The first thing you notice is the fragrance; where the intoxicating scent of the tiare flower announces to your senses that you are in a magical place, overflowing with tropical vegetation and soothing trade winds. It is the same perfume that the English seamen on the HMS Bounty first encountered; but they came not for flowers, but for breadfruit, intended as a new food staple for their African slaves in the West Indies. But that was another time and another emotional place. Today, Papeete, located on Tahiti Nui ('Big.), is Tahiti's vibrant capital city and gateway to her islands. Roughly one-half of all of the Tahitian islands' population live in this city.

The first thing you notice is the fragrance; where the intoxicating perfume of the tiare flower announces to your senses that you are in a magical place, overflowing with tropical vegetation and soothing trade winds. It is the same fragrance that the English seamen on the HMS Bounty first encountered; but they came not for flowers, but for breadfruit, intended as a new food staple for their African slaves in the West Indies.

If Fiji was nothing more than sand, sea and palm fronds, it wouldn't matter which beach resort you went to. Every vacation would be just like the last one, another been-there, done-that. But after 15 years and as many visits to this 333-island nation, deep in the South Pacific, I've got a pretty good idea why every resort offers a unique experience.