AT A GLANCE

Why go?

Perched on a hillside above Faanui Bay, the WWII Guns Faanui are two weathered American coastal defence cannons that stand as silent sentinels of Operation Bobcat — the secret US military base that transformed Bora Bora from a sleepy Pacific atoll into a critical refueling hub during World War II. Reached by a short but steep climb from the main island road, the guns reward visitors with sweeping views across the lagoon toward Motu Tevairoa and the islets stretching toward the airport.↗↗↗

In 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States selected Bora Bora for its enormous protected lagoon with a single controllable pass — an ideal natural harbor for fueling Navy convoys en route to the South Pacific. Roughly 3,500 troops landed on an island that had only 1,200 inhabitants, and the Seabees rapidly built fuel depots, docks, roads, and an airstrip. To guard against a Japanese attack that never came, eight long-range 7-inch guns were hauled up strategic hilltop positions around the island. The pair at Point Tereia, just past Faanui, remain among the most accessible of these relics today.↗