Yes, we did the Coral Preservation trip. We loved it. There were only about 8 of us, so it was very personal.

The first part was a bit mundane, Denis, the marine biologist took us out into the channel beside a motu to pick up several pieces of damaged or sick coral. This is deep-water snorkelling, so if you are not comfortable in deep water, you could stay in the boat.

Then we went to back to the BB Pearl hotel, to their coral hospital. All this time, Denis is telling you about coral, about the environmental problems on Bora Bora, very interesting. The time at the hotel is spent in waist-deep water. Under the over-water walkways they have built coral colonies, and special pens for coral recovery. The bottom line is that there are lots of fish who like this coral, so the fish are great. So you don't get to see alot of spectacular coral, but you learn a tremendous amount about it, see lots of fish, and it's for a good cause.

The day we were there it was windy, so it was possible to get chilled, since you are in the water for quite a long time. Good to take a dry t-shirt if you tend to get cold. Very pretty hotel, by the way.