Things to do in Bora Bora and Maupihaʻa

We left Taha’a and Raiatea for Bora Bora on 23 July 2026 and stayed through 12 August, including Maupiha’a (Mopelia) on the way west. These are the notes we would have wanted before we picked up the mooring.

Things to do in Bora Bora From Some Tuesday

We moored at Toopua, in Tehou Bay, very close to The Conrad Hotel’s overwater bungalows. Steve remembers those bungalows at five thousand to twelve thousand dollars a night. You can’t anchor there. You pick up a mooring.

Where we ate

The Bora Bora Yacht Club has a dinghy dock, and dinner on the deck is over the water. Restaurant St. James is the same idea: you arrive by dinghy and tie up at their dock. We found the Bora Bora Beach Club by accident and went three times. La Villa Mahana, in Vaitape, is a small French restaurant with eight tables and one seating a night. It is run by Corsican chef Damien Rinaldi-Dovio and his wife Vaihere, out of a converted private home. We celebrated our eighth anniversary there. Book ahead. We never ate fish in a restaurant in French Polynesia. The reason is on the country page.

In the lagoon

The manta ray spot we visited is off the northeast tip of Toʻopua. Steve snorkeled there after the tour boats left. About 500 feet from the mooring, in chest-deep water, we were surrounded by blacktip sharks and southern stingrays.

Maupihaʻa

Maupihaʻa, also called Mopelia, is one overnight from Bora Bora. There is no ferry, and no supply boat on any useful schedule. The population when we visited was 2: a mother, Faimano, and her four-year-old son, Tehau. The pass is very narrow.

The hop from Taha’a

On 23 July we left Taha’a and Raiatea, exited the pass, and headed for Bora Bora. It was about 20 miles, with a fair wind and a following sea. A broad reach got us there in a little over three hours.

Toopua, Tehou Bay

We moored at Toopua, in Tehou Bay, very close to The Conrad Hotel’s overwater bungalows. Steve remembers those bungalows at five thousand to twelve thousand dollars a night. You can’t anchor there. You pick up a mooring, and someone comes around in a boat and collects the money. As we remember it, in July 2026, that was about USD 50 a night.

Every mooring in Bora Bora is first come, first served. There are no reservations. That includes Toopua and the field at Motu Fareone.

The mooring field at Motu Fareone is one of the largest, and it is beautiful. Up close it was packed, busy, and full of charter boats. We stayed at Toopua.

Heard from Cruisers

Most of this circulates by word of mouth among cruisers. We pulled it together, organized it, and share it free. It is not official guidance, so don’t rely on it as such.

Theft at the north free anchorage Heard from Cruisers

An unlocked boat at the north free anchorage was robbed. Fishing gear, a laptop, and instruments were taken. Lock up, and report it to the gendarmes. We were on a mooring at Toopua, not in that anchorage.

Cooking gas, a mechanic, charcoal Heard from Cruisers

Cooking-gas refills are hard to find, and gas stations are not filling them. JB Masci is a Volvo mechanic. A car repair shop between Chin Lee and another grocery welds parts. Charcoal is at Carrefour and the Shell station, and no longer at Tepua supermarket.

Other anchorages Heard from Cruisers

There is also Tehou, two free anchorages, and a southeast anchorage at Motu Fareone / Taurere. That is separate from the mooring fields above.

Dinghy docks and a table

The Bora Bora Yacht Club has a handy dinghy dock, and it is easy to tie up. It was mostly cruisers, so there was usually someone on the dock to catch a line.

Restaurant St. James is the same idea from the other direction: you arrive by dinghy and tie up at their dock, then you are up on a deck.

We found the Bora Bora Beach Club by accident and went three times. It was about a 20-minute dinghy ride around the southern tip, dodging bommies, across shallow water. We anchored the dinghy in about nine inches of water. No dock fees.

La Villa Mahana, in Vaitape, is a small French restaurant with eight tables and one seating a night. It books out well ahead. It is run by Corsican chef Damien Rinaldi-Dovio and his wife Vaihere, out of a converted private home. We celebrated our eighth anniversary there. Book ahead. We never ate fish in a restaurant in French Polynesia. The reason is on the country page.

What we saw in the lagoon

These are observations from the mooring, not directions.

The manta ray feeding and cleaning station we visited is off the northeast tip of Toʻopua, inside the lagoon. Steve snorkeled there after the tour boats left and had a manta gliding about 12 feet below him.

About 500 feet from the Toopua mooring, the water was about chest deep. We got in and were surrounded by blacktip sharks and southern stingrays. We made three trips to that spot before Meghan got in. It is at 16°31.265′S, 151°46.976′W. Map

Visa and checkout

Our visa allowed us to stay in French Polynesia for ninety days, from 1 May until 31 July. We checked out at Bora Bora on 30 July, planning to leave on the 31st. The weather was not good for sailing, so we left Bora Bora on 2 August — for another island in French Polynesia. The steps for clearing out are in the French Polynesia clearance guide.

Maupiha’a, also called Mopelia

From Bora Bora we sailed to Maupiha’a, one overnight, arriving the next afternoon. It is also called Mopelia. There is no ferry, and no supply boat on any useful schedule. The people who live there get by on what they can catch and what cruisers bring. The population when we visited: 2. A mother, Faimano, and her four-year-old son, Tehau.

The pass going in is very narrow and not well marked. After bad weather, waves wash over the reef and overfill the lagoon, and that water drains back out through the pass as an ebb that never quite ends. We were motoring against the current on the way in. On 12 August, just before 8 a.m., we motored back out. The ebb was still about 5 knots. It caught the stern and shoved it sideways. Throttles wide open, and we made it out. The run to Aitutaki starts with that exit.

Inside, we anchored at the north end for a few days. Then a high brought higher winds, veering to the south. It was about a week of 25–30 knot winds. The other boats moved to the south anchorage, and so did we: hidden close behind a large motu on the southeast corner of the atoll. The north side would have been choppy because of the long fetch.

Cruisers keep a shared Google Doc of what the residents need — gasoline, notebooks for school, seeds, peanut butter, rechargeable batteries, toys. We don’t have a public link for it, and we didn’t know about it before we left Bora Bora, so we couldn’t contribute.

Heard from Cruisers The family’s needs list is kept on NoForeignLand’s Maupiha’a anchorage page.

Don’t spearfish Heard from Cruisers

Two shark bites at Maupiha’a within a few days. The water is very sharky. Don’t spearfish.

Questions

Can you anchor at Toopua?

No. At Toopua, in Tehou Bay, you pick up a mooring. Someone comes around in a boat and collects the fee. Every mooring in Bora Bora is first come, first served. There are no reservations.

How much is a mooring in Bora Bora?

About USD 50 a night, as we remember it from July 2026. That is our recollection from the Toopua mooring, not a published tariff.

Where can you leave a dinghy?

We tied up at the Bora Bora Yacht Club and at Restaurant St. James. The Beach Club was about a 20-minute ride around the southern tip, dodging bommies, and we anchored the dinghy in about nine inches of water.

How hard is the Maupiha’a pass?

Very narrow, and not well marked. After big weather the lagoon overfills and the pass keeps an ebb that does not quite end. We left just before 8 a.m. on 12 August, and the current caught the stern on the way out.

Is Maupiha’a the same as Mopelia?

Yes. Maupiha’a is also called Mopelia.

In this group

• The Society Islands, the group page.
• French Polynesia, the country page.
• The Marquesas.
• The Tuamotus.
• Clearing out of French Polynesia.
• The Captain’s Log.
• The Cruising Guide.