ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC- The Society Islands - Although Tahiti has changed greatly over the past years and is fast becoming a modern resort for holiday people, the island beauty remains. No longer recommended as a romantic getaway, Tahiti however, offers enough interesting excursions and sites to make it worth a short stay. You can visit the Harrison Smith Botanical Gardens, learn something of the history of the islands at the Museum of Tahiti and Her Islands, view the undersea world at the Lagoonarium and go to he Gauguin Museum. The smaller of the Society Islands offer the more romantic and secluded stays. Less than one hour by ferry are the deep, spectacular bays and white sand beaches of Moorea. Craggy volcanic peaks are reflected in the tranquil waters of Cook's Bay and Oponohu Bay. The lush mountain slopes are covered with rain forest or pineapple plantations, and white sand beaches border crystalline lagoons. Bora Bora is an island paradise of dazzling beauty where you can experience the enchantment of authentic South Sea living. Unquestionably the most mythical of the Pacific islands, the magic that emanates from this island makes it the island of all dreams. Seen from the air, it appears as "a tiny emerald in a setting of turquoise, encircled by a sheltering necklace of sparkling pearls". It offers a multitude of activities and excursions, one of the most popular being the Shark feeding, where from chest-deep water you watch local divers feed 4' to 5' reef sharks by hand. It's a lot of fun and totally safe. The same routine is done with a large group of friendly stingrays. Manihi is an atoll 312 miles northeast of Tahiti in the Tuamotu Archipelago. It is here, in the purest, blue-green waters surrounding this remote atoll, that that South Seas "gem," the rare black pearl, was first farmed. Manihi is still the center of black pearl farming, and a visit to one of many black pearl farms sprinkled arround the lagoon is a must.