Beaches in Bora Bora

A volcanic island inside a lagoon, and the clearest example in the register of a destination organised around water rather than land. Almost all accommodation is on the motu — the low coral islets on the reef rim — rather than on the island itself, which means most visitors never use a public beach at all. Matira, on the southern point, is the exception and the only substantial public sand. The lagoon is shallow, warm and calm throughout, and Mount Otemanu behind it is the view every photograph is composed around. Practicalities: Matira is the only substantial public beach and there is no charge to use it. Everything else on the lagoon is either resort frontage or a private motu, and lagoon tours are the way most visitors see the water. The island's single coastal road takes about an hour to circle. The dry season from May to October is cooler and clearer; November to April is humid with cyclone risk.

The two are different kinds of shore. The sand is coral sand throughout, and both sit on lagoon water. Together they account for 1.8 km of shore. · computed from the 2 records below