WHEN IT COMES TO CHARM, THESE ISLANDS CAN COOK.

Byline: Mary S. Hartman Special to the Daily News

It's hard to tell who is more fascinated by these tiny specks of land in the middle of vast seas - the people who visit them or the islanders who play host.

Take the tiny atoll of Atiu, part of the Cook group, 800 miles southwest of Tahiti. It was visited last fall as part of a cruise and tour put together by Seattle-based Society Expeditions.

Atiu is part volcanic, part raised coral reef and almost all tropical jungle. Who among travelers wouldn't be captivated by the kindly, hospitable people who came from their inland villages to welcome the ``people from overseas''? Who could not be touched as island women placed thick leis over our necks and planted kisses on our cheeks? And, who could have missed the love in the words of the island pastor as he welcomed us with prayer:

``Thank you, God, for bringing these people to our island from overseas. Thank you for the good weather. We pray our visitors will have a good time on our island.''

Then came the dancers - husky young men and delicate young women whose arms and hips swayed in tandem with the beachfront palms and to the deafening beat of drums that filled the Atiu community hall. Just when it seemed as if the cadence could grow no louder, it did.

Enter a dazzling girl with tresses of gleaming, waist-length black hair. The girl was about to get a `hair-do' - albeit an odd one by Western standards. Standing over her was a young man, who only moments before, in a display of manliness, had gnashed through a coconut shell with his bare teeth.

Now he turned that shell upside down and dumped coconut milk over his dance partner's head. The shower quickly reduced that mane of hair to a sticky, gooey mess.

But the ritual was complete: The visitors had been welcomed.

This cruise, on the 138-passenger World Discoverer, was a unique one, offering education and adventure as it called at six tropical islands - all in small-ship comfort. Society Expeditions takes passengers through at least a dozen South Pacific island groups from New Guinea to Easter Island. And this itinerary was particularly memorable.

Rarotonga

It was on this, the largest of the Cooks, that we learned about ``island time.''

In dutiful Western fashion, we checked into the Rarotongan Beach Resort on Sunday and promptly signed up for ``Pa's Cross Island Trek'' on Monday.

``Be at the front desk at 8:30 tomorrow morning,'' the clerk advised. By 9:15 the next morning, that same clerk consented to call dispatch, just to confirm that Pa still planned to take us hiking that day. In another 10 minutes or so, a van lumbered up the road and we climbed in. And, that's how it went. An hour here, an hour there . . . what's the fuss?

Near starvation is one legitimate reason. Two nights later at the renowned Flame Tree, a gourmet restaurant featuring to-die-for dining, we almost did just that - darned near died as we waited an hour and a half for dinner. Then, it appeared: Singapore chili prawns, fish marinated in lime juice with coconut and peanut sauce and rib-eye steaks. Shame on us, it was food that could be prepared only on island time.

Cook Islanders will celebrate New Year's on island time, too. Rarotonga and other Polynesian islands will be among the first places on the planet to see the first sunrise of 2000. Big things are being planned for the islands. One promotion, ``Double Dawn,'' will put big spenders in Auckland, New Zealand, in the wee hours of Jan. 1, 2000. Once the sun peeks over the horizon there, the revelers will board a jet and zoom 1,500 miles northeast to Rarotonga, crossing the international date line on the way. Some 22 hours later, they'll again witness the sun rising on 2000.

Aitutaki

We arrived on Aitutaki the very day the islanders installed a new chief, and we were invited to the ceremony. The elected one was a handsome young man who would take the title of mayor. His swearing in, however, would not be conventional.

The rickety old bus ground to a stop in a jungle clearing. We stepped off. Close by, 5-foot slabs of coral marked a marae, an ancient family sacred site. It was in this primeval space that the investiture ceremony - an astounding display of music and dance - would take place.

The beat of drums and the drone of primitive chants brought a hush, then an air of expectancy to the forest. Then came a ferocious drumming, and from out of the jungle materialized a dozen swaying young people.

Though we didn't know it then, we were about to be treated to a performance by the South Pacific dance champions. In competition after competition, Aitutaki dancers take the prize. And on that day in that velvet green tropical forest, we learned why.

For 30 minutes, the crown jewels of Aitutaki mesmerized the visitors with a dazzling display of swaying hips, undulating arms and quivering knees. Their agile bodies danced like limbs of a tender willow waving in a spring storm. Then, with a crescendo of energy and a crashing of drums, the jungle divided again, and from the trees emerged the new chief. Borne on a bamboo palate, carried by his comrades, the honored one bowed before the visitors, donned his ceremonial headdress, jumped to the ground and raised his arms in jubilation.

Mopelia

If you've ever wanted to get away from it all, Mopelia, in the Society Group, is the place to go. About the only creatures that call Mopelia home are 100,000 or so pairs of sea birds. At night, sea turtles come ashore to lay eggs.

Until 1997, 100 or so intrepid souls stuck around to mine the waters for seed oysters, which later were sent off to pearl farms in Tahiti. Two cyclones, however, persuaded the residents to find living quarters elsewhere, so when you get to Mopelia, it's pretty much the sea and thee.

It was on Mopelia, a one-square-mile island shaped like the white, ruffled claim shells that litter its beaches, that we learned about sea birds, wondrous creatures who quite literally make their living at the sea. They plunge hundreds of feet to make a catch in the ocean, and sleep on the water with their heads tucked beneath their wings.

They also can take naps of a minute or two at a time while aloft. Mother Nature also provided these birds with special desalination units so they can drink seawater and secrete fresh water.

Seabirds use land only for nesting and, indeed, we tiptoed gingerly through cyclonic rubble of Mopelia lest we step on one of the precious eggs.

Bora Bora

Soaring high above the Bora Bora lagoon, a brown booby might be able to do this legendary island in a day, but for mere humans, it's impossible. And it's even less so when that day is a Sunday, the shops are closed and almost everyone is in church.

Those who believe in a doomsday may have Bora Bora in mind. It's sinking. Bora Bora was created 5 million years ago when an underwater volcano burst through the surface of the ocean. Over time and under its own weight, the volcano has sunk, although two spectacular, rugged peaks and jungle-covered rock masses remain, along with the island's brilliant lagoon.

It was in that lagoon, with stone-faced Mount Otemanu peering downward, that World Discoverer passengers feasted on a most memorable meal. On the ship's sun deck, the chefs whipped up a barbecue lunch - steak, chicken, pork and fish, with enough side dishes and desserts to feed all the South Pacific. Was this Paradise or was it a dream?

Tahiti

Arriving here means dealing with the island's traffic-snarled capital, Papeete, which resembles a lot of cities with too many cars and too much noise and pollution. ``Tahiti's not much,'' visitors will say after that introduction.

Don't believe it. Even Papeete boasts a splendid crafts market - a huge edifice where natives sell woven baskets, purses, hats and all manner of items made with shells. The market is a wonderful place to while away an afternoon.

After the exotic stops on World Discoverer's itinerary, what can Tahiti offer? Try an interior safari, where you'll mingle with the jungle and ooh and ahh at waterfalls plunging hundreds of feet into crystal pools. Get face-to-face with a reef shark in the Lagoonarium. Arrive there in time for the noontime fish feeding.

Spend a morning moseying through the Museum of Tahiti. Spend an evening at the Belvedere, high atop a mountain overlooking the island. And, before you board that flight home, take the ferry to Moorea. Rent a motorbike and see the island up close.

After this tour of the South Seas, you're sure to return home with rich memories of Paradise.

Information on Society Expeditions cruises to the South Pacific can be obtained at [phone]; Web: www.societyexpeditions.com.

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Photo: Papeete, Tahiti, boasts a splendid crafts market where natives sell woven items, including hats, and various items made with shells.