Bye-bye Bora Bora – 15 Other Islands in French Polynesia

2013-09-30

Indulgent resorts. Beautiful everything. Bora Bora is called paradise for a reason. And visitors return home with the exact photos of the island’s towering Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, the thatched roofs of over-water bungalows and a magenta sunset over the sparkling ocean. Don’t do it! There’s a lot more to French Polynesia. The country is made up of 118 islands and atolls covering a stretch of ocean roughly the size of Europe. The culture extends far beyond seashell necklaces, tiki souvenirs and Monoi oil suntans. After flying into Tahiti’s main airport, there’s a network of islands reachable by plane or boat. This is where some of the best of French Polynesia’s ocean adventures, cultural exploration, and, yes, romance, begins.