Private Jet Simpson Bay to Bora Bora

Simpson Bay in Sint Maarten lies approximately 5,640 nautical miles from Bora Bora, a distance a Gulfstream G650ER or Bombardier Global 7500 covers nonstop in around ten hours. Princess Juliana International Airport, well known for its low approach over Maho Beach, also runs a busy private aviation operation, with handlers experienced in preparing long-range jets for extended Pacific crossings alongside the island’s usual Caribbean and transatlantic traffic. Once climbed to cruise, typically in the low-to-mid 40,000s, the flight settles into a long, steady transit, the cabin holding a pressure altitude noticeably gentler than a commercial aircraft would provide over the same distance, which passengers on longer sectors tend to notice most by how fresh they feel on landing. Arrival is into Fa’a’ā International Airport near Papeete, the seat of French Polynesia’s government on Tahiti, with a short domestic flight and boat crossing completing the journey to Bora Bora. The island announces itself with the jagged outline of Mount Otemanu rising from a lagoon whose water shifts through countless shades of blue depending on depth and light, all of it protected by a reef supporting healthy populations of rays and reef sharks. Overwater bungalows built out over the shallows remain the island’s signature, while Vaitape provides a quieter, more local counterpoint just a short boat ride away, and small pearl farms still work the calmer inlets nearby. For travellers based around Sint Maarten, already familiar with the rhythms of island-hopping and clear Caribbean water, Bora Bora offers a considerably more remote but equally rewarding variation on the same theme, well worth the long day of flying it takes to get there.