Originally Posted by mreynolds767

EXCURSIONS:
My experience only so take with a grain of salt.

Though not directly applicable to the hotel I thought this would be valuable for future guests.
To be clear my experience below is in no way an any reflection on The Conrad. My experience with the concierge team was excellent!

Snorkeling with Sharks and String Rays:
I think this is the one absolute most do. Many companies offer this and you can book direct or through the hotel concierge. Your experience may vary depending on the provider.
The Conrad does not really make the provider clear in most cases so a little tough to tell.

I had booked before the trip a group half day tour for the above with Lagoon Services. Booked directly on their website, they pickup and drop off at the Conrad dock for no added charge.
Is a small group and this tour was absolutely amazing. Easily 10 out of 10 stars, easily the best tour of this type we have even gone on anywhere.
Driver was amazing, everything about it exceeded expectations. (Mana was our driver)

Loved it so much immediately after went to our room and tried to book the next day with the company to do it again. Of course they were booked up for rest of our days so I messaged the hotel if they could get us on a tour since they offer a few in their listed excursion options.
They booked us with Moana Adventure Tours for a tour that sounded very much the same, a 2 1/2 hour tour not a half day tour so shorter in duration.
Was appreciative they were able to get something for us last minute so props to the concierge team for that.
Price was the same as I paid Lagoon Services for 2 adults and 1 child so was expecting a similar experience.

The Moana tour was on the same 10 star scale about a 5 ; they also picked up from the Conrad and was only us and a couple other guests also staying at our hotel ; first stop after dropping additional guests off that were on their Jet Ski tour was for the Sharks and Sting Rays but a different location closer to the Conrad that was crowded with about 5 other boats all in the same spot at the same time. I asked the driver why the tour we took the day prior we were the only boat and found out from him that Lagoon Services has a private spot no one else is allowed to use. All of the the other providers use the same one we were taken to.
The experience was vastly different due to the number of people but there were tons of sharks, sting rays and other fish to make the time enjoyable.
The other huge factor which becomes controversial ; apparently a law recently passed that it is illegal to feed the sharks and string rays in the lagoon as it makes them dependent on humans/lazy. Moana Adventures to give them credit follow this to the letter. Other providers do not and continue to feed them.
This means when you pull up and 4 other boats are on the same location ; the 2 boats feeding the fish get all of the activity and if you are on one of the tours not feeding the fish you either see little or have to swim over to the tour guide that is currently feeding them.

Lagoon Services does feed the fish.

2nd stop was to a coral garden for snorkeling in deeper water. Similar to day before but in a different location closer to the Conrad . Yesterday the driver left the boat and swim with the group, helping those uneasy with the deeper water swim the entire time. This tour the driver remained on the boat (saying you could not anchor on the coral so he had to stay with the boat) ; so those uneasy with the swim also stayed on the boat. Yesterday the driver also fed fish at this stop so the coral garden was filled with fish and coral for us to view. This trip the coral was lovely but fish were sparse so overall did not really care for this stop especially compared to the day prior.

Yesterday provided a huge platter of fresh fruit he personally cut up that was delicious (better than the fruit the Conrad serves at breakfast) ; some local handmade coconut bread, huge cooler full of free drinks. Moana tour none of that.
Yesterday driver sang songs and played a ucheule while driving (quite the feat ; actually using his feet to steer most of the time) ; nothing like that this time. Driver was nice but did not have the same outgoing personality.
Boat yesterday was the outrigger type so looked very traditional. Today was regular speed boat.

After the second stop we returned to the hotel dock tour over. We always had the Conrad in view and driver seemed to constantly be monitoring the clock to maintain the 2 1/2 schedule.
Yesterday trip started to the Conrad literally circled the entire island of Bora Bora, driver pointed out various locations and we saw every other hotel on the motus before returning to the hotel and time never seemed to matter it did not feel like he had another tour to do that day.
For all of above price of the tours was the same and even if booking direct (not through Conrad the price is very similar so this is not a Conrad issue but shows you the difference in the tour providers); we used far less gas, they had no food/drink expense, etc...
Lagoon Services does offer a full day tour as well. Does not cost much more than the half day, overall the plan looks similar but includes a seafood lunch on a private motu in addition to the snorkeling stops. Half day worked well for us as we wanted time at the resort.

I talked to other people who went on Moana Adventures snorkel tour and they loved it ; they did not have the Lagoon Services option to compare to it. Even if Lagoon Services was 2x the cost I would recommend it.

I heard wonderful things about the Moana Adventures jet ski tour booked through the Conrad. Talked to a handful of guests at the Conrad that did that and had a blast. Was not really my thing but that is I would say the second must do if you are into Jet Skiing or want to try it. Is around the entire lagoon follow the leader type tour. I am not sure if multiple providers offer the Jet Ski Tour.

Boat Rental: as mentioned in my other boats we also rented a 30 hp pontoon boat for 6 hours in the lagoon. While enjoyable there are only a small number of marked places you can actually anchor and leave the boat. The sandy beach on the motu between the St. Regis and Four Seasons was a great stop for exploring a beautiful empty beach with perfect view to the mountain and for snorkeling the Coral Gardens very close to la Plage dock where the I Love Bora Bora sign is under the water is the other must stop if on your own boat rental. It is nice to have the freedom to do your own thing of course but if I had to rank our excursions I would say we far more enjoyed the Lagoon Services half day snorkel tour over the Pontoon Boat rental and it costs less. For most guests I would probably not recommend the pontoon rental assuming you only want to have 1 or 2 excursion days.
Would say the Pontoon Rental was better than the Moana Adventures Snorkel tour though so again the actual provider will change your experiece.

Hope that is useful to future guests of the Conrad. I wish the hotel well, occupancy seemed quite low on our last couple of days.

My parting thoughts about Bora Bora. The water colors (both the various shades of blue as well as the sharp contrasts in the colors based on depth) along with the overall lack of crowds is truly what makes this place special and I feel so fortunate to have experienced it.