We had an amazing time during our trip to Whistler Blackcomb. We skied on both mountains while enjoying the views, did Olympic bobsledding on the fastest track in the world, went to the Scandinave spa, and enjoyed the delicious food in town. We can’t wait to go back some day!
Scuba Diving vs Snorkeling: The Great Debate
So you’re going on vacation, and aren’t sure if you should be going snorkeling, or making that extra effort to scuba dive. Snorkeling is so much easier, doesn’t require the extra training you’ll have to do (and keep doing), and costs a lot less. But everyone makes it seem like you’re missing out if you don’t scuba dive! Well, we went to the Great Barrier Reef, and went snorkeling and scuba diving for almost a week; here is our experience!
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Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef for a Week
We went snorkeling and diving in the Great Barrier Reef for a week in Australia and it was fantastic! This is our snorkel footage. There are so many underwater wonders in the coral reefs! The GIANT CLAMS were AMAZING! They grow up to 300 pounds!! One of our bucket list dream vacations and we had an amazing time. We did multiple dives at a few dive spots. We started at a Ribbon Reef, then a couple of other spots, and another Ribbon Reef. We hope you enjoy this video of our snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in 4K! We have another video with our scuba diving in the channel as well if you want to compare the experiences!
Ultimate Bora Bora snorkeling day 2
This was our second excursion with Reef Discovery! We had read and heard such wonderful things about this tour, we booked in twice because we wanted to hedge our bets against the rainy weather that had been hanging around the island. On this tour, the highlight was the alien looking coral gardens. Take a look at the video to get an idea of what the tour is like!
Giant moray eel gets really close
We came across this very large Giant Moray Eel during our Pure Reef Snorkeling excursion in Bora Bora. This was one of the highlights of that tour. It was incredibly beautiful, and surprisingly gentle. And did I say huge? I guess that’s pretty evident from the video.
Pod of big eagle rays in Bora Bora
There was a pod of eagle rays that kept going in and out of formation while we were snorkeling above them. We saw them during our first Pure Reef Snorkeling excursion, and then again during our second tour.
Huge manta ray in Bora Bora
The tour guide spotted this manta ray from the boat. I have no idea how he saw it given that it was so far away and blended in with the coral. The manta ray was far, but quite big. It looked like a different species than the ones we’ve seen in Hawaii.
Bumpy ride into the mountain in Bora Bora
We did a 4×4 jeep safari excursion in Vaitape on Bora Bora. It was run by Tupuna and our tour guide was nice. We were very lucky that everyone else had cancelled because they expected rain, so we had a private tour on this trip. The ride up the mountain was incredibly bumpy and the shakiness of the video does not do justice to how rough the mud roads were. Check out our full review for more details!
Stunning Matira Beach in Bora Bora
The gorgeous Matira Beach in Bora Bora. Such an incredibly relaxing scene–the soothing water took all my worries away for a few minutes. A great place to meditate! Hopefully this 4K video can recreate some of that magic for you.
Chasing a snowflake eel
I followed this snowflake moray eel for a few minutes because it was quite cool. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a snake on land. I’m just glad it didn’t decide to swim up to me. This was during one of our Pure Reef Snorkeling excursions in Bora Bora.
Crabs stealing flowers from each other
We stopped to see land crabs eat and fight over pink hibiscus flowers during our 4×4 excursion on Vaitape in Bora Bora. It was quite entertaining watching them steal the flowers and run away from each other. Enjoy the crab soap opera!
Great beginner skiing near Boston
We were beginners skiing at Wachusett Mountain on the blue “Look Mom” trail in Massachusetts. It was much harder than the green trails but a lot of fun to ski. There were people of all levels going down the hill as you can tell from the videos.
Our room at the Innside New York hotel
The Innside New York is conveniently located in the heart of downtown New York City. In this tour you can see the hotel lobby and our guest room. We enjoyed our brief stay at Innside and were pleasantly surprised to have such a high quality experience at a (relatively) low price. The front desk and room service were attentive and friendly, and the hotel offered unexpected touches—for example, all the beverages in the minibar were free! We also requested some hair styling products from the concierge, and they delivered several complimentary bottles of Tresemme. Overall, a great stay in NYC for an affordable price.
Amazing snorkeling in Bora Bora at the Hilton
There were so many amazing fish at the Hilton Bora Bora Nui, from under the bungalow all the way to the main beach. There was also a lot of coral which was beautiful. The coral looked different in different areas of the resort, from the beach to different sections of bungalows. The 300 bungalow section looked to be the best place to snorkel to us. We saw a big octopus, lots of fish and a school of eagle rays in that section.
Curious eel at the beach in Moorea
When we were walking along the beach to go snorkeling at the Sofitel in Moorea, we saw a many-toothed snake moray / eel very close to shore. I decided to put the camera in the water to see if I could get it on video a few times, and the moray just kept getting closer and closer. It was probably not the safest thing to do and I’m glad it did not bite me, but it was fun. I believe it was a many-toothed snake moray: uropterygius supraforatus.
Big octopus changing colors in Bora Bora
We saw an octopus while snorkeling under our overwater bungalow, and another octopus at the main Hilton beach. It was amazing watching the octopuses change colors, camouflage, and swim (you can see some of what we saw in the 4K video). We spent a lot of time observing them, and them observing us. They may of may not have been annoyed with how long we were watching them! I think we got closer than is usually safe as they can bite quite hard when annoyed.
Our video tour of the fantastic Sofitel in Moorea
Here’s our video tour of the Sofitel Ia Ora Resort in Moorea. It’s as a great place to spend a week with a lot to do. We definitely recommend getting a overwater bungalow because the views and snorkeling are phenomenal. It’s one of the reasons to go to French Polynesia in the first place! There an infinity pool, a bar, a restaurant with daily entertainment, a nice beach, and phenomenal snorkeling for a resort. The views are also spectacular during the day and at night.
Eagle rays surrounded us under the bungalow
We swam into a group of eagle rays under our bungalow at the Hilton in Bora Bora and luckily had a camera. Although we were told that these rays are friendly and not dangerous, they had so many sharp barbs that it’s probably wise to be a bit cautious. At first, they were on just one side of us (in front) when we arrived to their location. However, after a minute or two, they moved and started swimming in circles around us. It felt like they were studying us. After about 10 minutes of them circling us, we decided to back off and head back up to the bungalow.
Adventures for two 