French Ploynesia, Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, Raiatea, and Taha'a

French Polynesia covers over two million square miles of the South Pacific Ocean and is comprised of 118 islands spread over five great archipelagos. Many islands are crowned with jagged peaks while others just barely float above the breaking waves. Total land mass of all the islands equals an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, but is spread over a region of the Pacific as large as Western Europe.

The three archipelagos most sought by visitors are the Society Islands, comprised of Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, Raiatea and Taha'a; The Tuamotu Atolls or "Tahiti's Strand of Pearls", include the atolls of Rangiroa, Manihi, Tikehau, and Fakarava; and the Marquesas. The two other archipelagos, the Austral Islands and the Gambier Islands, lie to the south and the southeast, respectively, of the Society Islands. While very few travelers venture to these remote islands, those that do are not disappointed by the pristine environment.

Legendary Tahiti has long been the vision of "la Nouvelle Cythere," the earthly paradise. Explorers Wallis, Bougainville, and Cook all told of a land of spellbinding beauty and enchantment, where the climate was delightful, hazardous insects unknown, and the natives welcoming. Rousseau's "noble savage" had been found! A few years later, Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh's drama of sin and retribution culminated among Tahiti and her islands.

The list of famous authors who traveled here and wrote of the region reads like a literature course: Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, Pierre Loti, Rupert Brooke, Jack London, W. Somerset Maugham, Charles Nordhoff, and James Norman Hall, among others. Stories of life on the islands filled the pages. In Tahiti it seems life is meant to be enjoyed.

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• French
• Polynesia
• Tahiti
• Islands