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Anchorage· Bora Bora· French Polynesia — Society Islands

Motu Toopua BBMS Mooring Zone (Bora Bora)

16° 30.9′ S · 151° 46.4′ W

Twenty BBMS mooring balls on the sand shelf off the west side of Motu Toopua, the remnant of Bora Bora's ancient crater rim, with Mount Otemanu framed across the lagoon. It is the postcard Bora Bora stop, a short dinghy ride from the stingray sandbank by Motu Tapu, the western coral gardens and Vaitape.

Society IslandsTahiti & Moorea

Practical

Zone TO in arrêté 2442 CM (2018, consolidated 2023): a seven-point polygon from 16°30.62'S 151°46.31'W in the north to 16°31.24'S 151°46.56'W in the south, reserved for vessels under 20 m. The 2025 DPAM map lists 20 places run by BBMS. Coordinate is the polygon centroid. The DPAM annex chart shows shallow, light-blue sand with scattered coral heads west of the zone toward the barrier reef, and a lit channel (Fl G / Fl R marks) runs past its eastern edge, so stay inside the zone and out of the channel. Protected from the prevailing E–SE trades by Toopua; more open to west and southwest wind. The separate Toopua-Yacht point (16°31.437'S 151°46.675'W, 150 m swing radius) south of the zone is for 20–90 m yachts only. Fees: Noonsite (page updated June 2026) gives 6,000 XPF for the first day, or 4,000 XPF per day if you stay two days or more; an August 2024 cruiser report gives a flat 4,000 XPF per night with no volume discount; a May 2025 logbook (59 North) puts it at about US$30 per night. One fee covers any BBMS ball in any field and you can move between fields. Book ahead on WhatsApp +689 89 44 08 88, VHF 9, or dockmaster.bbms@gmail.com, stating crew, boat name and which field you want; then pick up a free ball and the BBMS launch comes by to take payment (cash in XPF) and issue a receipt. Trash is collected from your boat two to three times a week (not Sundays). Balls are reported insured and inspected every six months, but dive your mooring and stay aboard in strong winds. 2025-26 reports describe slow WhatsApp confirmations and occasional confrontational behavior from the attendant; keep your booking messages. No swimming or water sports inside the mooring zone itself (arrêté art. 11). Speed limit 3 knots in all mooring zones.

Best for

Postcard mooring and base for western-lagoon snorkeling

Season

Year-round; best May–Oct

Itineraries that stop here

Nearby