Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1056266
16 BCA A .COM WINTER 2018 Four Seasons/Trey Ratcliff, iStock MEMBERS SAVE BCAA Members save on BCAA Travel Insurance. Protect yourself and your family from costly medical bills, trip cancellation fees, lost baggage and more. Plus, get FREE coverage for your kids on a family plan. bcaa.com/travel Ultimate indulgence: Bora Bora Just a 50-minute plane ride from Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, Bora Bora's extinct volcano rises up from the blue lagoon like an emerald jewel on velvet backing. A barrier reef almost completely encircles the island and creates a placid playground within, with water so clear and beaches so pristine, it's little wonder the South Pacific isle has become a bucket-list sun destination around the world. Add in a stay at one of the many luxurious overwater bungalows that ring the lagoon like a thatched-roof necklace, and it becomes paradise, found. Honeymooners, couples celebrating special anniversaries and the glitterati aspire to stay here for a week of lazy days and pampering ways (any longer might just blow the budget). It's an eight-hour flight from Los Angeles to Papeete, which makes jetting off for seven days a realistic goal. Start your day with breakfast delivered by canoe to the private deck of your overwater suite at the Four Seasons Bora Bora. Nourished and caffeinated, join a snorkel tour that reveals manta rays and sharks gliding through the crystalline lagoon waters. Finally, enjoy a picnic lunch on a nearby motu (that's Tahitian for private island), complete with Champagne sipped from a coconut husk. Those living the high life need sustenance, and the island's restaurants deliver. Take the resort shuttle to the main island, and a lunch spot called Bloody Mary's, to celebrity-spot, drink Blue Lagoon cocktails and sup on fresh-caught seafood with your toes in the sand. For a romantic splurge, sign up for a sunset cruise where you toast the orange sky with bubbles before being dropped off at St. James Restaurant for a three-course fusion meal of Polynesian and French cuisine. Sun-kissed and satisfied, end the evening back in your bungalow atop a king-size bed, where the gentle sound of lapping water will lull you to sleep before your head hits the downy pillow. And repeat. ■ Overwater suites at the Four Seasons Bora Bora are the stuff of sun-destination dreams, with private plunge pools and room service delivered by canoe; (inset) a visitor snorkels off her hut in crystalline waters.