Mt. Otemayu rises through a motu-ringed lagoon to create the island of Bora Bora, one of French Poylynesia's most popular (and beautiful) paradise destinations.

Few travel experiences top the seductive seclusion of living in a perpetual hover over the paradise of a tropical lagoon with crystal clear water, fish normally only seen in aquariums eager for crumbs, and the hypnotic forever of an endless ocean.

The Milky Way is a stunning backdrop to Bora Bora's beautiful Mt. Otemanu.

The broken crags of the north ridge of Mont Rotui on the French Polynesian island of Mo'orea capture the mid-morning sun.

All photo adventures involve transporation...some of it tiring, some of it painful, some of it expensive, and, on rare occasions, some of it AMAZING. They called this tiny, 2-seat, mid-engine ragtop a "Mini Jeep Roadster," though its actual brand remains a mystery. We spent a day exporing the Polynesian island of Mo'orea in this zippy cart and wish we could have brought it home.

On the Polynesian island of Mo'orea in the Society Islands Archipelago, just a few kilometers due east of Tahiti, the 899 meter tall Mont Rotui sits between Cook's Bay (right) and Opunohu Bay (left). This view from the popular Belvedere Lookout offers panoramic views of other surrounding peaks and Opunohu Valley below.

Part of what makes Bora Bora's Mt. Otemanu stunning is the texture of the stone as it rises and sheds its vegetation.

Centrally located on the French Polynesian island of Mo'orea, the beautiful Marae Ti'i-rua, believed to be portals between Po, the world of the gods and darkness, and the Ao, the everyday world of people and light, so that people could communicate with their ancestors.

The fight for crumbs was real in a northern lagoon off the French Polynesian island of Mo'orea.

A beautiful school of lagoon fish twist and turn around the coral near the French Polynesian isalnd of Mo'orea.

Invited by breadcrumbs, lagoon fish were happy to visit the surface.

Lagoon fish near the French Polynesian island of Mo'orea were happy to visit the surface after an offer of breadcrumbs.