laorana - Welcome

Some names have the power to summon a thousand images, to bewitch a mind. Such is their sway that they can change the course of life. Since their discovery by European explorers in the 18 th century, Polynesia and the South Pacific has been the focal point of dreams!

Ask where French Polynesia is or what it consists of and many people will have some difficulty giving you an answer. Ask about Tahiti, however, and the vision of a beautiful tropical island rising from a deep blue sea immediately materalises on the map. The reality is that Tahiti is just one island in one of the five island groups that make up French Polynesia .

 

Tahiti and Her Islands are located 3,875 miles from Los Angeles or 2,375 miles from Hawaii , and yet a world apart. The islands are approximately mid way between Los Angeles and Sydney – and Tahiti is in the same time zone as the Hawaiian Island and is south of the Equator. French Polynesia enjoys a warm, tropical weather year-round. Cooled by the gentle breezes of the Pacific, the climate of these islands is sunny and pleasant. The average ocean temperature is in the low 80s. Because Tahiti and her Islands are below the Equator the seasons are the reverse of those in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN TAHITI AND HER ISLANDS

French and Tahitian are the two official languages. English is also widely spoken particularly in tourist areas. Polynesians welcome their visitors with songs and cheerful instrumental music. This welcoming, which is all part of the legendary Tahitian hospitality, is expressed at arrival time in songs accompanied on the guitar and ukulele, sung by a cheerful group and together with the gift of the tiare , the national Tahitian flower, with a very subtle perfume. Tahitians are happy people and proud of their islands. They want to share all their “joie de vivre” with their guests.

 

ACTIVITIES

Nature has generously favoured the high islands with amazing features. The spectacle of secret valleys and their cool water, their stones and their abundant flora as well as their canyons, their peaks, and ridges show quite another face of Polynesian beauty. On the Tahitian coastal plane all sports and leisure activities can be enjoyed at your leisure: tennis, horseback riding, and golf on the majestic setting of the Atimaono Golf Course near the peninsula.