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.


Maui from the inside   January 8, 2001
 113 out of 148 found this review helpful

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.


Best for discovering the forest, not the trees   September 25, 2004
 70 out of 82 found this review helpful

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.


"Children" should be taught to respect others   December 18, 2005
 46 out of 120 found this review helpful

Saw book in condo. We are long time Maui visitors (1965). Would not buy this book and have heard nothing but negative things about it. The authors showed a complete lack of respect to Hawaiians by advising visitors of places only known to the local people. There are plenty of wonderful places to go in Maui without invading other people places, many of them private.
Much of their land has been taken and they have been made to feel as if the island no longer belongs to them and then these authors expose places only known to them for all the world to find. Their attitude seems to be that everyone has a right to see all the places on the island. Well, we don't. We are guests on Maui and guests don't go through private things belonging to our hosts. The word I hear on Maui is shame on the author and don't buy this book... and we won't .... and we tell everyone we know not to buy it and why. There are plenty of other good, respectful guidebooks.


I LOVE This Book!   November 1, 2000
 38 out of 38 found this review helpful

This book made it possible for me to actually feel like I really knew my way around Maui, though I'd never been before.

We wanted to explore the full island and know where to stop and what to see -- we were never steered wrong. We knew everything that was coming up on the roadside and where to stop and what to check out. I left the rest of the books I'd purchased at home, 'cause I knew I'd only need this one.

VERY honest reviews... Great recommendations! We had a perfect vacation, and I know we owe a great deal of it to the purchasing of this wonderful book.