French Polynesia Photos

Tahiti Torch-Twirling
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
Fueled by a Polynesian passion for dance, torch-twirling Tahitians stage a sizzling show at a beachfront resort. Nearly extinguished during the 19th century by disapproving missionaries, Tahitian dancing has been rekindled by a renaissance of native culture—and by tourists' appetite for spectacle.
—From "French Polynesia: Charting a New Course," June 1997, National Geographic magazine
Sunday Churchgoers
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
Churchgoers in Sunday finery sweat out a sermon with the help of handheld fans in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia's steamy capital. Worshipers sit in same-sex groups, blending their voices in rousing himenes—Tahitian-style hymns. So transporting is the sound, vows one hearer, "it lifts you right out of your seat."
—From "French Polynesia: Charting a New Course," June 1997, National Geographic magazine
Bora-Bora
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
Lacy breakers lap the coral reef that rings Bora-Bora, an ancient sunken volcano 165 miles [266 kilometers] northwest of Tahiti. With sugar white beaches edging its electric-blue lagoon, the island fits everyone's image of a South Seas paradise—but not everyone's pocketbook: Waterfront thatch huts go for up to [U.S.] $700 a night.
—From "French Polynesia: Charting a New Course," June 1997, National Geographic magazine
Tahiti Boat Ride
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
With strong arms and obliging souls, Tahitians usher ashore French vacationers after a lagoon cruise on an outrigger canoe. But hospitality has turned to hostility among many islanders for whom the burdens of French rule outweigh the blessings.
—From "French Polynesia: Charting a New Course," June 1997, National Geographic magazine
Polynesian Dancer
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
A traditional dancer performs for tourists at Tiki Village on Moorea, part of the Society Islands. Tourism is French Polynesia's main hope for economic self-reliance, and one strategy is to attract some of the millions of vacationers that Hawaii hosts annually.
—Adapted from "French Polynesia: Charting a New Course," June 1997, National Geographic magazine