Moorea in 4 days

At 240 metres, at the head of the Opunohu valley, it takes in both bays either side of Mount Rotui, via pineapple fields and forest.

Stone platforms under giant Tahitian chestnut trees, restored in 1967 by Yosihiko Sinoto, the traces of pre-European society in the Opunohu valley.

Moorea's classic hike, about 90 minutes up from the lookout to a pass beneath Mouaroa and Tohivea, with views over Opunohu Bay and the lagoon.

A 3 km tropical fjord below Mount Rotui, with Paopao at its head; Cook never actually anchored here but in neighbouring Opunohu Bay, in 1777.

A 200-metre hill above Papetoai on the north-west coast, its flattened top looking over the lagoon, the islets and Opunohu Bay.

From August to October humpbacks arrive from Antarctica to calve, and regulated boats let snorkellers into the water at a set distance.

A sandbank a metre deep between the Tiahura and Fareone islets, where stingrays used to people gather and blacktip reef sharks keep their distance.

The island's public beach on the east coast facing Tahiti: a kilometre of white sand, clear shallow water and coral a few strokes from shore.