"Anyone who has ever been there wants to go back"' James Michener wrote of Bora Bora. Be prepared - the first glimpse of Bora Bora is love at first sight. Countless sailors, poets, adventurers, honeymooners and other romantics have claimed this little island as their own.

Bora Bora is a little jewel of an island set within a wide barrier reef through which there is only one pass, Te Ava Nui. It has soaring vegetation-clad peaks climbing over 2,000 feet above the lagoon of various shades of blues and greens, all surrounded by a ring of coral reef.

Relaxation, snorkelling in a lagoon of colourful fish, wandering along the golden sands, exhilarating rides on a jet ski and quad bike, swimming with the sharks and sting rays - all wonderful, happy memories of paradise!

Like others of the Leeward lslands, Bora Bora is the eroded cone of an extinct and extensive volcano. The eastern part of the island is dominated by the spectacular basaltic mountain named, Otemanu, meaning the sea of birds, while the isles of Toopua and Toopua-iti are the remnants of the western rim. The ancient Polynesians called this island Porapora or first born believing that it was the first island to rise after Havai'i (Raiatea). The Bora Bora motu is a strip of white sand, isolated yet with an open bar, shaded palm trees and beautiful clear turquoise waters. Bora Bora is populated by 6,000 Polynesians who love to entertain with their song and dance.

Captain James Cook was the first westerner to sight Bora Bora in 1769. The London Missionary Society arrived in 1820 and most of the islanders converted to Protestantism.

The missionaries staunchly supported local rule and enacted codes to keep Bora Bora out of the treaties signed between Pomare V and the French who did not annex the island until 1888.

During World War Two, 5,000 American troops were dispatched to the island to establish a supply base for materials enroute to the Solomon lslands. During that time they built a wharf at Farepiti and the airstrip on Motu Mute. Although this airstrip was closed after the war, it was reactivated in 1951 and used as the international airfield of French Polynesia until the jet strip was completed on Tahiti in 1961.
 
American writer James A. Michener, who was based on the island during World War II, used Bora Bora as a model for the enchanted island Bali Hai, in his book Tales of the South Pacific, better know for the musical South Pacific.