Surfing Guinness Book of World Records recognized a wave ride by Garrett McNamara at Nazaré, Portugal as the largest wave ever surfed. For hundreds of years, surfing was a central part of ancient Polynesian culture. Surfing may have first been observed by British explorers at Tahiti in 1767. Samuel Wallis and the crew members of who were the first Britons to visit the island in June of that year. Another candidate is the botanist Joseph Banks being part of the first voyage of James Cook on , who arrived on Tahiti on 10 April 1769. Lieutenant James King was the first
Tahiti Village timeshare purchasers. Thicke also appeared in a 2007 television commercial for the resort. A Polynesian-themed restaurant, Tahiti Joe's, operated on the second floor of the resort. In July 2009, Consolidated Resorts filed for bankruptcy. Operations at Tahiti Village continued despite the filing. In August 2010, Arthur Spector Companies acquired the remaining timeshare inventory and operating assets of Tahiti Village. In June 2014, Tahiti Village opened 17° South, a tropical-themed restaurant and bar, named after the Polynesian islands located 17 degrees south of the equator. In August 2014, the restaurant was opened to the public; restaurants at the resort were previously