In the summer of 2014, travel photographer Trey Ratcliff sent a small DJI quadcopter carrying a GoPro Hero 3 over the lagoon at the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora. The result, a short film called Floating Over Bora Bora, glides above turquoise shallows, overwater villas and the dark green bulk of Mount Otemanu.

Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff
The Bora Bora lagoon from above. Photo: Trey Ratcliff.

Watch Trey Ratcliff’s Floating Over Bora Bora

Ratcliff posted the film on his YouTube channel on 3 July 2014, set to music by the electronic artist Lusine. Ratcliff is best known for his HDR travel photography and his blog Stuck in Customs, and in 2014 consumer drones were still new enough that an aerial travel film like this felt like a revelation.

What makes the footage work is height. From a jetty or a boat you see the lagoon as a flat band of colour. From above, the water separates into pale sandy shallows, deeper blue channels and coral heads, and the long lines of the resort’s overwater bungalows become a graphic pattern laid across it.

Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (2)
A paddleboarder on the clear water of the Bora Bora lagoon. Photo: Trey Ratcliff.
Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (3)
Overwater bungalows along their walkways at the Four Seasons Bora Bora. Photo: Trey Ratcliff.

Bora Bora at a glance: lagoon, motu and Mount Otemanu

Bora Bora lies in the western Society Islands of French Polynesia, about 230 km northwest of Papeete on Tahiti. It is a small place: around 30 km² of land and a population of roughly 10,600 (2017 estimate), most of it on the main island around the village of Vaitape.

  • Mount Otemanu, the peak that dominates every lagoon view, is the highest point at 727 m. Its neighbour Mount Pahia reaches 661 m.
  • The lagoon is enclosed by a barrier reef with a single navigable opening to the ocean, the Teavanui Pass.
  • The motu are low coral islets along the reef, covered in palms. Many of the island’s resorts, the Four Seasons among them, stand on these islets, so guests arrive by boat.

Polynesian settlers reached the island around the 3rd century CE. The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen sighted it in 1722, and France annexed it in 1888. During the Second World War the United States used Bora Bora as a supply base and built the airstrip on Motu Mute that still serves as the island’s airport. No fighting took place there, and remains from that period can still be visited.

Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (4)
Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (5)
Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (6)
Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (7)

Getting to Bora Bora and the best time to go

International flights land at Faa’a airport on Tahiti. From there, Air Tahiti flies to Bora Bora several times a day, a hop of about 50 minutes according to Tahiti Tourisme. The airport sits on Motu Mute, out on the reef, and boats carry passengers across the lagoon to Vaitape or straight to the resorts.

On the main island there is no real public transport beyond a bus on the ring road. Visitors rent cars, bicycles or small buggies, or use boats and water taxis to move between the motu.

The dry season, roughly May to October, brings warm and sunny weather with steady trade winds. November to April is the wetter, more humid season, with heavy tropical showers. The water is warm all year.

Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (8)
Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (9)

Things to do on the lagoon

The lagoon is the main event, and most days are spent on or in it:

  • Snorkelling and diving with tropical fish, rays and reef sharks.
  • Lagoon tours by boat, often with a picnic lunch on a private motu.
  • Kayaking and paddleboarding across the shallows, like the paddleboarder in Ratcliff’s photo.
  • Hiking on Mount Otemanu’s lower trails for views over the reef, or a helicopter flight to see the whole lagoon the way the drone did.

If you want to fly a drone yourself, ask your hotel first: resorts and the airport zone have their own rules.

Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (10)
Bora Bora lagoon viewed from above by Trey Ratcliff (11)

For a city seen from the air, look at Vincent Laforet’s aerial Las Vegas photographs, and compare lagoons and beaches in our clear-water trip comparison.

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