Hawaii is home to extraordinary beauty. Its landscape ranges from white startling sandy beaches to spectacular trails on lush green mountains to astonishing still-volatile volcanoes.  Hawaii is our own paradise: exotic, yet familiar.

Hawaii contains six major islands, each of which has its own distinction:

OAHU: The Gathering Place, the home of many luxurious hotels and the most celebrated beach: Waikiki. Also, the place for ethnic, wild culinary adventures, and the spot for shopping ecstasy.

MAUI: The next most urbanized and visited island. Molokini, a tiny island with a crescent moon shape, lies just off Maui's coast, and is a hidden getaway. With clear water, abundant fish, and thriving coral, it is a popular snorkel and dive spot.

THE BIG ISLAND: Rich volcanic soil, abundant mountain water, warm Pacific sun, and cool tradewinds combine to create the world-famous Kona coffee, exclusive to the Big Island. The Big Island's most stunning vistas are around Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

KAUAI: It plays a major part in film history and served as the stand-in for locations in Africa, Australia, Bali Hai, Tahiti, and Arizona - in movies such as South Pacific, King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Outbreak, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Six Days, Seven Nights.

LANAI: To "get away from it all." Bill Gates rented this island for his wedding in 1994. One source says: "it's actually kind of illegal to rent a Hawaiian island, but we'll give Bill the benefit of the doubt and assume it wasn't his word that shut down public roads and access during the wedding." Think about it this way, he could get married anywhere in the world, but he chose Lanai, so the place must be something, huh?

MOLOKAI: The last stronghold of rural Hawaii. Its rich soil has produced the world's best growing conditions for many crops. North Kalaupapa Peninsula is a natural historic park that was a home to the famous Father Damien, a Belgian priest who arrived there in 1873. Never having left the island since, he devoted himself to the Hansen's disease patients in the settlement, until he tragically caught and died from the disease at the age of 49.