Friday newsletters at all times characteristic luxurious journey contests, ideas, or information.
Today: Maldives versus Bora Bora – which vacation spot is greatest?
If you’re dreaming of turquoise blue waters, white sand seashores, and unequalled luxurious resorts with overwater villas, each Bora Bora and the Maldives are nice choices. Bora Bora is a small however spectacular island that’s a part of French Polynesia, an archipelago within the South Pacific Ocean. The Maldives, however, is a tropical nation in the midst of the Indian Ocean, comprised of a whole lot of tiny islands. At first look, these dream-worthy and exceptionally lovely locations would possibly look equally enticing for discerning vacationers however there are some main variations which could have an effect on your vacation. Here’s my expertise, having been to each the Maldives and Bora Bora on a number of events. For ease of navigation, I’ll evaluate the next features of visiting these locations:
Have you ever visited Bora Bora and the Maldives? If so, which one do you like? Leave a remark.
WEATHER
The Maldives and Bora Bora expertise completely different seasonality and reverse climate patterns. The dry season within the Maldives is from November to April, whereas the moist season is from May to October. In French Polynesia (and thus Bora Bora), the dry season is from May to October, whereas the wet seasons happens from November to April. Another distinction within the local weather between Bora Bora and the Maldives is set by the placement of the island. The Maldives is near the equator and is consistently heat day and evening, whereas Bora Bora is additional away from the equator and will sometimes get a bit colder in the course of the evenings in winter time (nothing too unhealthy however you might want a sweater nonetheless).
The greatest climate within the Maldives is between January and April, which additionally means excessive season (and skyrocketing lodge charges). The monsoon runs from May to October, peaking in June. It is price paying greater costs and sticking to the dry season as there’s not a lot to do on a wet day besides drink, eat, work out or scuba dive. Especially November and December, which are sometimes labelled as dry season months, have been very unsettled in recent times.
Bora Bora is greatest visited between June and September when the local weather is at its driest and the climate is balmy (however windy). However, that is excessive season, so will probably be busy and the lodge charges are skyrocketing. The months on both facet of this era (May & October) are often called the shoulder season and provide comfy climate too, however with decrease costs and fewer wind. Although French Polynesia could be visited year-round, the months of November to April carry extra humidity and cloudy days, with tropical showers passing at better frequency than different occasions of the 12 months. However, they’re usually interspersed with durations of sunshine. This is a moist time of 12 months, although, which could be uncomfortable and I like to recommend selecting a lodge with A/C if visiting throughout these months. The islands hardly ever undergo from tropical storms besides throughout years when El Niño impacts ocean currents.
ACCESSIBILITY (GETTING THERE)
The Maldives is situated to the southeast of India whereas Bora Bora is in the midst of the Southern Pacific Ocean. Depending on the place you come from, the journey to each locations might take a very long time. The Maldives is extra readily accessible from Europe, Asia and Africa whereas Bora Bora is less complicated to achieve for vacationers based mostly within the USA, Australia and New Zealand. To provide you with an concept: it takes about 10 hours on a direct flight to get from Paris to the Maldives, and about 20 hours to fly to Bora Bora. From Los Angeles, it takes about 10 hours to get to Bora Bora and 20 hours to get to the Maldives. If journey time is a vital issue for you, accessibility ought to undoubtedly be considered, so you’ll be able to spend extra time enjoyable in paradise and fewer time flying.
There are some main variations although that are price noting:
- An enormous variety of airways is flying to the Maldives today, providing seamless journey from most corners of the world. This is particularly true once you make use of one of many Middle East provider (Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways) which presents straightforward connections to the Maldives (with a number of flights a day between their hubs and the Maldives). Also, regardless of the time you arrive within the Maldives, you’ll be able to at all times instantly proceed to a top-notch lodge after your arrival; some resorts can solely be reached by seaplanes which solely function in the course of the day, however the luxurious resorts within the North and South Male Atoll – nearer to the airport – could be reached by speedboat day and evening.
- Getting to Bora Bora requires extra efforts. First of all, the island doesn’t obtain worldwide flights. You first should take a world flight to Papeete on the island of Tahiti (and the variety of airways providing flights to Tahiti is somewhat restricted). Then, it’s a must to join on a home flight with Air Tahiti to Bora Bora (a flight which takes one other 50 minutes). The home flights to Bora Bora solely function throughout daylight and don’t at all times align properly with the worldwide flights (which arrive and/or depart both early morning or late night). So besides once you select a world flight with an early morning arrival in Tahiti (firstly of your vacation) and a late night departure from Tahiti (on the finish of your vacation), any journey to Bora Bora will usually embrace a stopover of 1 evening in Tahiti, which isn’t at all times a pleasing expertise since Tahiti solely presents mediocre motels which are nothing to write down house about.
RESORTS
Both the Maldives and Bora Bora are recognized for his or her costly ultra-luxe motels. The Maldives is house to dozens of exceptionally luxurious motels, with most of them constructed on their very own personal island. Bora Bora however has solely 4 true luxurious motels (Four Seasons, St Regis, InterContinental and Conrad) that are situated on coral islands (motus) on the the island’s outer reef. Although the motels in Bora Bora are extremely good, they can not compete with the dimensions of luxurious and repair supplied by the resorts within the Maldives. In reality, once you would put the Bora Bora motels within the Maldives, they’d most likely not rank within the high 20 of resorts there (maybe excluding the Four Seasons). Here are some main variations between the resorts in Bora Bora and the Maldives:
- The resorts in Bora Bora are older and displaying their age a bit, whereas most resorts within the Maldives are newer and higher maintained.
- All resorts in Bora Bora characteristic a standard Polynesian decor (which could really feel a bit dated), whereas the resorts within the Maldives are sometimes design heavens and architectural jewels which is able to blow you off your ft.
- The overwater villas in Bora Bora undoubtedly really feel much less luxurious and fewer spacious in comparison with their usually palatial counterparts within the Maldives. Nothing really compares to the overwater villas supplied by Soneva Jani, considered one of my favourite resorts on the earth.
- Both within the Maldives and Bora Bora, you’ll principally dine on the eating places of the resort you’re staying at. As a end result, many guests to each places select to buy a meal plan by way of their resort which might save some huge cash. The resort eating places in Bora Bora are excellent however by no means really glorious, whereas eating within the Maldives is usually an exceptionally refined culinary expertise overseen by Michelin starred cooks. For instance, Soneva Fushi within the Maldives serves the most effective meals I’ve ever had at a resort, with world-class eating places, over-the-top settings, and impeccable service.
- Breakfast buffets in Bora Bora are somewhat mediocre and undoubtedly really feel poor in comparison with the lavish breakfast buffets within the Maldives.
SCENERY AND BEACHES
Even although the surroundings of each the Maldives and Bora Bora is breathtaking, there are just a few variations within the panorama, which explains why some vacationers will choose one island over the opposite.
Bora Bora is likely one of the world’s most lovely islands. The island is surrounded by an impressive lagoon, barrier reef, and a number of other motus (islets) made up of damaged coral and sand. At the middle of the principle island are the stays of an extinct volcano with two dramatic peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu. At 2,835 ft excessive (727 meters), Mount Otemanu is Bora Bora’s highest level and a considered one of Earth’s most iconic views. That’s why most luxurious motels (aside from the Conrad) face the mountain to present friends a full view of the putting pure panorama.
Contrary to Bora Bora, the Maldives doesn’t characteristic mountains. It’s an archipelago made of roughly 1,200 low-lying coral islands floating within the Indian Ocean. Each of those islands seems like an deserted paradise, coated with lush palm bushes and encircled by a coral reef with a shallow lagoon within the middle. Most resort islands take pleasure in mesmerizing and uninterrupted views of the emerald sea.
Another distinction between the Maldives and Bora Bora is the standard of the seashore. While lovely and extremely picturesque, the resort seashores in Bora Bora are composed of coral sand (which isn’t very mushy) and have some rocky components alongside the shoreline. The Maldives however has a few of the whitest and softest sand on the earth, which is able to go away you spellbound.
ACTIVITIES
Whether you select Bora Bora or Maldives, there are a number of methods to calm down and benefit from the gorgeous places.
Bora Bora presents loads of enjoyable actions on water, air and land, interesting to adventure-loving souls. Water actions embrace excellent snorkeling (which frequently includes interacting with blacktip reef sharks, mantarays and even whales), world-class scuba diving experiences, in addition to exploring the lagoon in a canoe. Land actions principally happen on the principle island (a brief boat journey away from most resorts) and embrace climbing within the mountains or discover the inside of Bora Bora by quads. A helicopter flight over the stunningly lovely island can be a must-do on each guidelines. Most the excursions on Bora Bora are supplied as guided excursions (both personal or shared with different friends) and take half or a full day.
In distinction, the Maldives presents a extra restricted vary of actions, that are organized by the resort you’re staying at (there are solely few excursions because the islands are unfold far other than each other). That’s not essentially an issue since most individuals journey to the Maldives to calm down on a secluded tropical island and submerge themselves in a dreamy panorama whereas having fun with nice privateness. Nonetheless, if you wish to be lively, a number of actions are supplied, that are principally centered on the archipelago’s unbelievable underwater life. The islands are common for snorkeling and diving because of the heat water, excessive visibility, and numerous marine life, together with manta rays and noticed whale sharks.
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