Bora Bora on a Budget: Everything you need to know
Updated: Aug 28
We visited Bora Bora as a family of four on a budget — staying in an affordable apartment, cooking some of our own meals, exploring the island by car and even hiring our own boat to cruise the lagoon.
Here’s everything we learned about visiting Bora Bora without the luxury price tag — including where to stay, how to get around, what’s worth spending money on and where you can save.
Is it possible to do Bora Bora on a budget?
The short answer: yes! But it won’t look exactly like the Bora Bora you’ve dreamed of—the overwater bungalows, floating breakfasts, and postcard-perfect luxury. That said, Bora Bora’s true magic lies in its natural beauty, and you can experience it without spending a fortune.
With a little planning, flexibility, and creativity, you can explore turquoise lagoons, soft white sand beaches, lush viewpoints, and charming local towns—all while staying in an affordable apartment, renting a car, and hiring a boat for your own private lagoon adventure. In this guide, I’ll show you how to make the most of Bora Bora on a budget, including accommodation tips, seasonal advice and amazing activities.
How Much Does Bora Bora Cost?
Accommodation is where the cost of a trip to Bora Bora can vary enormously. If you're travelling as a family, staying on the main island rather than at one of the luxury resorts can save you thousands of dollars a night.
Here’s a rough guide to accommodation prices in Bora Bora for 2 adults and 2 children:
🏝️ Overwater Bungalow — $3,600–$9,000+ AUD per night
The iconic Bora Bora experience — private decks, incredible lagoon views and absolute luxury — but with an equally impressive price tag. Check Bora Bora overwater bungalow prices here.
🌺 Mid-Range Hotel, Resort or Holiday Home — $1,000–$1,700 AUD per night There are more affordable resorts and hotels around Bora Bora, although prices for a family can still easily reach well over $1,000 AUD a night.
🏡 Apartment or Airbnb — around $220–$850 AUD per nightThis is where Bora Bora becomes much more achievable. You'll find apartments and holiday homes around the main island, with some of the cheapest options around Vaitape. Many also have kitchens, which can save you even more by allowing you to prepare breakfast, lunches and some dinners yourself.
We stayed in an studio apartment for $190 AUD a night for our family of four — a fraction of what we would have paid to stay in one of Bora Bora's famous resorts.
If you're trying to visit Bora Bora on a budget, accommodation is probably the single biggest place you can save.
Where to Stay in Bora Bora on a Budget
If you want to keep the cost of Bora Bora down, stay on the main island rather than on one of the resort motus.
Many of Bora Bora's famous luxury resorts sit on small motus scattered around the lagoon. They're absolutely beautiful, but you're not only paying resort prices for your accommodation — you're also more reliant on resort restaurants and boat transfers whenever you want to get back to the main island.
Staying on the main island gives you much more freedom. You can shop at supermarkets, eat at local cafés and food trucks, hire a car, explore independently and still spend your days swimming in that ridiculously blue Bora Bora lagoon.
Vaitape or Matira?
For budget travellers, Vaitape is one of the most practical places to stay. It's Bora Bora's main town and where you'll find supermarkets, shops, restaurants and the ferry terminal. Accommodation around here also tends to be cheaper.
If being close to the beach is more important, look around Matira. You'll generally pay more than you would around Vaitape, but you'll be close to Matira Beach — Bora Bora's beautiful public beach — as well as restaurants and small shops.
Dreaming of an Overwater Bungalow?
If staying in one of Bora Bora's famous overwater bungalows is part of the dream, you don't necessarily have to give it up completely.
Consider splitting your stay — spend a night or 2 in an overwater bungalow, then move to a much more affordable apartment on the main island for the rest of your trip. You'll still get the full Bora Bora resort experience, but without paying thousands of dollars a night for your entire stay.
It's a great way to get the best of both worlds — a little Bora Bora luxury followed by a few days exploring the island independently.
Book Somewhere With a Kitchen
If you're staying on the main island, I'd highly recommend booking somewhere with a kitchen.
Eating out in Bora Bora is incredibly expensive — we saw salads on restaurant menus for around $60 AUD — and feeding a family at restaurants for every meal can quickly blow the budget.
Having a kitchen means you can make your own breakfasts, pack picnic lunches and cook a few simple dinners. But don't expect the supermarkets to be cheap either. Even a packet of 2-minute noodles was around $5 AUD, so if you have room in your luggage, bringing some snacks, dried fruit and packaged foods from home can save you even more. We stocked up at the supermarket with baguettes, fruit, breakfast foods, snacks and ingredients for easy meals.
It might not sound particularly exciting to cook dinner on a trip to Bora Bora, but when a simple restaurant meal can cost that much, having a kitchen can save you hundreds of dollars over just a few days.
How to Get to Bora Bora Cheaply
Getting to Bora Bora is one of the bigger expenses to factor into your budget. International flights arrive into Tahiti, so from there you'll need to continue to Bora Bora either by ferry or plane.
🇦🇺 Coming from Australia? Read our guide to the cheapest way to get to Tahiti from Australia for all our tips on finding affordable flights and getting to French Polynesia without blowing the budget.
⛴️ Tahiti to Bora Bora by Ferry
If you're not in a hurry, taking the ferry is a great way to save money — and you can turn the journey into part of your French Polynesia adventure.
We travelled with the Apetahi Express, which runs from Tahiti to Bora Bora with stops at Huahine, Raiatea and Taha'a along the way. The full journey takes around 8 hours, and fares are generally around 7,500–10,000 XPF per person.
Instead of travelling all the way to Bora Bora in one day, we jumped off at Huahine and stayed for a couple of nights before continuing on.
And we're so glad we did.
Huahine is much quieter than Bora Bora & incredibly beautiful.
🌴 Thinking of breaking up the journey? Read our Huahine Travel Guide for where we stayed & what we did.
The ferry only operates a few times each week and schedules change, so you'll need to plan your island stops around the timetable.
One warning: the crossing between Tahiti and Huahine can get rough. If you're prone to seasickness, take tablets before boarding. We found sitting downstairs much better when the ocean got choppy.
✈️ Flying from Tahiti to Bora Bora
Flying is by far the quickest and easiest option.
Flights from Tahiti to Bora Bora take around 45–50 minutes, with Air Tahiti and Air Moana operating the route.
Bora Bora Airport is actually located on its own little motu rather than on the main island. When you arrive, a free boat shuttle takes you across to Vaitape — which has to be one of the prettiest airport transfers in the world!
If you're staying at one of the luxury resorts on the outer motus, your resort may arrange its own boat transfer, usually for an additional fee.
⛴️ Ferry vs Plane: Which Is Better?
For us, the ferry was about more than simply saving money. It allowed us to stop at Huahine along the way and see another completely different side of French Polynesia.
If you're short on time, flying makes much more sense. You'll be in Bora Bora in under an hour.
But if you're travelling on a budget and have a little more time, I'd seriously consider taking the ferry and adding another island along the way.
We actually did both — we travelled to Bora Bora by ferry and flew onwards afterwards — and it's a great way to experience both without having to choose between them.
How to Get Around Bora Bora on a Budget
Bora Bora isn't a huge island, but having your own transport makes exploring it so much easier — and can work out far better than relying on taxis every time you want to go somewhere.
🚗 Hire a Car
We hired a small car directly through Avis for around $100 AUD per day, and it was one of the best things we did.
Avis is located right near the port in Vaitape, so we simply picked up our car when we arrived on the ferry and headed off to explore.
We kept the car for two days, which was plenty of time to drive around the entire island, visit different viewpoints, get to the starting points for hikes, spend time at Matira Beach and stock up on groceries at the supermarket.
Having a car also meant we could come and go whenever we wanted rather than organising taxis every time we wanted to head somewhere.
🚕 What About Taxis?
Taxis are available, but if you're planning to explore independently, the cost of multiple trips can quickly add up.
How to Eat Cheaply in Bora Bora
Food is expensive in Bora Bora, but you definitely don't need to eat at restaurants for every meal.
🥖 Shop at the Supermarkets
Thanks to the strong French influence throughout French Polynesia, supermarkets are stocked with fresh baguettes, cheeses, spreads and plenty of French-inspired foods — perfect for putting together easy breakfasts, lunches and picnics.
We'd stop at the supermarket, grab fresh baguettes, cheese, spreads and whatever else we needed, then take it back to our apartment or pack it for the day.
It's still not cheap by Australian supermarket standards, but it's considerably cheaper than feeding a family of four at restaurants three times a day.
🍳 Cook a Few Meals Yourself
Let’s be honest, no one really wants to cook on holidays! But in Bora Bora, preparing a few simple meals yourself is one of the easiest ways to save a lot of money.
Eggs for breakfast, baguettes or a picnic for lunch, and the occasional easy dinner can make a huge difference to your overall food budget.
🧺 Pack a Picnic
One of the easiest ways to save money is to take food with you for the day.
Stock up at the supermarket before heading to Matira Beach, exploring the island or spending the day on the lagoon. When we hired our boat, we packed an esky with food and drinks and had our lunch out on the water - it was perfect!
🍌 Stop at Roadside Fruit Stalls
Keep an eye out for small roadside stalls selling locally grown fruit.
We bought fresh produce from locals along the way, which was a great addition to our supermarket supplies and an easy way to support local families at the same time.
🍴 Eat at the Roulottes
Keep an eye out for Bora Bora's food trucks, known locally as roulottes. They're a much more budget-friendly option than eating at the expensive resort restaurants.
You'll find everything from grilled fish and poisson cru to burgers, pizza, noodles and crêpes. They're casual, popular with locals and a great option when you want to eat out without paying Bora Bora restaurant prices.
When Is the Cheapest Time to Visit Bora Bora?
Bora Bora's low season runs from January 5 to March 31. This is when you're more likely to find lower prices on accommodation and flights, but there is a trade-off — these months fall within Bora Bora's wet season, so the weather is hotter, more humid and less predictable.
☀️ For the best weather: May to October is generally drier, cooler and less humid, but it's also a more popular — and usually more expensive — time to visit.
We weren't willing to risk travelling all the way to Bora Bora and potentially spending our trip in the rain, so we chose to visit in August. It meant paying high-season prices, but we had beautiful weather and, for us, it was worth spending a little more for a better chance of clear skies and calm lagoon days.
Handy Things to Know Before Visiting Bora Bora
💰 Bring some cash (XPF) – It’s handy to have local currency when you arrive. ATMs are common, but they do sometimes run out of cash.
🧴 Pack toiletries from home – Sunscreen, shampoo, and other basics are available on the islands, but they’re much more expensive.
🤿 Pack your own snorkelling gear — You'll have plenty of opportunities to use it and won't need to hire equipment every time.
✈️ Flying to Bora Bora? Don’t Make This Mistake
If you’re flying in or out of Bora Bora, my number one tip is all about which side of the plane to sit on. The views of the lagoon and surrounding motus are absolutely unforgettable!!
Flying into Bora Bora: sit on the left-hand side of the plane.
Flying out of Bora Bora: sit on the right-hand side of the plane.
This way, you’ll have the best chance of seeing the iconic turquoise lagoon, the dramatic volcanic peaks, and that jaw-dropping aerial view Bora Bora is famous for.
Getting the Seat You Want
If you're flying with Air Tahiti, seats aren't usually pre-assigned, so boarding can become a bit of a scramble as everyone tries to get the best side of the plane. Arrive early and be ready to board when your flight is called.
With Air Moana, you may be able to choose your seat when checking in online. However, when we travelled, the online system wasn't working and by the time we reached the airport, the seats on the side we wanted were already taken.
But don't give up straight away.
If you're told your preferred side of the plane is full, ask whether there are any paid seats or upgrades available toward the front of the plane. When we flew, there were still empty seats available there that could be purchased at the airport.
We were flying out of Bora Bora and ended up on the left-hand side, and honestly, the views were still incredible.
Is Bora Bora Worth It on a Budget?
Bora Bora may have a reputation as the ultimate luxury destination, but it’s absolutely possible to experience its magic on a budget. By staying in an apartment, hiring a car, hiring a boat and cooking your own meals, you can see the island at your own pace—without breaking the bank.
Okay, so it won’t be the overwater bungalows with floating breakfasts, but the natural beauty, turquoise lagoons, stunning sunsets, and adventure are all there—and they’re priceless. With a little planning, flexibility, and a sense of adventure, Bora Bora on a budget can be just as unforgettable as any luxury trip.
Of course, if an overwater bungalow is something you've always dreamed about, go for it — even if it's just for one or two nights. But don't think you need to spend thousands of dollars a night to experience what makes Bora Bora so special.
The turquoise lagoon, white-sand beaches, volcanic mountains and incredible sunsets are exactly the same whether you're sleeping in a $5,000 overwater bungalow or a $200 apartment on the main island.
You don’t need to spend a fortune to experience the best of Bora Bora — the lagoon, beaches and incredible scenery are there for everyone.
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