A blend of what’s best about South Seas islands—crystal waters, pristine stretches of beach lined with palms and the touches of international comfort and luxury that make isolation nothing less than splendid: That’s the allure of Bora Bora. Only an eight-hour flight from Los Angeles, this atoll surpasses even the great expectations raised when island aficionado James A. Michener declared that Bora Bora has the world’s most beautiful lagoon. Think of the island as the weekend getaway from the comparative hustle and bustle of Tahiti, itself described as paradise. The perfect Bora Bora day begins with a dawn breakfast from your over-water bungalow deck, then a guided tour of the atoll on wave-runners, then a stop on a deserted beach for lunch of barbecued lobster. Then perhaps there will be an hour of swimming with sharks and bat rays, schools of them mysteriously mellowed by the warm aqua waters. Spend some time shopping for black pearls in the central village of Vaitape, or perhaps enjoy an afternoon massage, full of locally harvested healing oils carrying a faint sweet smell of tiare. And finally, before dinner, have sunset cocktails overlooking Mount Otemanu, the extinct volcano that is paradise’s distinctively craggy profile.