Earth's most romantic island — Mount Otemanu, overwater bungalows, and a lagoon like a dream
Bora Bora is a volcanic island in the Society Islands of French Polynesia — widely regarded as the most beautiful island on Earth (it is, in its own specific way, correct). The extinct volcano Mount Otemanu (727m) rises from a basalt core surrounded by a turquoise lagoon and barrier reef of extraordinary colour gradation. The island's fame derives from the overwater bungalow — the concept was invented here at the Bora Bora Hotel in 1967 and has since colonised tropical luxury hotels worldwide. The lagoon is a world-class snorkelling and diving destination with manta ray feeding stations, lemo…
Bora Bora was settled by Polynesian voyagers approximately 600–900 CE as part of the Society Islands chain; the island was called 'Pora Pora' (first-born) in Tahitian. European contact came with the British navigator James Cook (1769) and later Samuel Wallis. France claimed sovereignty over the Society Islands in 1842. During World War II, the US established 'Operation Bobcat' on Bora Bora — a major military supply base (the first US military base outside North America after Pearl Harbor), which constructed the ring road still in use today. The island's tourism era began in the 1960s when Jam…