Day five on Brando Island, we said goodbye to the staff and caught our hedgehopper to Tahiti for a short layover before boarding an ATR 72 aircraft to Bora Bora. An ATR holds around sixty-eight passengers, a much larger plane than the six-seater Islander from Brando Island to Tahiti. The fifty-minute flight went quickly, and we were greeted at Bora Bora’s Motu Mute Airport by a representative of the Four Seasons Resort for the short boat ride to the hotel. 

Isabel, along with our concierge, greeted us on the boat dock and whisked us away in her golf cart. We had booked a beachfront villa rather than an overwater bungalow for our three-night stay. Because of a large group that would arrive the day we planned to leave the island, there had been some shuffling in the accommodations. As a result, we had been upgraded to a two-bedroom villa—3,300 square feet of space—and as with all beachfront villas, we had our own strip of private beach as well as a plunge pool. 

Besides soaking up the sun, beach walking, and snapping photos, we hadn’t planned any activities during our stay. In retrospect, we should’ve booked a day trip to the neighboring island of Mo’orea, which we learned was definitely worth seeing.

Sharing our pool

On our first night at the Four Seasons, we ate at Arii Moana and then retired to our villa to unpack and settle in.