Bora Bora Snorkeling Spots

The coral south of Matira Beach is the most colorful I've ever seen!

Here are the best Bora Bora snorkeling spots you will want to visit on your Bora Bora vacation. These snorkeling locations are accessible on your own. For snorkeling in Bora Bora in the other beautiful coral garden locations you will need to take a snorkeling lagoon excursion.

Bora Bora Snorkeling from Matira Beach

The white sand of dreamy Matira beach slopes gently into a shallow, sandy-bottomed lagoon. As it's on the Circle Island Road you can easily get there without a boat.

Some Bora Bora tours operate out of Matira beach and pick people up from their hotel to leave for lagoon tours. There are two great Bora Bora snorkeling spots from Matira Beach.

• The first area for some of the best snorkeling off Matira Beach is at the northern point. Walk around to the old Hotel Bora Bora and then swim around the reef faces below the underwater bungalows of the Hotel Bora Bora (which is currently closed ).

Walk to the end of Matira Beach until you see the old Bora Bora Hotel

Then snorkel under the over water bungalows to see some mature coral heads

• The second location is found by going to Matira Point on the east side of the beach and heading out towards the northern edge of the barrier reef. Here you are near a coral garden the locals call the 'Aquarium' where you can see the largest numbers of colorful fish in Bora Bora.
• For more information on snorkeling on Matira beach and how to get there, visit our Matira Beach page.

Snorkeling in the Bora Bora 'Aquarium'

Some of the best snorkeling in Bora Bora is found in an area aptly known by the locals as the 'Aquarium'. It is a stunning pastel coral garden off the southern end of Motu Pitiaau and Motu Piti Uuuta (which may be called the Sofitel Motu on your map.) You can only get there by boat. So if you hire a boat definitely include a Coral Garden stop.

The water at the Aquarium is so clear you can't wait to jump in!

Drive to the area south of the Sofitel Motu. Look for one of the buoys that are floating there and tie up the boat. Leisurely explore to discover the many types of neon patterned fish gliding amongst the coral. You may see butterfly fish, parrot fish, puffer fish, Picasso trigger fish, snapper, tang, goat fish, grouper, trumpet fish, zebra unicorn fish, wrasse or Japanese moray eels while snorkeling in Bora Bora. Take (mental) photographs of an under-water world that seems straight out of a Disney movie.

Northern Bora Bora Snorkeling 

Probably my favourite Bora Bora snorkeling spot is this coral garden near the Airport. This is a large area of garden to be explored with many different shapes and colors and plentiful fish life. I followed a path and found it so beautiful that I tried to retrace my path with my daughter, but we ended up on another new path. You can literally swim around here for hours enjoying the changing scenery. This is a great Bora Bora snorkeling location to come to on a private tour. Some group tours do visit this location, but not all of them.

Eastern Bora Bora Snorkeling

On our latest Bora Bora vacation we were taking to a new Bora Bora snorkeing spot that is a beautiful drift snorkel from the south eastern point of Bora Bora Motu Piti Aau. We had to walk over jagged rock towards the ocean side. I highly recommend reef shoes for this snorkelling location as the rocks are sharp and once you are in the water the current can be flowing quite fast. You will need to be a confident snorkeler to undertake this snorkel. In saying that, we did take our 3 year old with us on this snorkel and she did fine, but she did need some assistance getting over the rocks and getting into the water. She then she glided down the drift snorkel holding on to the hand of our captain (and wearing her life jacket). She had been snorkeling in many other locations prior to this though, so I would still consider her a confident snorkeler. Ensure you are comfortable with your equipment before undertaking this snorkel.

We saw colorful coral and lots of fish! This was an amazing snorkelling spot and we couldn't believe that we hadn't been there before. This is a secret spot that not many people know about. It likely requires you to be on private land to get there as you must arrive by boat to the Motu (which is private) but you walk around on the waters edge over rocks, so you are not near any property. 

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