It’s 7pm on a Saturday night and I’m lying face down in the middle of the sea in Hawaii, clinging to a giant life raft with 30 other cold humans. We’re not shipwrecked; we’ve paid to float, our faces stuck in the water behind snorkelling masks. Beside us, a guide is explaining that the flashing blue light being emitted into the water is working to attract what we’re all waiting to see: manta rays.

It feels like a long 15 minutes of bobbing up and down before a giant black-and-white creature swoops into view. The manta glides casually, just inches past our faces, as the tube we are holding vibrates with our collective excitement. Embarrassingly, one of the guides captures my muffled shrieks of glee on his phone as the manta, whose wings span a colossal 12 feet, dips and swirls below us, putting on a show like the megastar it is. I don’t need my phone to capture the magic of the next half-hour; this is one of those experiences that stays in your brain forever. And it’s just a taster of the activities on offer in Hawaii.

I’ve flown to Hawaii’s brilliantly nicknamed ‘Big Island’ (it’s the largest of eight in the archipelago) and am staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village: a Disneyland for adults where guests are taken to their rooms via tram or mahogany canal boat. My balcony looks on to a pool of dolphins, to continue the fairytale aesthetic. As well as being on its own private beach, the hotel’s 62-acre “oceanfront playground” has a lagoon, three pools, a waterfall and a 175ft water slide – which you reach via a swaying rope bridge. A stay here isn’t complete without experiencing the most traditional of Hawaii events: a luau, or party, with Polynesian food such as a kalua pig and ocean fish and entertainment in the form of hula and fire dancers, all held under the stars and swaying palms.

Top travel tips for exploring Hawaii alone in 2018