Planning for Paradise

The Islands

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High islands, and low islands, Tahiti and Her Islands display all the forms creatured by bountiful nature. Lush green high islands with their peaks in the clouds surrounded by barrier reefs or no reef and with beaches of black basalt sand or white coral sand. Mountains, with all the colors of Gauguin, are blue, violet or brown depending on the angles of the light as they range majestically over this tranquil ocean of a faraway blue.


The sky also plays its part, with sunrises and sunsets at times taking on fabulous colors ranging from pale yellow to scarlet red in short but intense moments that the traveler may burn into his holiday memory banks. The mountain sides flow with impetuous waterfalls and there are numerous exuberant valleys just asking to be hiked. And there are mountains sculpted out over centuries of erosion offering a unique panoramic view to be contemplated ad infinitum, such as in Cook's Bay in Moorea or the Bay of Virgins in the Marquesas.

Low islands, atolls ringed round with internal lagoons of fairytale colors ranging from oh-so-light jade green and so such a luminous turquoise offering authentic postcard colors. Multitudes of little islands inhabited by birds, countless beaches one after another.

"118 islands in all,
each with its own special charms..."

Each has its special charms. Moorea is not Bora Bora and Bora Bora is not Manihi, but all these islands are gently rocked by the trade winds, these sweet and gentle winds that make the coconut palms rustle. And, depending on the season, they will be cooled by the ÒmaraamuÓ, the south wind that blows in the southern winter.

Click here to view a map of Tahiti & Her Islands

Tahiti

Mountainous island dominated by the peak of mount Orohena (2,241 m) and standing alongside the other famous silhouettes of Aorai (2,066 m), Diadem (1,321 m), a name given by Dumont d'Urville, and mount Marau (1,493 m). The capital city Papeete is situated on the northwest coast with a harbor sheltered by reefs. The city of Papeete, which is the political and economic heart of the country, stretches round a narrow coastal strip, and up the mountain side in the north and in the west of the island that are now being covered by luxury residences. In the form of a huge circle, the big island Tahiti Nui is criss-crossed by deep, beautiful valleys and is connected to the equally mountainous little Tahiti Iti, by the narrow Taravao isthmus. The mountains of Tahiti offer curious visitors charming walks in natural valleys of light and shade in the cathedral of fern trees. You will see impressive waterfalls and discover mysterious grottoes and archaeological sites steeped in legend.

Moorea

Located 17km from Tahiti, Moorea is a land of history and legend.

Huahine

The secret island or rebel island, there is no shortage of adjectives to indicate the wild but attractive nature of this island.

Raiatea & Tahaa

According to Polynesian tradition Raiatea, formerly known as Havai'i, the "sacred island" was the first inhabited island.

Bora Bora

A volcano on one of the most beautiful lagoons in the world, Bora Bora, "the Pearl of Polynesia" remains that place of your dreams.

Tuamotu Gambier

The largest of the Polynesian archipelagoes which includes 76 islands and atolls spread out over more than 20,000 km2 slumbered for many years, but now has come back to life.

Marquises

The first homeland for the settling of the "Polynesian Triangle", dating back to the start of the modern era, this "Land of Men" "Henua Enata" clustered near the equator includes around ten islands with jagged mountain peaks, about 1,500 kilometers from Tahiti.

Australes

There are five high rounded islands in all. There are the most southerly of French Polynesia, located at the tropic of Capricorn and enjoying a cooler climate than Tahiti.

• Tahiti
• Moorea
• Bora Bora
• Huahine
• Raiatea & Tahaa
• Tuamotu Gambier
• Marquises
• Australes

HOTELS, PENSIONS, ACTIVITIES

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