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At this time: Maldives versus Bora Bora – which vacation spot is greatest?
In case you are dreaming of turquoise blue waters, white sand seashores, and unmatched luxurious resorts with overwater villas, each Bora Bora and the Maldives are nice choices. Bora Bora is a small however spectacular island which is a part of French Polynesia, an archipelago within the South Pacific Ocean. The Maldives, however, is a tropical nation in the course of the Indian Ocean, comprised of a whole bunch of tiny islands. At first look, these dream-worthy and exceptionally stunning locations would possibly look equally enticing for discerning vacationers however there are some main variations which could have an effect on your vacation. Right here’s my expertise, having been to each the Maldives and Bora Bora on a number of events. For ease of navigation, I’ll examine the next facets of visiting these locations:
Have you ever ever visited Bora Bora and the Maldives? If that’s the case, which one do you favor? Depart a remark.
WEATHER
The Maldives and Bora Bora expertise totally different seasonality and reverse climate patterns. The dry season within the Maldives is from November to April, whereas the moist season is from Might to October. In French Polynesia (and thus Bora Bora), the dry season is from Might to October, whereas the wet seasons happens from November to April. One other distinction within the local weather between Bora Bora and the Maldives is set by the situation of the islands. The Maldives is near the equator and is consistently heat day and evening, whereas Bora Bora is additional away from the equator and should sometimes get a bit colder throughout the evenings in winter time (nothing too dangerous however chances are you’ll want a sweater nonetheless).
The perfect climate within the Maldives is between January and April, which additionally means excessive season (and skyrocketing resort charges). The monsoon runs from Might to October, peaking in June. It’s value paying increased 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. Particularly 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). Nevertheless, that is excessive season, so it will likely be busy and the resort charges are at their highest. The months on both facet of this era (Might & October) are generally known as the shoulder season and supply comfy climate too, however with decrease costs and fewer wind. Though Bora Bora will be visited year-round, the months of November to April carry extra humidity and cloudy days, with tropical showers passing at higher frequency than different occasions of the yr. Bora Bora isn’t hit by tropical storms besides throughout years when El Niño impacts ocean currents.
ACCESSIBILITY (GETTING THERE)
The Maldives is positioned to the southeast of India whereas Bora Bora is in the course of the Southern Pacific Ocean. Relying 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 simpler to achieve for vacationers primarily based within the USA, Australia and New Zealand. To provide you an thought: 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 may spend extra time enjoyable in paradise and fewer time flying.
There are some main variations although that are value noting:
- An enormous variety of airways is flying to the Maldives today, providing seamless journey from most corners of the world. That is very true whenever you make use of one of many Center East carriers (Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways) which provide simple connections to the Maldives (with a number of flights a day between their hubs and Male). Additionally, it doesn’t matter what time you arrive within the Maldives, you may at all times instantly proceed to a luxurious resort after your arrival; some resorts can solely be reached by seaplanes which solely function throughout day gentle, however the resorts within the North and South Male Atoll – nearer to the airport – will be reached by speedboat day and evening.
- Attending to Bora Bora requires extra efforts because the island doesn’t obtain worldwide flights. You first must take a world flight to Tahiti (and the variety of airways providing flights to Tahiti is relatively restricted) after which join on a 50 min home flight to Bora Bora. The home flights to Bora Bora solely function throughout daytime and don’t at all times align nicely with the worldwide flights (which arrive and/or depart both early morning or late night). So, besides whenever you select a world flight with an early morning arrival in Tahiti (at the beginning of your vacation) and a late night departure from Tahiti (on the finish of your vacation), any journey to Bora Bora will embody a stopover of 1 evening in Tahiti, which isn’t at all times a nice expertise since Tahiti solely presents mediocre lodges which might be nothing to write down dwelling about.
RESORTS
Each the Maldives and Bora Bora are identified for his or her costly ultra-luxe lodges. The Maldives is dwelling to dozens of exceptionally luxurious lodges, with most of them constructed on their very own personal island. Bora Bora however has solely 4 true luxurious lodges (4 Seasons, St Regis, InterContinental and Conrad) that are positioned on coral islands (motus) on the the island’s outer reef. Though the lodges 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 truth, whenever you would put the Bora Bora lodges within the Maldives, they’d most likely not rank within the high 20 of resorts there (apart from the 4 Seasons). Listed 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 of, whereas most resorts within the Maldives are newer and higher maintained.
- All resorts in Bora Bora characteristic a conventional Polynesian decor (which could really feel a bit of dated), whereas the resorts within the Maldives are sometimes design heavens and architectural jewels which can blow you off your ft.
- The overwater villas in Bora Bora undoubtedly really feel much less luxurious and fewer spacious in comparison with their typically palatial counterparts within the Maldives. Nothing really compares to the overwater villas supplied by Soneva Jani, considered one of my favourite resorts on this planet.
- Each within the Maldives and Bora Bora, you’ll principally dine on the eating places of the resort you’re staying at. Consequently, many guests to each areas select to buy a meal plan by their resort which may save some huge cash. The resort eating places in Bora Bora are superb however by no means really wonderful, whereas eating within the Maldives is usually an exceptionally subtle culinary expertise overseen by Michelin starred cooks. For instance, Soneva Fushi within the Maldives serves one of the best 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 relatively mediocre and undoubtedly really feel poor in comparison with the lavish breakfast buffets within the Maldives.
SCENERY AND BEACHES
Although the surroundings of each the Maldives and Bora Bora is breathtaking, there are a couple of variations within the panorama, which explains why some vacationers will favor one island over the opposite.
Bora Bora is likely one of the world’s most stunning islands. The island is surrounded by an impressive lagoon, barrier reef, and several other motus (islets) made up of damaged coral and sand. On 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 lodges (apart from the Conrad) face the mountain to offer visitors a full view of the putting pure panorama.
Opposite 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. Every of those islands appears 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 get pleasure from mesmerizing and uninterrupted views of the emerald sea. However as a result of the Maldives is flat, I really feel that Bora Bora is maybe marginally extra stunning (if that’s even potential).
One other distinction between the Maldives and Bora Bora is the ‘high quality’ of the seashores. Whereas stunning and extremely picturesque, the resort seashores in Bora Bora are composed of coral sand (which isn’t very smooth) and have some rocky elements alongside the shoreline. The Maldives however has a number of the whitest and softest sand on this planet, which can depart you spellbound.
ACTIVITIES
Whether or not you select Bora Bora or Maldives, there are a number of methods to calm down and benefit from the beautiful areas.
Bora Bora presents loads of enjoyable actions on water, air and land, interesting to adventure-loving souls. Water actions embody excellent snorkeling (which regularly entails interacting with blacktip reef sharks, manta rays and even whales), world-class scuba diving, in addition to exploring the lagoon in a canoe. Land actions happen on the principle island (a brief boat journey away from most resorts) and embody mountain climbing within the mountains or discover the inside of Bora Bora by quads. A helicopter flight over the stunningly stunning 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 visitors) 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 aside from 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 energetic, a number of actions are supplied, that are principally centered on the archipelago’s unbelievable underwater life. The islands are in style for snorkeling and diving as a result of heat water, excessive visibility, and numerous marine life, together with manta rays and noticed whale sharks.
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