Did I ever tell you why we never stay at all-inclusive hotels or destinations for our vacation? We felt like in all-inclusive hotels, we just stuck in the hotel sleeping and eating; we definitely don’t like those cheesy free activities nor shows. The hotel grounds might be beautiful but that won’t fill our whole vacation; it only takes a day or two before we get bored of it. Well not so the case for Bora Bora, I’ll never get bored of the waking up looking at the overwater bungalows on the turquoise lagoon! It was our third day in Bora Bora and the itinerary for today: photos of us, yes, after three days in the amazing Intercontinental Bora Bora, we still can’t get enough pictures of it!

The optimal photo time wasn’t until later in the morning so no need for us to wake up super early for it. I rolled on the bed staring out to the glass window looking at the overwater bungalows with the feeling am I still dreaming? We had a quick breakfast with the breakfast items we bought from town and finishing up the mango and pineapple juices. NOTE, please cover up your drinks/cups, do not leave it open!!! We got dressed, applied sunscreen, and then insect repellent; we took our best travel companion – tripod and went out to our deck!

Drying our water shoes on our deck 🙂 I highly recommend the Speedo water shoes, great quality and comfortable!

Us at our overwater bungalow deck, don’t you want to jump into that turquoise water?

Stepping out of our overwater bungalow, the puffy white clouds and the clear mountain peak stopped us for more photos!

Continued on walking toward the reception, we stopped again on that little beach:

We detoured and walked to the opposite side, another small beach there but rockier. Back toward the reception then pass the pool area and to the bigger beach, my favorite spot! The whole hotel was so quiet that we barely see anyone, felt so exclusive! We placed the tripod on top of the bridge and walked down to the beach for this view:

 

Finding beach chairs was not an issue here!

We have the whole hotel to ourselves, moving from spot to spot for photos, I enjoyed doing that!

Since no one was using the stand-up paddle, I told hubby best time to try it! I walked to the pool to get the paddle and hubby chose the blue board 🙂 Hahaha it was not as easy as he thought!

He fell and got all wet LOL!

Hold on there hun, you can do it!

There you go! The waves keep pushing him to shore!

He paddled back and forth, fell, and then back and forth again!

I also set my GoPro on the table to take a timelapse, will show that later 🙂

He got better after a while 🙂

After probably an hour, he was exhausted LOL!

The weather was perfect, love Bora Bora!

Back to more photos! I wish I can escape Boston’s brutal winter to Bora Bora every year!!!

Hubby’s version of “I don’t want to leave”!

Hum…how about playing ping pong on the beach with a view like this?

Or have a drink?

Or take a nap on the hammock?

Hubby said don’t want to waste our precious time taking the ferry out for lunch, why not just have lunch at the hotel? And with a view like this:

Most are the tables were free so we get to chose but the best one with the unobstructed view of the mountain peak with a cabana was taken 🙁

Le Sands only open for lunch during the low season, here’s the menu:

More photos as we wait for our food:

We ordered from the Asian selection menu again….I ordered the Chicken stir-fried noodle 2990 xpf (around $30):

 

Hubby ordered the curry pork belly 2600 xpf (around $26):

 

‘The bottle of still water for $7!

More time-lapse with my GoPro, see it on the back table haha!

At least both dishes were good especially hubby’s curry pork belly, it was very flavorful. After lunch, we went back to our room so hubby can shower and get change. There’s a spot in the middle between the hotel beach and the overwater bungalows that appeared to be very shallow and hubby proved that! Since he was already wet, he walked from our deck all the way to the middle spot!

The water was only to his waist:

He was right about that shallow area!

Walking back….

Now he could shower and then we got back out for more photos!!! We placed our tripod on the bridge again facing the chapel’s side:

The water was crystal clear!

3 pm – their daily property disinfection routine the week we were there due to the outbreak of chikungunya!

Time flew by fast when we were having fun – it was already 3 pm!!!! After the photos we wanted to take, we went back to our room and spend some time in the warm turquoise water! We made reservations on the first day we arrived for the Friday’s Polynesian Night at Le Reef. Normally, they had the buffet but due to low season, it was a la carte. We walked out at 7 right after sunset:

Extra insect repellent at night! Entrance to Le Reef….

We asked for a table near the stage, we got the table on the first row right in front of the stage! The whole restaurant probably had 10 tables of guests while others were all empty!

I ordered the foie gras almost $30 for that appetizer! The stage harsh pink, purple, and red light totally threw the white balance off so photos came out to be over-saturated! My foie gras, very good but small portion:

Hubby ordered some raw fish, it was only two bites for at least $25!!!

The show was about to start, we set up the table so it won’t be blocked for photos and videos:

I was trying to get the reflection from the glasses hehe. The musicians came out and set up on the right hand back corner. Then, the dancers came out!

It was very small production – 5 ladies and 5 guys dancers….it was not impressed!

My $45 beef filet, it was small!

Hubby ordered some kind of fish again, it was petite portion!

They didn’t even have the fire dance 🙁

They invited guests to come up to the stage and danced together and then guests to have photos with the dancers…we went for a photo. I gave the lady my iPhone for a pic of us:

This was from the DSLR we placed on our table and set to time-lapse mode:

And that was it!!! I was very disappointed! The dinner was 16000 xpf (around $160), the 2nd most expensive dinner on our two weeks trip and it was not filling at all! It was cheaper and better food to eat outside of the hotel including the $36 for two of us to take the hotel shuttle! Only thing I enjoyed was the decors in the restaurant:

Love those lights:

It was around 9 pm when the show ended (it was short) and we walked back to our room. Activities for tonight: packing 🙁 When we got back to our room, we received a letter with free late-check (wow thanks Intercontinental) at 2 pm and shuttle time at 4:30 to take us to the airport, our flight is at 6 pm! That gave us almost a day to enjoy the last moments of paradise!