Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook (Maui Revealed) | Andrew Doughty

Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook (Maui Revealed) | Andrew Doughty | Great book

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Maui Revealed: The...

	Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook (Maui Revealed) Andrew Doughty Wizard Publications Inc., 2007 - 312 pages average customer review:based on 335 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Most informative Maui travel guide.

I have used the third edition of this guide for the past two vacations to Maui and have received the fourth edition for my next trip a week from now, 4/18/08. Of the guides I have previewed at the book stores, I have found this one to be the easiest to navigate. The information is given in a narrative form for the most part. Humourous in places, it is nice to have a guidebook written by people who actually go to the restaurants, luau's and shops without revealing the nature of their visit, thereby receiving special attention. In simple terms their reviews are without bias. They are also extremely accurate. Though I find that the maps in the guide could be a little more detailed, at least the written directions are spot on. Color photography throughout. Yes Maui IS that beautiful! You will enjoy every minute.

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Great book

This is the best book on Maui by far!! I've gone through many others and they were not nearly as informative or entertaining.

Just as Advertised

The maps in this book are very good. We used it to find the beach access areas and free parking spots. The signage for these can be tricky so the book really helped. We found the day tour information to be very accurate in terms of time required and what features not to miss. Between this book and [...] we were able to plan an excellent vacation.

maui revealed

Newest edition looks exactly like the older ones with identical pictures and captions. Some relevant new information makes the book worth buying.

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Great overview, but leave the book in your room (except for snorkeling spots...)

This was the only book we considered (at first) for our first trip to Maui, based on the author's excellent Kauai Revealed book, which was fantastic on an island where much is hidden unless you're in the know.

I read Maui Revealed cover to cover before leaving, but wound up checking out Frommer's from the library as well. Maui Revealed is a great overview of the island, with some terrific details, plus it will get you very excited about traveling there, but using it on Maui proved to be utterly pretentious and annoying for us, for two reasons:

1. When taking a road trip, or sight seeing, we found it to be thoroughly annoying that the maps, though detailed, are not on consecutive pages, and one has to keep finding the map of the area and then finding what page the map continues on, it seems like constantly (not a problem with the Kauai book.) Of course, we bookmarked the pages, but this book just seemed all over the place in this regard, it seemed we could never locate what we had read the night before when we needed it while driving ("Was that in the 'Beaches' chapter, or under 'Snorkeling'?); and

2. This is really over-zealous at many times. We know the author is proud of his adoptive(?) state, but he seems to think that almost every single thing on Maui is EQUALLY wonderful (save for pretty good info on snorkeling spots.)

The Road to Hana chapter is ridiculous, with so many "Waterfall Alert!"s and "Diversion Alert!"'s it made me seasick. And there was one waterfall the author raved about that said it was accessible by such and such a trail, but this access was fenced up with barbed-wire and menacing keep-out signs - no mention of this, though, in this over-detailed book. Okay, so maybe there are a lot of waterfalls - a VAST MAJORITY of them are hidden and must be hiked to, and quite frankly, really aren't that great! I mean if you're from Kansas and you're never seen a mountain or a lake or a curvy road, I suppose you'd might be flabbergasted with each and every over-described detail, but over all, it's water flowing over rocks and they are nice, but please tone down your over-enthusiasm for every single one of them. Don't get me wrong, I am a true nature lover. I am an avid hiker, I ooh and aah at waterfalls. The Road to Hana IS magical, it IS the destination! It's just that the author is clearly over-enraptured by small waterfalls and banana bread stops, yet there was little mention of the breath-taking majesty of the jaw-dropping bamboo forests! As a matter of fact, if one were to follow the Road to Hana chapter, while driving it, you would SEE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, because you would be so busy reading each and every possible detail of it from author's experience of it - Don't be one of those people that videotape their entire vacations and don't end up being present themselves for any of it, because they're too busy VIEWING IT from their lenses! Put the book down for the Road to Hana, and BE THERE NOW, and experience it for yourself, it is truly memorable.

What this whole book and especially this section really needs, is a starred system (or something of the sort -how about hula girls?), to indicate, for example, that this is a 5 star waterfall, this one, a 2.

We did enjoy the restaurant recommendations, and found them to be sound.

At the beginning I though this would be the definitive guide book on Maui, but find it too disorienting and weakly organized, and although there are some great photos, the book is laid-out poorly, graphically speaking. This last detail may sound unimportant, but it contributes to a sense of confusion, and disorientation while reading and searching; I found surprising welcomed relief by the practical organization and graphic layout of info in Frommer's.

Maui Revealed is a great read-thru with info you probably won't find in other guidebooks. Definitely read thru it at home and make a few notes and get excited about your trip. Leave it in your room when you're there and Be Present in Your Vacation- don't spend it reading the book!

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