Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Info, Use with Caution
Review: If you've never been to Maui, and want to know virtually every place to go, this will provide you with that information. Once you have that info, the burden is placed on your shoulders to use it wisely. Getting to or playing at many of the spots mentioned involves risk to your body due to flash floods, loose rock, and slipperly trails. Some spots are on, or can only be reach thru, private property. Granted, residents have been visiting these same spots for years. The difference is that it's no longer just a few kids on the weekend, it's hundreds of people every day, many of whom are apt to be litigious. It would seem that the authors have absolved themselves of any responsibility if you end up on the wrong side of nature, the law, or the locals. My suggestion would be to stick with the Moon Publications book.
Rating: 
Summary: Maui is truly revealed with this book
Review: My husband and I just returned from our first trip from Maui. What an unbelievable place! This book truly is the "ultimate"! Great descriptions and pictures really help non-locals confidently find and experience all the wonderful sights, activities, food, etc., of this wonderful island. We appreciated the authors' frankness in describing shortcomings of many restaurants and sights. This helped us make smart decisions with the little time we had there. All reviews...good and bad...are told with authority and a great sense of humor. We also appreciated the hints and tips about Maui's "secrets" (i.e., sights not covered in most travel books) that rivaled the recommendations given to us by a friend who has lived on Maui for 10 years. We recommend this book w/out reservation. It's a must have for Maui locals and non-locals alike.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book with a few missteps on the restaurants.
Review: We just returned from our trip to Maui and felt that the book was VERY useful for beach info, some trails and snorkeling info. We stayed in B&Bs the whole time, so I cannot comment on the lodging reviews. But the "activities" (esp. whale watching tour on Pacific Whale Foundation and snorkeling at Molokini) and "adventures" descriptions were very good and accurate. They had pretty good info on the Road to Hana, but I suggest that you pick up the audio guide (cassette or CD) for $20 offered at the Kiosk at the Shell station in Kahului. Can't miss it, it is on the SE corner at the beginning of the Hana Highway. (something not mentioned in the guidebook). The only problem we had with the book were some of the restaurant suggestions. They gave an "ono" (meaning delicious) to a mexican restaurant in Kihei-Maui Taco, which was just about some of the most bland Mexican food I've ever had. (Taco Bell is better than this place). So, the caveat is to take some of their restaurant ratings with a grain of salt. Unless they say you will always have a great meal at a place, be prepared that you could be disappointed, because these are just two people's opinions of a particular place. There were sometimes that we were disappointed because the food did not turn out to be as good as the book indicated. Otherwise, I would recommend this book. It is not your average guidebook, and does have a lot of worthwhile info in it.
Rating:
Summary: wouldn't go to maui without it!
Review: This was our first trip to Maui, and we wanted to make sure we didn't waste our time getting lost or end up with a bad experience. It was hard choosing a guide book at first, but after reading all these great reviews about Maui Revealed, we decided to give it a try. And I must say, it was the best money we've ever spent on a guide book! The details are incredible! The Road to Hana definitely wouldn't have been the same without the book. We took the book's advice and skipped some of the crowded areas to explore the more hidden places. The detailed directions and maps were easy to follow (especially with the mile markers!), and without a doubt those hidden trails and waterfalls were always where the book said they would be. Whether we were in Hana or West Maui, South Maui or Central, Maui Revealed always gave us wonderful advice and great direction. Never before have we enjoyed a trip so much, and we're definitely going back again with Maui Revealed in hand. We recommend this book to anyone who goes to Maui, whether it be their first trip, or one among many. We did however find some things that weren't quite up to par. The hotel and restaurant guides aren't as helpful as some other guides, and we ended up using Fodors and Frommers online to get the most recent reviews and rants. If you don't intend on using other sources, we strongly urge you to get all the current updates on this book from their website, for it has been a couple of years since it was published. But we still recommend this book, and will continue to use it for future trips to Maui!
Rating:
Summary: Very helpful book
Review: We took an April 2004 trip to Maui and this book was very helpful. It's best to buy it a few weeks before your trip so you can easily prepare your itinerary. The authors went to great lengths to give the reader useful, practical information to make a trip to Hawaii one to remember. The information about the beaches and Lahaina was extremely helpful to us. Even though we weren't particularly crazy about the Road to Hana, there were many scenic places off the beaten path that we could only find thanks to this book. It was very useful to us in Hana as well by helping us find a good restaurant (there are none) and a general store to stop at for munchies and souvenirs. The maps in this book are easy to find at a moment's notice. The authors really did their homework and you'll find that anything you need to know about Maui should be found in this book - from restaurants to activities to tips that only a local would know. If you're going to Hawaii, you need a guidebook of some kind to help you plan your trip or else you'll really regret trying to do everything on the fly once you get there. Even if you only plan to sunbathe yourself for the week on any of Maui's breathtaking beaches, you'll find that this book can help you to find the "perfect gem" beach that will make your trip unforgettable. We also bought the Ultimate Guide to the Big Island (equally helpful) and wished there was an Ultimate Guide to Oahu.
Rating:
Summary: Maui Wowie
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: Best off-island information you can find!
Review: I bought this book for a family trip to Maui in January 2001. Not only was the information complete, accurate and current, it was the best resource for planning and setting expectations that I found before we reached the island. (Although there are many good human and printed resources once you get to Maui, you won't find a better single source for your trip planning than Maui Revealed.) The authors not only offer "insider" information about locations and events, they also provide clear instructions of the "how", "what" and "where" to discover some of the best secrets of the island. My only caveat is that this book presents many "adventurous" options (i.e. side roads on the way to Hana) that travelers with small children, older visitors, or those with some physical limitations may find a bit challenging. But, we were never lead down a path we couldn't get back from, nor did we feel that any of our wanderings were not worth the effort (even if we couldn't make it all the way to the end). Thanks to the authors for making our trip even more successful...and happy planning to future readers!
Rating:
Summary: The best and the worst
Review: This is a hard one to review, because while this and the others in the series are wonderfully organized, expertly written and unbelievably detailed, they also reveal the deepest secrets of the Hawaiian Islands, previously only known to locals. First, the positives. You won't find a better tour book for Hawaii, on or off the islands - period. This goes for every book of the series - Maui, Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island. Doughty and Friedman expertly steer you around the islands, avoiding the crowds and avoiding the tourist traps (like the bike ride down Haleakala). You'll get tons of practical touring strategies, like, for example, on Maui, taking the Road to Hana later in the day and spending the night in Hana so you can have the Seven Pools to yourself for a few hours in the morning. That's just one example from the series; each and every book is loaded with this kind of pragmatism, so even on your first trip you'll feel like a seasoned visitor. Every aspect of your trip is covered in the books, from the sites to see and avoid, the restaurants to hit, the best hotels, camping options, and island history. Every type of traveler from the luxury $1000 per night tourist to the canvas tent hiker will find useful info. More than anything, while realizing how much of Hawaii is truly still hidden to you in the almost uninhabitable reaches of the jungles and volcanic residues, you'll still feel as though you're seeing as much of it as any outsider can see. Now for the bad. Because Doughty and Friedman live on the islands and have explored every hidden waterfall and pool, they are privy to spots on the islands that even many locals are unaware of. And naturally, many of the areas are located on private property. This however, doesn't seem to bother the writers. After giving a detailed description of how to access a remote waterfall on private property (stuff like, "Park on the pull-off a few hundred yards after mile-marker 23, and scale the guardrail. You should see a path that winds down into a bamboo forest. At the bottom of the path, go *left*, not right, away from the river..." etc.), they follow it up with a limp disclaimer, like "Technically, this is Hawaiian Forest and Game property, but we've been hiking on it for years without a problem..." The bottom line is that while the places they tell you to go are private and amazing, by definition these magnificent spots can't last. Because they've been revealed (as the book titles promise), a hidden location that may have previously had only a few dozen visitors per year now gets five or six visitors a day, thus destroying the serenity and privacy of the location, ruining what is the reason for going there in the first place. So it's somewhat of a self-defeating book, since by revealing these remote locations they are also condemning them to extinction. Lastly, these books are quite popular and already the hidden waterfalls and trails are not so hidden. More than once I hiked a mile or two through rough, muddy terrain and rushing rivers to reach a waterfall, where I found a soccer mom, an over-weight dad in flip-flops, and two four-year olds frolicking in the pool, one of the inevitably clutching their copy of "Maui Revealed" or "Oahu Revealed." That sort of detracts from the sense of adventure I built up on the way there. In addition, some of the private property areas that he says have no signs posted now have "Keep Out!" signs posted in response to the hundreds of trespassers following Doughty and Friedman's advice. So be aware that some trails they mention as remote and tolerant of hikers may now be *very* intolerant to trespassers. While this book is an incredible guidebook and you *should* use it to plan your Hawaiian vacation, ultimately, let your conscience be your guide as to where you do and don't venture.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a must for anyone going to Maui
Review: We have dozens of travel books and Maui Revealed is by far the best travel guide we have ever used. The book tells you everything you need to know about where to go to see the most spectacular sights in Maui, what companies to use for any activities you might want to do in Maui, where to eat, and where to stay. The book told us step by step how to get to Maui's hidden waterfalls or the best snorkeling spots (like go 45 feet past phone poll #18, or 1/2 mile past mile marker 5) when these sights are not clearly marked from the road. We were very satisfied with the companies recommended by the book to use for scuba diving and the biking trip down the volcano. We recommend that anyone going to Maui bring this book with them.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Leave Home Without it!
Review: This is not your average guidebook. The authors go to great lengths to make sure that you get accurate reviews of the hotels, condos, restaurants and activities. When we were in Maui we made sure that the book was in the jeep at all times so we could reference it. It really came in handy for our trip to Hana. What was funny was that when we would stop at some of the recommended stops, we would see people with the same guidebook! The best thing about Maui Revealed is it's honesty (and the humor is pretty good too!).
| 
