Experiencing Hawaii's adventurous side

The Island of Hawaii treats us to even more wildlife encounters. In Kailua Bay as we lunch on ahi tuna poke and slow-cooked kalua pig, we spot a shiny dolphin twirling as it leaps from the ocean.

Another breathtaking experience happens on the west coast in Kona, where we join Sea Quest for a manta ray night snorkel.

As our guides shine lights into the ocean from our raft, we watch these gentle creatures as they glide gracefully through the water to feed on plankton, getting so close that I feel as though I’m in an episode of Blue Planet II.

The Island of Hawaii is the youngest in the Hawaiian archipelago, and it’s nearly twice as big as all the other islands, so clients won’t struggle to find their own peaceful spot here.

The entire collection of islands was formed by a series of volcanoes rising and moving along the ocean floor, and it’s on the Island of Hawaii, with its four live volcanoes, that clients can get up close to some of them.

At Hawaii Volcanoes national park on the south of the island, we take a guided drive with KapohoKine Tours up to Halemaumau crater to watch Kilauea volcano send steady, ominous smoke creeping up into the sky.

Kilauea has been erupting since 1983, and it’s even more mesmerising at night, when a red glow lights up the crater and the sky above it.

Clients can easily spend a day here on a guided drive, getting out to walk through a lava tunnel, peering over steam vents and travelling through a savannah-like desert of lava fields.

The Jagger Museum near Kilauea’s crater is also worth a visit, and explains the islands’ geology and love of legends.

Pele is Hawaii’s fire goddess, and this powerful creator and destroyer is greatly revered by locals. “Never take lava rock from the island – Pele will send you bad luck,” warns our guide Lawrence.

Hawaii’s natural beauty puts on a visual feast that can’t be forgotten, yet the people who live here are just as captivating thanks to a laid- back outlook on life and a deep and uniquely spiritual culture.

While its American flavour makes Hawaii familiar, this faraway archipelago is also distinct and captivatingly exotic: a place where Ohia trees turn lava into soil, where the aloha spirit celebrates life in all forms, and where legends abound about Kamehameha, a king with the strength of 10 men and prophetic powers.

Juan is our driver on Kauai; a caramel-skinned septuagenarian who wears orchid-print shirts and his hair slicked back into a white ponytail. He entrances us all with his musings.

“Everything has a story and a name here,” he tells us. “Every tree and every river. There are spirits all around us. If you think this way too, the island will accept you.”

In an archipelago of such astounding beauty and natural force, it’s impossible not to see Juan’s point of view.

Book it: North America Travel Service offers five nights at Grand Hyatt Kauai, five nights at Hilton Waikoloa on the Island of Hawaii, a helicopter excursion in Kauai as well as all flights and transfers from £3,860pp based on twin occupancy for travel in November 2018. northamericatravelservice.co.uk

The trip from the UK to Hawaii takes around 18 hours, so a Santa Monica stopover is a good way to break up the journey and ease clients out of their jet jag.

The coastal city is situated eight miles away from Los Angeles International Airport, and unlike other parts of Los Angeles, it’s small enough that clients won’t need a car to get around, relying on taxis or the metro system instead.

Many of the city’s upscale hotels are located minutes away from the beach, including the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, whose rooms have recently been refurbished, and the Fairmont, which has expanded its luxury offering with a new blow-dry bar, Glam and Go.

If clients feel tired after the flight, recommend a trip to the swanky Montana Avenue neighbourhood.

Here they can indulge in a dedicated jet lag- busting treatment in one of the spas, or enjoy a healthy meal in the many restaurants and cafes that source their ingredients from the local farmers markets.

A walk along Santa Monica’s wide, palm-lined beach is a must, with its miles of soft sand and its kitsch-but- iconic pier.

Active clients can hire a bike from one of the rental shops dotted along the beachfront and go exploring along the Santa Monica beach path – also known as The Strand – which stretches for 22 miles from Torrance to Pacific Palisades.

Bikes cost around $10 an hour, while many of the smart hotels such as Casa del Mar, Shutters on the Beach and the Viceroy offer guests complimentary bike use.

On the four-mile cycle from Santa Monica to Venice Beach, clients will pass the aforementioned iconic hotels.

Even today, boho Venice is a place where anything goes; where hippies hang with dreadlocked rappers, where artists and musicians flogging their wares and where stores sell everything from Trump-bashing T-shirts to marijuana licences.

Cycling back, clients can check out the talent flexing their pecks on Muscle Beach, where the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger once beefed up.

Clients can also get around using the Free Ride Shuttle, a free service whereby guests send a text to be picked up from their hotel and dropped off at the city’s main attractions.

If it’s shopping they want, suggest Montana Avenue for chichi boutiques, Third Street Promenade for classic American brands or Main Street for retro vibes.

For art lovers, there’s Bergamot Station, a converted metro stop that’s now a collection of art galleries, or the hipster, artsy enclave of Pico Boulevard.

In fact, whatever their vibe, one of Santa Monica’s eight neighbourhoods will suit, while its compact size and relaxed atmosphere make it an easy stopover city with heaps of Californian character.