by wildcherry on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 | Places to Visit, Travel | 5 Comments

American writer James A. Michener, who visited more than 40 Pacific Islands during his naval service in World War II, famously called Bora Bora the most beautiful island in the world. Some say it was the inspiration for the enchanted island Bali Hai, which features in his book Tales of the South Pacific, and was sung about in the long-running hit musical South Pacific. Other sources, however, claim Bali Hai was based on an island in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) that Michener could see from his base in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu’s largest island.

Whatever the real story, the island’s name means “firstborn” in the Tahitian language and, as people will not tire of telling you, should be spelled Pora Pora since there is no B in Tahitian. These days few would dream of changing the popular name of a place that is already recognized globally as the ultimate South Seas paradise.

What do you think? Have you been to Bora Bora? Do you know any other island that deserve the title?
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