Papeete, French Polynesia - If only they were not so far away, the dream islands of French Polynesia! Tahiti, Bora Bora, Rangiroa - their very names suggest white, South Sea sands under palm trees.

And that is precisely what awaits travellers to this paradise. First, though, they have to endure the long journey, which takes about 26 hours by air from Central Europe. No holiday destination is more distant for Europeans, actually. But the long haul is worth it. You can dive and snorkel, hike and trek, or simply soak up the sun once you get there.

Alphonse, 42, likes to show off his muscular upper body. He performs in dance shows on Tahiti. At his day job, he drives tourists around his island, dives elegantly into the water alongside a waterfall, and then demonstrates how silver ferns leave patterns that look like lace trimming on his dark skin.

The ferns do not have quite the same effect on his pale-skinned charges. So he consoles them with large ginger blossoms, which he separates from the plant with a powerful chop.

Gradually, the female tourists succumb to Alphonse's South Sea charm - the dark eyes and captivating smile. The men, meanwhile, are itching for action on the trails in the wooded mountains. Trekking on Tahiti - now that is the ticket!

"And it's 'in' now," Alphonse says encouragingly. The trekkers spend the night in simple straw huts in the shade of breadfruit trees. Their enthusiasm cools somewhat when they see the boards that the sleeping bags are rolled out on. "But it's really well-booked," Alphonse insists.

Tahiti, the largest of the Society Islands, is usually the first stop for holidaymakers in French Polynesia. From there they travel on to islands like Huahine, Bora Bora and Moorea. In addition to the Society Islands, four other archipelagoes make up the French overseas territory: the Marquesas Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Gambier Islands and the Austral Islands.

Some islands rise high out of the water and have beaches with black, volcanic sand. Others are flat and barely above the waves. Moorea is one of the dark islands. It is where, in 1788, Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty is said to have cast anchor. The 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty," with Marlon Brando in the role of mutinous master's mate Fletcher Christian, was shot on Tahiti, however.

About 265,000 people live on the approximately 130 islands in French Polynesia. The region was discovered by Europeans in the 17th century. In 1722, Jacob Roggeveen, a Dutchman, landed on Bora Bora. English sea captain Samuel Wallis dropped anchor off Tahiti in 1767.

The first Christian missionaries arrived in 1797 and prohibited the natives' provocative dances and tattoos. The missionaries' work was successful: Today some 90 per cent of Polynesians are Christian. Tattoos, though, are back in fashion.

The islands appear paradisaically simple to live on. There is fruit and fish in abundance. Nature's balance is delicate, however. While the inhabitants of French Polynesia appreciate this, nature is their source of income. So they sometimes lose sight of ecology.

That is what happened on Bora Bora nearly 10 years ago. One day the manta rays stopping coming. They used to let themselves be fed with bits of fish and stroked by the reef every day. Then the construction of two luxury hotels began nearby. Concrete piles were driven into the floor of the lagoon, and the mantas disappeared. They did not reappear at their old haunt until last summer.

Bora Bora also has a large water-treatment facility now. Previously, waste water flowed into the sea untreated.

All tourists are for environmental friendliness in principle. Nevertheless, they like to be provided with things such as throwaway slippers and packaged soap. The people on Bora Bora dream of having a direct flight to the island from Los Angeles or Sydney. And the hoteliers would like to have a golf course, too. So far, there are only two of them in French Polynesia - on Moorea and Tahiti.

Some islands have their refuse taken by boat to Papeete, the main town on Tahiti, where it can be incinerated. Fruit scraps, paper and palm fronds are burned right on the islands, and it is very tempting to sneak a bit of plastic trash into the flames.

As a result, holidaymakers can find themselves sitting in a cloud of smoke - on Tikehau, for example, in the Tuamotu Archipelago. Some 300 kilometres from Tahiti, the archipelago is renowned as a diver's paradise, with tortoises and hammerhead sharks. And when smoke from burning trash starts to rise behind your hotel, diving is all that really helps.

The inconvenience is particularly annoying considering the expense of a South Sea holiday. Garden bungalows in a five-star resort cost about 300 euros a day. Prices for an overwater bungalow start at 800 euros, and exceed 1,000 euros at the more elegant resorts.

If you have money to spare, South Sea pearls are a good buy. A top-quality strand used to cost about 10,000 euros. As the business was so lucrative, pearl farms produced more, leading to overproduction and falling prices. The price of black South Sea pearls is now half of what it was five years ago.

That almost makes another long trip to the South Pacific worthwhile already.

Internet: www. tahiti-tourisme. com (dpa)