Two months before Captain James Cook left on his first voyage around the world in 1768, another ship returned to England with tales of a newly discovered tropical paradise in the South Pacific, an island surrounded by a turquoise lagoon and populated by beautiful and friendly women.

Sailors signed up in droves to go with Cook, who made the island a refueling base for his three unprecedented voyages around the world.

The island was Tahiti. It quickly became a destination for adventurers like Cook and for lonely sailors in search of a lover, like the mutineers from the British ship Bounty, who set their captain adrift so they could stay behind and marry Tahitian women.

More than two centuries later, Tahiti and neighboring islands in French Polynesia have morphed into a destination for Hollywood stars, luxury travelers, and honeymooners, who can spend more than $1,000 a night to sleep in overwater bungalows and hundreds more on massages and meals delivered by outrigger canoe.

And with nonstop flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport on Air Tahiti Nui that began last July, New Yorkers can now get there in only 12 hours.

Cook named the archipelago Society Islands, “as they lay contiguous to one another,” but Tahiti Tourisme has been trying to make a fancier moniker stick – Tahiti and Her Islands. So far, maps have ignored them and maintained the original name.

The most popular island in French Polynesia is Bora Bora, whose transformation from sleepy fishing community into luxury destination started with the arrival of American soldiers during World War II. More than a dozen hotels now pockmark the island, with three more under construction. Cruise ships use the hole blown by GIs more than 60 years ago in the barrier reef to enter the lagoon. Speedboats and jet skis swish up and down, while jeeps take visitors up the mountain.

But with the popularity comes the crowd, and the feeling of remoteness and isolation can be quickly lost. So honeymooners who want the luxury of Bora Bora but prefer a more secluded location head to neighboring Taha’a, another island discovered by Cook, where they part with more than $1,000 a night to be pampered at Le Taha’a Private Island and Spa, the sole resort on a private islet.

“Taha’a is now what Bora Bora used to be 50 years ago,” a hotel manager, Lauren Ross-Aublet, said. “It’s a destination for the few well-informed and well-traveled looking for a place out of the spotlight, far from crowds. We offer custom-made services and excursions according to your wishes. Even on an island very far from everything, impossible should not be a word we have to say.”

At Le Taha’a, tourists sunbathe on the white sand or on huge private decks next to overwater bungalows larger than some Manhattan apartments. Beach villas have their own private gardens and pools.

The posh accommodations offer spectacular panoramic views of the sun rising over the long-silent volcano on Taha’a and setting in the dark blue waters of the Pacific behind the lush Mount Otemanu, shooting up 2,385 feet from the Bora Bora lagoon.

Everything at the hotel is shaped like a boat, from the reception area to bathtubs in the bungalows. Glass panels in the floor let in the sun rays reflecting off the waves, making the bungalows glisten like an aquarium. Fish swim under the glass floor at night, attracted by the neon light beamed underwater on the coral reef.

“Taha’a is nice if you don’t want to do anything but relax and soak up the sun,” said Jason Doan of Phoenix, Ariz., who was on a diving trip with his fiancee, Kathryn Nelson. “The water bungalow was superb,” he added. Compared to Bora Bora, “It was bigger, with a larger patio – it was just nicer.”

“We’ve never been in a place like this before. It almost seems surreal,” a New Yorker, Monali Matthew, who was spending her honeymoon with her husband, Jason, said. “It’s so secluded and peaceful.”

It’s a common impression that French Polynesia leaves on honeymooners and young couples. In the latest annual survey by Modern Bride magazine, Tahiti placed third on the list of best honeymoon spots as seen by American travel agents. The overwater bungalow was voted “the ultimate honeymoon suite.”

“Tahiti always gets high marks for beaches, romance, and seclusion,” said Donna Heiderstadt, travel editor at Modern Bride. “It’s more exotic than Hawaii and there’s a fair chance that neither (newlywed) has been here before.”

Honeymooners make up about 60% of the market, according to Ruth Zimmerman, the executive vice-president at Tahiti Legends, a tour operator based in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Some tourists marry in Taha’a in a non-legally binding ceremony costing about $1,200.The Polynesian ritual starts with a muscular local man dressed like a warrior rowing the couple from their bungalow to the beach, where another imposing character wearing the garb of a tribal chief performs the ceremony to the sound of drumbeats while local Polynesian women dance. The short wedding concludes with the locals teaching the newlyweds a dance that includes a sequence where the two grind their bodies together in a move seemingly taken straight out of a hip-hop video.

Many services offered at the hotel are geared to newlyweds or young couples, who can arrange for breakfast delivered by canoe to their bungalow or a private dinner on the beach under the stars.

But at Le Taha’a, visitors may also rub elbows with European soccer stars relaxing with their families or with older American tourists taking advantage of cheaper prices during the East Coast winter, gambling that the capricious rainy season will not spoil their tan.

Scuba divers can investigate a nearby shipwreck, while snorkelers swim out toward the ocean and then let the current drag them back toward the island, passing right over a huge coral reef. The giant open-ocean waves that create the famous surf on other French Polynesian islands never reach Taha’a because of the protective barrier reefs, so the lagoon is calm and clear, ideal for viewing fish. The only negative is the shallowness of the water, which forces swimmers at times to scramble to avoid brushing against the sharp coral.

Daily boat trips ferry tourists to feed sharks and stingrays in the lagoon or to visit the aroma-filled plantations that give the flower-shaped Taha’a the nickname “Vanilla Island.”

A breathtaking helicopter ride takes those willing to spend a few extra hundred dollars on a 15-minute trip to Taha’a from Bora Bora, avoiding hours of transfers from boats to planes.

The only thing tourists consistently complain about in Tahiti is the expensive and often unremarkable hotel food.

Gone are the days of Captain Cook, when a six-inch nail could buy a sailor tired of the usual ship diet of salted meat and sauerkraut a hog in Tahiti. Now $19 will only buy you a cheeseburger, while a seafood buffet will set you back $70.

Dining options are limited, especially for people staying in the luxury resorts away from local villages. The food served at all the hotels is a mishmash of French, American, Japanese, and Polynesian cuisine – with more attention paid to the extravagant look of the dish than to its taste, it seems. Some tourists on Bora Bora even resort to going to local markets to buy water and snacks rather than eat at the hotels.

Compared to other hotels in Tahiti, the food is good at Le Taha’a, though it’s still expensive. With a restaurant nestled in the trees overlooking the lagoon, the setting almost compensated for the prices.

Nightlife consists of hanging around the hotel bar, waiting for the once-a-week Polynesian dance show. And if visitors grow tired of the beach, the hotel spa offers an extensive list of body treatments with prices ranging from $70 to $315 for a half-day regimen of body scrubs, massages, Jacuzzi baths and moisturizing wraps.

After a few days at Le Taha’a, honeymooners will understand why so many sailors have for centuries chosen to desert their ships and stay in Tahiti.