French Polynesia

Bora Bora's lagoon is the one in the photographs, and the overwater villas there are the original of a form now copied everywhere. Moorea is thirty minutes from Tahiti and cheaper; Taha'a sits in the same lagoon as Bora Bora with a fraction of the traffic; the Tuamotus are for divers. Getting there is the commitment, usually via Los Angeles, Auckland or Tokyo to Papeete and then a domestic flight. May to October is the dry season.