Bora Bora

A sixty-second vacation. Scroll to enjoy

16° 30' S   151° 44' W
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Lat & long
01 · Arrival

First,
the water.

You step off the plane and the air smells like salt and tiare flowers. Then the boat. Then the mountain. The lagoon is doing that thing it does in pictures. Only louder.

Tiare flowers in bloom — the scent that greets you at the airstrip
tiaré — sweet, like gardenias dipped in coconut milk
The wind, the sea spray and anticipation.
02 · The lagoon

Turquoise
has a temperature.

Bathwater warm. Eighty-two degrees and so clear you forget you're in it.

Tiny palm-studded motu rising out of the lagoon, Mt. Otemanu in the distance
Coral garden visible through impossibly clear turquoise water
I kept asking if it was real
snorkeling face-down, forgetting to come up for air.
03 · Still

And then,
the still.

No notifications. No agenda. In the morning, before you open your eyes, you hear water. It’s right below you. It has been all night.

Quiet, empty beach inside the resort — palm shadow on white sand, distant motu across the lagoon
Reef coral and small fish seen straight down through still, clear water
private motu, crystal clear waters & no emails
couldn’t tell where sleep ended and the lagoon began.
04 · Adrift

You stopped
checking.

Float with the butterflyfish. Eat the poisson cru while looking at the mountain. Coconut milk, raw fish, lime, nowhere to be. Watch the bay from the far side. Stay until the peak goes to silhouette.

Schools of butterflyfish and sergeant majors drifting through the lagoon
Overwater bungalows across the bay with Mt. Otemanu rising behind
Mt. Otemanu in silhouette against a golden Bora Bora sunset
you forget what day it is
sky went pink, then gold, every night on cue
05 · What you keep

Memories
you keep.

Sixty seconds that took a week to live. Your camera roll.

The end of the daydream

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