Bye Bora

11.10.09 - The last day of our unforgettable vacation

We woke up to an incredibly beautiful day, put our swimsuits on and prepared ourselves for our shark/manta ray excursion. Our guide took us in his boat far out into the ocean.

He started throwing fish into the water and we began to see the craziness unfold before our eyes. Huge Manta Rays started to swarm our boat along with about a dozen black tip sharks. See for yourself:

After the feeding frenzy, our guide threw some snorkel gear at us and said "hop in!".

It was out of control (and I was freaked out of my mind).

The Manta Rays had no concept of personal space... they were all over us and we eventually figured out that if we just shoved their heads down with our hand, they would leave us alone for a second or two.

It was hard to be scared by the sharks swimming around us while the Manta Rays were attacking us. We did it and have checked it off of our "things to do before I die" list.

After our terrifying encounter, we went snorkeling through the most amazing coral reef. I felt as if I was thrown into the movie "Finding Nemo"... it was beautiful and a little surreal.

I was thoroughly enjoying our snorkel adventure when all of a sudden, I look over to find our Manta Ray friends surrounding us again. Darn.

I quickly hopped onto the boat while Peter enjoyed every minute of his time with the crazy ocean creatures. We headed out on the boat to a beautiful beach for some fresh pineapple and a relaxing swim in the water.

We arrived back at the hotel and decided to grab some bikes, ride to the pool and grab some lunch poolside. I had a facial at the spa while Peter relaxed by the beach.

After soaking in as much as we could, we packed up our stuff, said our goodbyes to our staff friends and took a boat to the Bora Bora airport. We flew from Bora Bora to Tahiti and from Tahiti to LAX. Needless to say, we slept well on the flight home.

We arrived that next morning and drove home to find some cute, happy kids that we missed like crazy and my amazing mom who was the greatest Nana Nanny. Both she and my dad took such good care of our kids and even asked when we were going on our next trip so they could come watch them again. Thank you, thank you Papa and Nana!!!!
This whole experience was incredible. I would say once-in-a-lifetime, but I truly hope that isn't the case.