The ocean defines Hawaii. It's a place where the bedlam of evolution has taken audacious steps, enchanting and astonishing even the most well-traveled diver. It's a destination where huge schools of dolphins, legions of green sea turtles, manta rays, reef sharks and whales share space with rare dragon morays, Tinker's butterflyfish and piles of endemic marine life. These critters are lots of things, but they aren't shy — chances are you'll see a big chunk of Hawaii's undersea biodiversity during the span of aaote speck of land on Earth: Its idyllic shores are more than 1,000 miles from any other landmass. It's an inconspicuous sprinkling of island riches, hidden away in the center of the immense Pacific Ocean.

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The amazement factor continues above the surface. When you mention a tropical paradise, the first place that comes to the world's shared imagination of island perfection is Hawaii. Waterfalls here seem to cascade from only the most cinematic of cliffs. The rainforests are thick with unique flora and fauna, and everything exudes a sense of the exotic. There are deep red-rock canyons, silky red-, green-, black- and white-sand beaches that stretch off to the horizon, volcanoes that flow violently into the sea and acres of freshly hardened lava that look like a desolate black moonscape. There's also something deeply inspiring about a lifestyle where flip-flops, T-shirts and board shorts are daily attire. It's an addictive Polynesian world offering a lifetime of adventure, discovery and exploration.