Highlights of the Day
Our final day in Bora Bora was spent savoring quiet moments and meaningful experiences. A professional photographer helped us capture lasting memories, revealing hidden perspectives of the island we had overlooked. In the afternoon, we attended a rhum tasting session, learning the difference between traditional sugarcane juice–based rhum and molasses-based rum. Guided through aroma, texture, and flavor, we sampled three varieties and discovered how nuanced the tasting process can be.
A lighthearted moment arose when the sommelier openly criticized an additional bottle offered by the hotel manager, making the contrast in quality unmistakable. At sunset, we once again joined the champagne sabering ceremony before enjoying dinner at the resort’s Italian restaurant. Warm service and refined cuisine provided a satisfying conclusion to our final evening in Bora Bora.
Accommodation: The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort
Transportation: Walking
Today marked our final day in Bora Bora, so we chose to move slowly and savor every moment.
In the morning, we invited a photographer to capture memories of our stay. While my husband also took a few photos on his phone, it quickly became clear that Jenny, who has worked here for over twenty years, knew exactly where to position us. Some of her chosen spots were places we had somehow missed, even after days on the island. Others were areas we had walked past, yet through her lens, they appeared entirely different — framed with light, balance, and atmosphere we could never quite recreate ourselves.
At 3 p.m., we joined a rum tasting session. Here, it is spelled “Rhum,” reflecting French Polynesia’s tradition of distilling from pure sugarcane juice rather than molasses. The sommelier guided us through the tasting process: observing color and clarity, swirling to see the viscosity, inhaling the aroma, and finally sipping slowly. Identifying subtle scents proved the most challenging — banana, bay leaf, pepper, vanilla — some obvious, others requiring a trained nose. We sampled three varieties, each between 42% and 48% alcohol, leaving us pleasantly warm.
As we were finishing, a hotel manager offered an additional bottle to try. The sommelier, however, openly criticized it for blending cane juice with molasses, claiming it lacked authenticity. His blunt commentary made the difference in flavor even more noticeable.
At sunset, we returned once again to the lawn for the champagne sabering ceremony — still elegant, still celebratory. Dinner followed at the resort’s Italian restaurant, where a cheerful server made the evening especially enjoyable. The cuisine was excellent — second only to the French restaurant earlier in our stay. It was a fitting and graceful farewell to Bora Bora.
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