It's impossible to lump into one general description all the dive experiences available in these, the most remote specks of land on the globe. More than 30 percent of all the marine life flitting around these waters is endemic to Hawaii. Want big? A night dive off the Big Island, where up to 20 giant manta rays have been known to show up, is best described as "otherworldly" … and unremittingly spectacular. Offshore of the Big Island, you'll find pilot whales usually followed by oceanic whitetips.

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Hop over to Maui, which is considered to have Hawaii's greatest diversity of diving, and immediately head out to that famous volcanic sliver called Molokini Crater. Whether diving the steep drop-offs of the back side or the coral gardens of the inside, you'll get intimate with whitetip reef sharks, loads of butterflyfish and sleeping green sea turtles. Local PADI dive centers frequent Lanai and nearby Molokai, which harbor legions of colorful marine life.

||| |---|---| | M U S T D O| Take Flight Take a helicopter flight over the breathtaking Na Pali coast on Kauai, or over the burbling volcano on the Big Island. | | M U S T D I V E| 1 ** Kona Night Dive (Big Island) 2 ** Molokini Crater (Maui)** 3 ** The Mahi (Oahu) ** 4 ** Sheraton Caverns (Kauai)** 5 ** Niihau| Off Oahu, you'll find Hawaii's greatest concentration of wrecks. You don't have to be certified for long before you begin to hear about the possibilities of diving the wreck of the Mahi, off the Waianae coast. Eels, pufferfish and schools of spotted eagle rays greet divers, as well as shoals of striped grunts. Within sight of the Waikiki skyline awaits the wreck of the YO-257 and an unlucky Corsair. Of course, no trip to Oahu would be complete without snorkeling or diving Hanauma Bay, which has the highest concentration of Hawaii's native species. When you fly into Kauai, you may have half of Hollywood on your plane. Hundreds of films and TV shows have used this "Garden Island" as a backdrop, including Jurassic Park and Elvis' Blue Hawaii. Most of the diving is off Poipu Beach in the south, where you'd have to be blind to miss an encounter with sea turtles. But for the crème of the Hawaiian dive experience, come to Kauai between May and September and head to Niihau, where you'll find some of the best diving in the Pacific.

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Some things are constant throughout all these island paradises, though: The haunting soundtrack of the humpback whalesong accompanies you on dives from November to April; the effervescent "aloha spirit" permeates every corner of the Hawaiian experience; and the wealth of topside diversions — from ineffably beautiful waterfalls and vistas to mountain treks, biking and volcanoes — will leave you as breathless as the undersea wonders.