Which french polynesian island

Accessed via Air Tahiti flights from Papeete five times per week, the car-free island is like no Maupiti, the smallest and most isolated of the Society Islands, feels like an unblemished tropical playground, where tranquility trumps everything else and romantic love stories of deserted sparkling white-sand beaches surrounded by shimmering There are a few high-end hotels, but just a few.

Instead of tourism, the local economy is still Vahine Private Island Resort. The hotel features three beach bungalows, three self-contained beach suites and three overwater bungalows, all with beach views and designed He, like Mana, swooped us up in his truck to take us on a day-long journey, though this time it included a crash course in Polynesian history.

While sitting in the grass, he explained that Polynesians first set out into the oceans from this exact spot to explore what was beyond the horizon, eventually finding the islands of Hawaii, more than 1, years ago. All of Tahitian history, he noted, is passed down as an oral tradition. There are no early written documents, but through song, dance, and a common bond with other Pacific islanders — along with dedicated people like Yoram — the history is preserved well.

At the end of our time together, Yoram dropped us off on yet another boat, this time a taxi, which would take us to our next excursion. He even stayed and waved until we could no longer see him. What to do: Tour with Polynesian Escapes Tahirarii. If you can pass through without ordering a meal, then bless your soul because it smells too good to be true. Watching it drift and flap its wings made us feel like we were in a Disney movie — and made the turbulent water landing well worth it.

When we returned, the hotel invited us to take a sunset glide down its own lazy river. The hotel is built along a small inlet, which is covered from side to side with a coral reef.

The natural tide makes it the ideal destination to walk to the end, hop in, and float right back to your room. What to do: Take a Tahiti Air Charter. And Sam, with his traditional tattoos from forehead to fingertip, was just the man for the job. After a quick car ride out of the tourist zone, Sam told us to leave our things behind. Sam told us we had to go catch our own fish that day just as Polynesians have done for centuries. So off we went, with our friendly teenage guide, to a reef about 10 minutes out.

We anchored and dove in to try our hand at spearfishing. Spoiler alert: The Polynesians are far, far better at this than we were. But we managed to bring back a few parrot fish and what was left of our pride when we once again met Sam on the shore. It's a also a good place to find vacation rental homes. Don't miss a visit to its colony of freshwater eels. Bora Bora One of the world's top honeymoon destinations, Bora Bora is French Polynesia's tourism dynamo, with more resorts than any other island.

It's favored by honeymooners and couples, and the luxury amenities, corporate management, and high prices reflect that once-in-a-lifetime clientele. Virtually unscathed by tourism, but a favorite retreat of French residents of Tahiti, Maupiti has a few locally owned pensions. It can be visited on a day trip from Bora Bora. Raiatea and Tahaa The administrative center of the Leeward Islands, Raiatea lacks beaches, but the deep lagoon it shares with Tahaa makes it the sailing capital of French Polynesia.

Tahaa has only recently opened to tourism, with one of French Polynesia's top resorts now sitting out on a small reef islet. Rangiroa Across the approaches to Tahiti from the east, the 69 low-lying atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago run for 1,km miles on a line from northwest to southeast.

The early European sailors called them the Dangerous Archipelago because of their tricky currents and because they virtually cannot be seen until a ship is almost on top of them.

Even today, they are a wrecking ground for yachts and interisland trading boats. Two of them, Moruroa and Fangataufa, were used by France to test its nuclear weapons between and Others provide the bulk of Tahiti's well-known black pearls. Rangiroa , the world's second-largest atoll and the territory's best scuba-diving destination, is the most frequently visited.

Fakarava To the south of Rangiroa, the reef at Fakarava encircles the world's third-largest lagoon. Ua Pao Now we've arrived at the most remote and hard-to-reach parts of French Polynesia.