<p>Bora-Bora has so many natural advantages it deserves its long-held reputation as the South Pacific’s loveliest island retreat. “It’s everything a Polynesian island should be—blue lagoon, sand-fringed motus, soaring peaks,” says Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler.</p><p><em>Excerpt from "A Year of Islands: Eden Found</em><em>" in the May/June 2004 issue of </em>National Geographic Traveler<em> magazine</em></p>

Bora-Bora

Bora-Bora has so many natural advantages it deserves its long-held reputation as the South Pacific’s loveliest island retreat. “It’s everything a Polynesian island should be—blue lagoon, sand-fringed motus, soaring peaks,” says Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler.

Excerpt from "A Year of Islands: Eden Found" in the May/June 2004 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine

Photograph by Tim McKenna

Island Getaways

See photos of top island getaways (including Bali, Maui, Lord Howe Island, and more) in this travel photo gallery from National Geographic.

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