn't like the plain water - I should have ordered bottled Pellegrino, but the hot tea was ok (though I don't like tea bags). I really liked our Miso Soup, the Dynamite Roll, and the Tuna Tartare. For main entrée, the Shrimp and the Fresh Mahi Mahi were excellent.

Monday, June 15, 2026

After waking up at 07:00, I showered, shaved, and dressed. We were expecting to have freshly brewed French press coffee at 08:00 and our butler Lydia come in right on time. It was so wonderful to drink freshly brewed coffee in the morning.

Links

• The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort