Which Pacific paradise is for you: Fiji or French Polynesia?

By Amy Cooper

Bula! It's almost certainly the first word you'll hear on arrival in Fiji - and, perhaps, a few hours earlier if you're travelling there on Fiji Airways.

The warmth of the greeting, delivered with sincere smiles that don't vanish once the seatbelt signs are off, helped earn the national carrier its Best Airline Staff Service in Asia & Pacific gong in this year's aviation Oscars, the World Airline Awards.

Bula, just like the Hawaiian aloha, is bigger than hello. It's the Fijian islands' spirit in a single word: friendship, good health, kindness, sincerity, love - and most of all, happiness.

No matter how many T-shirts you print it on, bula never loses its power, because it's real. Fiji even has a "bulanaire list", celebrating people who are rich in happiness.

Bula is Fiji's bounty (no mutiny required). It's there when you bask in a hammock between palm trees over milky sand, with nothing to ruffle your bliss except the occasional solicitous delivery of a fresh mango juice.

Or kayaking azure lagoons through dense rainforests and steep canyons, where little local kids beam their bulas while you splash beneath skyscraper-high waterfalls.

Or swimming with massive, gentle manta rays in the Yasawa Islands, in an underwater idyll that moved Jacques Cousteau to name Fiji the "soft coral capital of the world".

Fiji has 333 islands, all brimming with the indomitable spirit of bula.

Among them are unspoilt paradises like the remote Lau Islands and the Mamanuca Islands, where Tom Hanks washed up in the movie Cast Away, grew an improbable beard and bonded with a volleyball while failing woefully to appreciate the surrounding beauty.

You can be a much happier Fiji castaway on one of the archipelago's numerous islands available for affordable private hire.

Dolphin Island (eight guests), Matangi Island (12 couples) and the 10-guest Nukubati Private Island - the only Fiji island with access to the Great Sea Reef - all bring both billionaire and bulanaire lifestyle within easy reach.

The problem with Tom Hanks' castaway was that he didn't meet any Fijians. If he had, he'd still be there. Fiji's people are its true source of bula, and their famed friendliness is open, honest and irresistible.

You'll feel it when connecting over kava ceremonies and lovo banquets. It's the secret of those parent-heaven family Fijian resorts, where gifted nannies who actually adore kids make Mary Poppins look like a clumsy amateur.

It's why you feel like a genuine guest rather than an uncomfortable spectator when you visit Fijian villages.

You can splash out on six-star luxury or beat your budget, but in Fiji everyone's a bulanaire.

By Mal Chenu

Whether you begin your day with "Bula" or "Bonjour", you can't go wrong visiting either of these South Pacific beauties.

But, in my humble opinion, despite the idyllic fabulousness of both, French Polynesia wins in a photo - make that an Instagram - finish. No filters or photoshopping were necessary to pimp up the pics you see in online brochures. It really is that stunning.

If you're reading this while sipping champagne and lying in a bubble bath aboard your private plane and thinking "Tahiti looks nice", you'd be right. The well-heeled couple in the Cussons Imperial Leather soap advert nailed it when they said to the pilot "Simon, Tahiti."

More for lovers than families, the Islands of Tahiti are exclusive, expensive and just about the most romantic place on the planet.

Simon - or whoever is flying the plane - will set you down in Papeete on the main island. Many itineraries whisk you off to your resort island the next morning but you should spend at least a day or two visiting the pearl markets, checking out the heavy surf at Teahupoo and dining at Les Roulottes (fancy food vans) in Vai'ete Square on the waterfront at sunset. The Tahitian highlands are straight out of a Michener novel. Lush mountains rise steeply and disappear into the mist high above. Waterfalls spout from the undergrowth and pour earthwards in thin streams against the deep-green foliage.

When you do reach your resort in Bora Bora, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea or Rangiroa, the hedonistic splendour will have you gasping in awe.

The vibrant colours that sprang so pleasingly onto the canvasses of artist Paul Gauguin are now yours.

The lagoons' 50 shades of blue. The kaleidoscopic fish around equally vivid coral reefs. The seven-petalled tiare flowers towering like tropical fascinators on the heads of the locals. The pink beach sand on Tikehau. The striking, must-have black pearl memento.

It is no surprise these islands inspired the invention of the overwater bungalow, the staple Bora Bora accommodation. But you should proceed with caution as these luxury hotel rooms on stilts will ruin you for all future holiday digs. Climb into the lagoon from your own ladder, watch fish swim beneath your feet through your glass-floored shower and have your breakfast delivered by canoe.

This picture-perfect Pacific paradise would be immaculate on its own, but then, almost unfairly, they finish it off with the savoir faire of French accents and culinary expertise layered onto the delicious cuisine.

If you set out to design a holiday nirvana, French Polynesia would be your template.

"Simon..."