Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook

Just returned from a week in Maui and really enjoyed having this book as a guide to the island. I also had several other books like Fodor's, etc, but in my opinion this book is the best of the bunch. I have often wondered why guidebooks are of two varieties; either a drab sanitized book full of text and no color and pictures, or a book full of pictures with minimal written substance. This book seems to combine the best of both, authoritative in depth text based on the experiences of someone who lives on the island as well as nice color maps and pictures of notable sights. For the most part my experiences jived with the authors commentary.

Some of my own observations. The most exclusive areas on the island are around Kapalua and Wialea. These areas are beautiful but they are also somewhat remote from the "action". If your idea of a good holiday is to stay on a resort than these areas are great, but if you want some local culture/flavor, good restaurants, shopping and nightlife, and proximity, than I would recommend staying in the Kaanapali area which has nice resorts and is also close to Lahaina, the town where all the action is.

Using this book I visited some of what I thought were the most beautiful beaches on the island, Big Beach on the south side and black sand beach, red sand beach, Koki Beach and Hamoa beach near Hana. Enjoyed the drive to Hana, but unlike the author of this book I actually thought the beaches were more of a highlight than the waterfalls, which I didn't think were all that spectacular. Koki Beach and Hamoa Beach were incredible and the drive around Haneoo Rd. was breathtaking.

If your going to Maui and want an informative book this is the best bet in my opinion.

We have traveled to Maui enough times to think that we knew the island well. This book reveals many hidden secrets on Maui that even the seasoned visitor will find it of value.

Over the course of our visits to the Island, we have had an opportunity to take part in a large number of activities with many of the different companies that serve the tourist trade on Maui. Doughty and Friedman's evaluation of the different activities and their providers is fair and accurate. They give accurate, and often funny evaluation of restaurants and locations (my favorite being the Mexican restaurant about which they state "...we now know what hospital food must taste like in Mexico."

You often wonder if travel writers are paid off to say what they do about mediocre activities and hotels. These writes call it like it is. My only regret is that they have revealed many of the places that took us years to find (and are relatively hidden), meaning that they will probably be more crowded in the future. If you want to avoid tour rip-off's and enjoy your time while on The Valley Isle, make sure you add this book to your luggage.

My husband and I decided to honeymoon in Maui; neither of us had ever been to a tropical island and the destination was highly recommended to us. Two of our friends had gone to Maui a month before we did and brought this book with them--they raved about it so much that we all passed an enjoyable evening together before we left during which they sticky-noted the MUST SEE places in our copy of the book. (For the record, the waterfalls they recommended on the road to Hana were spectacular.)

I read the book cover to cover before we left and it gave me a great overview of the island's geography, attractions, and unique qualities. I am just back from the vacation and ready to return, and I will probably get a copy of their book for another island because of the "big picture" they so superbly provide. What regions are best for this or that, how far different locales are from each other, the general lay of the land, that sort of thing--I've never read a guidebook that gave me that kind of information before.

The drawback to this book is on the specifics. Maybe I'm too much of a "city gal" (I never really considered San Diego that cosmopolitan) but their recommendations for food and cultural experiences were a little too provincial. For example, the authors write that the "odd and bizarre add color to Pa'ia like no other Maui town" and recommend people watching as a main attraction. Now, I think that Pa'ia has the best shopping on the island (far more interesting than Lahaina, which is junk shops interspersed with fine art galleries) but a few guys with long braids and girls with ankle bracelets do not a people-watching location make. Nor is putting fish on pita bread culinary cleverness (tasty though it might be).

The real problem with Maui Revealed, however, is its overexposure. Even the guy sitting next to me on the plane had the book. At one point during our vacation, a local volunteer at one of their carefully described snorkeling spots stopped us at the trailhead just to explain how the ecology of the region has suffered in the past five years because of the sudden increase of foot traffic and swimming in what was once a sheltered cove. It was ten in the morning and we were persons number 40 and 41 to start on that trail. On a weekday, off season. He convinced us not to go (we were numbers 12 and 13 not to go after he talked to us--he was collecting data) and gave us a recommendation of where to go instead. I can't compare it to the Aquarium (a Maui Revealed spot) but the snorkeling where we went was amazing--we went back to it on another day, too.

Besides overpopularity, the other drawback I found were vague directions that could have gotten us into a lot of trouble. There were two hikes we followed at the authors' recommendation, both of which resulted in us getting quite lost and me somewhat afraid (my husband says he didn't think we were really that lost). The first was a trek up the hill of Pu'u O'lai in Makena. They said something like you have to traipse about a 100 feet through the forest until you find the trail. We never found it. The other was a hike to a quadruple waterfall path on the road to Hana (across government land no less--my guilty conscience flared up when I heard the helicopters overhead!). Maybe we are incompetent woodsmen but we actually lost the path three times on our way to the second waterfall (this in a bamboo forest so dark that our flash photos just look like black shapes) and I came out of there filthy with mud and sporting some rash on all four appendages! (Trust me, it's no heat rash either.) I don't think I'll go on anymore revealed adventures.

Yes, the book is great for newcomers to the island of Maui who want background information about this destination, especially when they are deciding what neighborhood to stay in and what kinds of attractions to see there. I do not recommend using this book to set your specific itinerary. ALthough we started out with this plan, we had fabulous luck actually talking to locals once we got there, like Ephraim at Onelui Beach, Sai the waiter at Pupu Something Restaurant, the girl at the snorkel shop, Hyper Miqe at the trail to the Aquarium, and Tasia the hitchhiker, and Sheldon the four-year-old who instructed us not to put flippers on our ears--not one of these folks steered us wrong. We could not have planned a better vacation.

This book is fantastic. I have just recently returned from a trip to Maui and had to tell anyone else that has planned a trip to Maui that this book is a must have!! I went to Maui a couple of years ago (without reading this book) and was able to see some of the fabulous sites that Maui has to offer - there are many - but using 'Maui Revealed' during my second trip, I was able to discover so many things that I missed the first time because I didn't know where everything was. Specifically the information on the 'Road to Hana' and the 'Road around the West Maui' mountains. The book calls out mile markers to stop at on these roads and it's pretty easy to follow. Trust me, without reading this book, you will drive right past all of the beautful hidden waterfalls and fresh water pools. Local pamphlets do a good job of informing visitors of major sites, like the Haleakala Crater and the Seven Sacred Pools - but not one mentioned the Olivine Pools located on the North side of the West Maui Mountains. Thanks to this book I was swimming in them!!! The only faults that I had with the book was the authors threw in some opinions which I didn't always share - like 'the Windjammer Dinner Cruise' is just that - people jammed on a boat. I have taken the Windjammer Dinner Cruise and we weren't crammed into it and the food was delicious. Also the authors made a remark about the 'Lahaina Divers' Scuba Diving Co, putting 50 people on their boat for every dive. Again, I have dived with Lahaina Divers and there has been anywhere from 10 to 30 people on board. My recommendation is to use this book for exploring Maui's land, but don't take to heart their statements on activities.

Mahalo,

HoagieBlossom

I found this guide useful for planning my trip before I left home, mostly because it includes several pictures and fairly good maps. I used it to make a prioritized itinerary for the road to Hana---which stops to make, which hikes to go on, etc. We only had one day for the road to Hana, so we could not make every stop. I thought the guide did a pretty decent job of sorting out the mundane sites from the must see. The maps for the road to Hana are also very useful. We returned from Hana via the South road at night. It was no problem at all. It was certainly more fun than turning around and going back the way we came. The road is a lot less winding, which was nice. It does go up and down a lot, though. There was nothing wrong with the road at all, but you do need to watch out for the cows. There are signs warning you when you get to cattle country. The cow crossings are kind of a give away too. FYI, we made the trip in an economy car.

I am in debt to Maui Revealed for its recommendation to see Warren & Annabelle's, which was great. I would recommend, however, that anyone going to see this hilarious show should go late. An hour and a half killing time and eating snacks before the show was a drag. I suppose the wait might be more entertaining if you plan to get drunk.

When we actually got to Maui, we used Lonely Planet's guide almost exclusively. We started with Maui Revealed, but then we found that Lonely Planet's instructions were considerably more useful than those in Maui Revealed. In fact, with the exception of the road to Hana, the Lonely Planet guide was far superior for everything.

I would recommend getting both guides if you have never been to Maui before. If this is not your first trip and you do not plan to go to Hana, skip Maui Revealed entirely. It simply does not have enough substance to be worth the time reading it. The "revelations" in the book are all regular tourist destinations that appear to have been visited for at least a hundres years. You will never be alone. Everyone has Maui Revealed on their back seat or in their hand. The recommended restaurants are over priced. I had to laugh when I saw long lines of people waiting to get into a hamburger joint or a local dive for lunch. I would suggest trying the restaurants NOT listed in Maui Revealed. I think you will get food that is just as good and avoid rediculous lines. Best meal we had on Maui? Maui Tacos on our Lanai at sunset. Cheap, great food, and our lanai had a better view than any restaurant we saw! Perhaps Maui Revealed mentions Maui Tacos. I wouldn't know. I got the tip from Lonely Planet.

About the 3rd edition of Maui Revealed, I checked out the 2nd edition from the library and read it cover to cover. I then ordered the 3rd edition online from Amazon. After a page-by-page comparison, I was shocked to find that the only difference seems to be that a couple of pictures were changed. This is the saddest "update" I have ever seen in a travel guide. Buy the 2nd edition if you can get it cheap.

Lastly, we saw several signs with messages like, "Contrary to Maui Revealed,please respect our rights. This is private property."