Very detailed and helpful. My copy was a slightly out-of-date though (some of the trails had been fenced off). If you can obtain a recent copy prior to your trip, it is well worth it. The author's commentary and insights are all right on!

Have traveled many times to Maui, and thought we knew all the hot spots. After thumbing through this guide, we decided to try Nakalele Blowhole on the North shore. This location is not on the map, and no signs will direct you there. One tip - unless you are into intense, no- or little-trail hiking, take the second route identified in the book. Awesome site, with little tourist traffic. We had been 200 yards from this spot before and never noticed it. This is just one example of the type of information you will get from Doughty in this book. He uses mile markers to guide you to the precise points to turn off. His descriptions are direct and objective. He also includes insights on local lore and enough history to help you appreciate the context of the sites, without bogging down the guide.

We have used The Ultimate Guidebooks several times and think that they are the best in giving information the way it really exists. They let you know about many of the out of the way beautiful places and eating places. We have also used the book info to obtain condos or hotels. They say it like it is! That is what is great about the Ultimate Guide. We are again using the Maui Revealed Guide for our trip to Maui. Thanks for producing reviews that are honest.

Fantastic guidebook. Simply put, the most outstanding I've ever used and I just happened upon it by chance, after finding out last week my wife and I will be vacationing in Maui next month. Covers everything one would possibly want to know about visiting this island gem and then some. Revised every 2 years by Andrew Doughty, with updated info all the way up to press time. Mr. Doughty takes you on a journey down each road, and even points out hidden finds you won't read about anywhere else.

Initially, I figured on maybe thumbing through a few choice pages, but ended up reading from cover-to-cover. The author has personally traveled these routes on numerous occasions, and even sampled the food at nearly every establishment. You won't find a single black-and-white photograph amongst the hundreds of breathtaking examples of Maui's beauty, compliments of the 2 photographers, one of which is Mr. Doughty himself. And those map illustrations that are so helpful? Once again, partial credit goes to Mr. Doughty in that department as well.

Even if you've never thought of visiting Maui, I believe this guide will spark the desire. And done with the perfect balance of humor too. It's like having your very own personal tour guide. I can't say enough good things about this find. Bravo!

I am a Maui resident and cringe whenever I see a tourist with this book, which is frequently criticized in the local press because it too often leads readers into dangerous situations by not properly describing risks inherent in certain areas of Maui, resulting in both tourist injury and death. In addition, it encourages readers to stray onto private land in some instances, which raises the ire of affected Maui landowners and residents.

If you want to purchase a good Maui outdoor book that covers the territory with care and respect, buy the Trailblazer book by Jerry and Janine Sprout. The information and directions are excellent and the writing style is humerous.

This is a must have for anyone travelling to Maui! You don't need to buy anyother guide book, this is it! Take some time and read it before you go - and then take it with you. Pays for itself tenfold with the enjoyment of your travels...

All the out of the way places revealed. Great suggestions for places to visit and things to do.

Lots of info but some of it is already out of date. The Bed & breakfast laws have changed in maui so that info is useless and some of the private property issues are more of a hassle than mentioned in the book. Some of the places mentioned are no longer open to the public.

I bought this based on reviews from friends for my upcoming honeymoon in Maui. It is informative and the author has a great sense of humor.

Excellent book. Enjoyed the humor as much as the useful tips and information. However, one critique I would have, is that it would've been alot easier to locate the eateries recommended in the book. A number, or a symbol right there on the map would have made it much simplier to pinpoint a restaurants location, other than just the address and phone numbers.
David

We just got back from celebrating our 5th anniversay with a week in Maui yesterday and this book was an indespensible resource that never left our side. Each day we were there, we explored a new part of the island or went on a new tour or trip and this book helped us through every part. If you are like us and like to pack every day of your vacation with new and fun things, then you should buy this book right now. But even if you prefer to just relax and visit a few places and restaurants, this book has reviews that will help you choose.

The author is a native, and is cynical and has a *very* dry sense of humor. However, for someone who is making recommendations, this is really a good quality. I personally don't want someone who is willing to give everyone and everything 5 stars. I prefer and appreciate someone who will tell me the negatives of each choice so that I can evaluate those and make a decision instead of just hearing the bubbly positives of every option.

We got to our hotel on Sunday night (we stayed at the Mahana in Ka'anapali and would recommend it for anyone, btw). We were on the island for a week and loved it.

*Monday: We went around NW Maui and used this book for sightseeing. Excellent!
*Tuesday: We learned to surf and went to a Luau. Both places were reviewed in this book.
*Wednesday: We took the road to Hana. This is where this book really shined. He identifies every sight to see along the way using mile markers and tells you right where to turn off to not miss a thing.
*Thursday: We went on a boat trip to Molikini based upon the review in here and loved it!
*Friday: We went up Haleakala and traveled around the Upcountry visiting the spots he recommended. Beautiful sights and great food!
*Saturday: Surfing and snorkeling again.

We saw several people with printouts of stuff from the internet that they were using to navigate, and we saw some people that actually hired locals to tell them where to go. I can honestly say that this was the best $15 we spent on the whole trip because it provided us the freedom and convenience that those other options couldnt provide. We loved our trip and will continue to buy books from the "Revealed" series when we visit other islands or other locations on vacation. Thanks Andrew!!

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

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-enthusiasium 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 breathe-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 they're 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 disorientated 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!

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.

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.

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

Maui Revealed is a great book with lots of important information for any one planning a trip or just wanting to more about the Island of Maui.
We loved it and will take it with us when we visit!

This book was so helpful in finding the best spots on Maui!!! It gives excellent tips for the most beautiful beaches. I wouldn't go to Maui without it!

I bought this book based on all the positive reviews on Amazon. The book did not disappoint. I used it every day on our trip to Maui last week and consulted it on everything from directions to where to go and where to eat.

We were stuck on the island an extra day due to the Aloha, ATA airlines mess and the hotel section in the back was convenient in being able to call up different hotels for availability that last night.

We pretty much followed their restaurant recommendations and advice on whale watching companies and Hana sights.

I really appreciated their honest feedback and I highly recommend this book. I heard other tourists on the island who also recommended the book.

This is the book that you will want for your visit to Maui. Plenty of information. You need to read it before you go. Loaded with tips and secret places that not many people know about. Highly recommended.

You can not go wrong with this guidebook in Maui. We just returned from the island and we have both mentioned how valuable this guidebook was. While we were there, we commented multiple times that the authors must have been reading our minds when composing their reviews! In fact, we stayed in Oahu for two days at the conclusion of our trip and felt somewhat lost with out the guidebook for that island. Way to go! Beats Lonely Planet and even Fodors any day.

I purchased this book based on reviews from other websites to read for more info on Maui. So far, very informative and hope to see how much it will help on my upcoming trip.

In my opinion, this is the best of the best. A well laid out guide book, with lots of good iinformation.

This book is the best! Very honest and specific. I have purchased this as gift for a friend going to Maui for their honeymoon. I gave it to them a few months early so they could read thru it. Maps and directions are awesome too!

After visiting the island a few times, I met the author of this book at a book convention and became intrigued with his insights. And, after visiting the island numerous times since getting this book, I'd say it's the best thing available for finding out what Maui has to offer.

The restaurant reviews and other recommendations in this book are usually spot on, and the tips and hints about special sights to see--as well as the history of various locales--make the book invaluable.

I especially love the honesty about what is NOT good. Most of the other review books put a sugar-coating on every restaurant and every activity mentioned in their books. As a result, those books read more like advertisements than reviews. Fodor's is one example of this - don't even waste your money on its sugary-sweet "everything is wonderful" hype.

That said, I have to agree with many of the other reviews that critique Maui Revealed for its vagueness and perhaps (unintentionally) misleading descriptions about the ease of accessing some of the "off the beaten path" hikes.

The author of this book is a physically fit individual, so when the text says "a relatively easy hike," he's talking about it from his perspective. Unfortunately, I've seen relatively frail-looking people in their 50's and 60's who were trying to access some of these "relatively easy" hikes. At least one review on this book mentions tourists getting medivac'd to a hospital every few weeks as a result of trying to visit some of the sites this book recommends. Although I've not witnessed that, I can certainly see how it could happen.

Along these lines, keep in mind that the 'off the beaten path' walks recommended in this book are just that - off the beaten path. While you'll see this blue book on the dashboard of many cars, a lot of the places that require a short hike are not set up for tourists at all. No hand railings. No paved paths. In some places if you slip and fall you could end up falling a long way.

My advice: Take the author's physically fit athleticism into account when reading this, and evaluate each location with your own sense of what's safe for you and what's not. Just because the author says it's easy doesn't mean it will be easy for everyone.

Additionally, I also agree with the observation that details on how to access some of these hikes are vague. On more than one occasion I and the people I was with gave up and turned around because nothing we were seeing was like anything described in the book.

For all this critique, I still think this book is the best available for learning where to go / where not to go on Maui. If for no other reason, get this book to learn about the island's history. For example, you can drive past a non-descript location a dozen times and not think anything of it. But in Maui Revealed you might learn that some famous event occurred at that site more than 100 years ago. It's those kind of golden nuggets that set the book apart from the standard tourist publications, which are mainly focused on getting you to spend money in a particular location.

Bottom line, if you're going to Maui - or even if you've been there before - this is the one book I recommend you have with you. You'll need to engage your common sense, but you'll probably have a much more fulfilling trip from the insights and tips this book provides.

My husband and I just returned from Hawaii this morning. I purchased this book on a friend's recommendation. While in Maui we rented a car and this book was our tour guide for everything from the sites worth seeing to the restaurants to visit to the best places to shop. This book was so worth the money and I would tell anyone who is planning a visit to Hawaii to pick up each and every "Revealed" book!

As a wedding and event planner, I use the Ultimate Hawaii guides when I plan Hawaiian honeymoons for my clients. I find them to be a great source of information. I've been to many of the places that are critiqued in the guides and, for the most part, their reviews are very accurate. I've only had a few occasions where I've found a review to be inaccurate. Overall, these guides are very useful.

Stephanie Wood, Zitan Weddings

This was the first of the Revealed guidebooks that we've owned back in 2002. And from that first usage of the book, we were blown away by how candid its reviews were and how it seemed to present every nook and cranny of the island.

We consulted it for local restaurants, dinner splurges, and most (if not all) of Maui's reasonably accessible waterfalls (including the Blue Pool, Waihe'e Valley, 'Ohe'o Gulch, etc).

We liked this book so much that we bought all the other Revealed guidebooks for each of the other main Hawaiian Islands.

Fast forward 5 years (and several trips to all the Hawaiian Islands)...

The Blue Pool - closed due to unhappy residents lamenting the traffic; Upper Puohokamoa Falls - access closed due owner's fear of slip-and-fall lawsuit; Venus Pool - kapu due to trespassing; Waihe'e Valley - closed to public except for Eco-Maui tours; Proliferation of No Trespassing signs everywhere...

That's when we realized that while this book tells you everything you want to hear with the attitude and spunk that we can appreciate, it's problematic in that it has resulted in (thanks to its popularity) increased cases of trespassing, closures from frivolous slip-and-fall lawsuits, deaths from following their "Adventures", a tourism economy dependent on reviews from this book (e.g. you can expect higher prices if they got an Ono rating and closures if they got bad reviews), and overexposure/high impacts to fragile and endangered habitats.

I think it's sad that more and more parts of Maui (as well as other islands) have lost their spirit of Aloha, and I suspect this book's well-deserved popularity has something to do with it.

But even with all that said, my wife and I still consult this book because we feel we're getting good advice from a kama'aina (long time resident). It just shows how useful this book is despite the problems it's causing. But I sense it's starting to become a victim of its own success and the island is becoming a far different place than the paradise that was originally envisioned and communicated by the book when we first used it.

My husband and I took this book (along with a few other books/guides/maps) with us on our honeymoon to Maui and it was priceless! It was absolutely the only guide/map, etc. that we needed or even used! The descriptions of various places, stops, etc were dead on. It brought up points and ideas that we'd never even thought of. And the drive to Hana (as directed in the book) was great and a must for everyone! And all of the little out-of-the-way stops were fantastic! (the banana bread and coconut candy was soooooo good!) I can't praise this book enough!!!!

Maui Revealed is a very informative, easy to read guide book. The author is extremely straight forward with both positive and negative comments. I bought this book it preparation for my upcoming vacation to Maui and after reading only a few pages I was more excited and eager to go and check out all the sights, restaurants and shops. The pictures are also a great addition. I strongly recommend this guide book for anyone interested or planning a trip to Maui.

Once we got to Maui we realized how well known this book has become on the island. Some Maui residents are unhappy with the fact that this book discloses many "secret" hikes etc for fear that they will become touristy. I understand this fear but we followed one hike word for word and found waterfalls where it felt no one else had ever been to. It really is a wonderfull experience to have an adventure of your own on an island as beautiful as Maui. The trails and adventures are described with precise detail so even the beginner can do it! Get the book and enjoy!!

I've purchased the Kauai and Maui books and find them to be quite insightful reads. They came highly recommended from several people I know that have also owned them and visit Hawaii often. They are really good at highlight and detailing destinations and hidden secrets of the islands. Especially good for hikers and nature explorers. Problem is, everyone reads these books so the secrets aren't very secret anymore. Only downside to these books is they don't go into great detail on lodging accommodations for the budget minded traveler. They touch on it, but there's so many more neat places you can stay on the islands without breaking the bank, a simple web search will turn up plenty of results, though some of the reviews are hard to trust. With that, the books get 4 stars, otherwise if there was more info on places to stay it'd get 5 stars. Accommodations could be a book on it's very own most likely!

Absolutely the best guidebook on any destination I have ever used. I brought some other books but never pulled them out - they have gone to great effort to make the maps very relevant and easy to use, provide comprehensive and locally relevant reviews, and do it in an entertaining fashion. Highly recommend.

This book is a must have for anyone visiting Maui. Hidden trails, beaches and reviews on local companies, restaurants were excellent. It's like having a local guide with you on your trip. I feel like i didn't miss out on anything Maui had to offer.

This book made my trip to Maui perfect.
It had absolutely everything we needed and gave us heads-up for things that was appropriate and useful.
I'm recommending this book to anyone I know who's going to Maui.

This book gives you a mile by mile look at must see places. I bought all three.

This was a decent guide for Maui. We were only able to spend a few days outside of Lahaina. Ka'anapali Shores Hotel was an affordable and comfortable place to crash. Java Jazz/Soup Nutz was perfect for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Beaches were beautiful. Everyone...and I mean EVERYONE was friendly. You won't regret your stay on the island. Even the airport was tranquil. Take plenty of pictures. Such a different experience from Oahu (both were great, but Maui is the best). Sugarcane fields, winding beachfront drives, crystal-clear waters. No other place like it. Enjoy.

I had a couple people tell me about this book when they heard we were going to Maui. The restaurant reviews were dead on and when they say it's good, it is! I think they were wrong about our hotel because it was the nicest we went to and we went to a few and they weren't as hip on it. Anyway get the book, eat where they tell you and say Aloha to your worries.

We have a rental condo on Maui.

As a thank you for new guests we send a copy of "Maui Revealed". Universally they value it as an guide in planning their stay and maximizing their travels while on island. And, it helps us secure guests goodwill in caring for our Maui home.

Personally, we use "Maui Revealed" every time we visit Maui ourselves and continue to discover new sights, restaurants, activities, etc.

We keep on in the car. I appreciate the "toughness" of the book It can be abused badly, but hasn't broke or fallen apart.

Visit our condo at www.buckmastermaui.com.

We used this book so much on our vacation that we started to refer to the author, Andrew Doughty, as simply Andy. "What does Andy say we should do here?" From his pin-point accuracy in his directions to his reviews of restaurants and attractions, this book is "a real gem." It got to the point where we wouldn't eat somewhere if it didn't have the "ONO" rating. We never went anywhere without checking the book first... and it was helpful every time. Easy to read, informative, funny, INCREDIBLY HONEST, and filled with excellent maps. Don't go to Maui without Maui Revealed.

I'm so glad I bought this book! We just returned from a family vacation for Thanksgiving! (Nov. 17-26, 2007). This book is on hit! It tells you exactly where to turn, what to look for and step by step instructions on how to find the best beaches, restaurants and signs that say "closed...turn around" but if you keep going it is really open. If we didn't have this book we would have missed so many wonderful things on our trip. We even ran into other tourists and locals who knew this same book and even had it in their hands. It was soooo cool! This is by far a must have book if you want to venture off away from the resorts/hotels and see the real Maui!

We used this book for our 1st trip to Maui and it was great!!! We are going to Kauai next year and have already bought Kauai Revealed to start finding places to go when we are there. This is a must have book for anyone going to the islands. The pictures and maps are great for finding the tucked away places!!!!! Job well done on this one!!!! :)

Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook (Maui Revealed)

Excellent guide. Referred to it constantly while in Maui. Reviews of sites, restaurants, etc. are very frank, which was most helpful. I must say it is obvious that the author is not on any restaurant's payroll.

Word of caution; we did find that points of interest were not as well marked ( if at all) as normally found on the mainland. This was particularly true on the road to Hana. The mile markers noted were helpful, but it was still easy to drive on by the destination. The drive, while tiring, was worth the time. The fresh banana bread sold along the way was worth the trip.

There are tons of books on HI, I searched and read a lot of reviews. I picked this one based on its reviews and it definitly lives up to its reputation. If your going to HI, get this book!

This is a very good book. I could go on & on as others have, but the good reviews here are pretty much true. This is THE guidebook to take.

On the other hand, there really are many locals that really do hate this book (I encountered a few during a 3 week stay). Be careful not to trespass where you are not wanted. Be sure to check this book's website for updates & corrections. Some locations mentioned in the book have been closed off due to too much traffic generated by this book.

My advice is to buy this book & combine it with another book called
Moon Maui (Moon Handbooks) (Paperback)
by Robert Nilsen (Author)
That way you can get a balanced view of things.

This book is very well organized and easy to use. The information was right on the money, except for the really good deli we wanted to try, they'd had a fire the week before...but I guess we can't hold them accountable for things that happen after the book is published.

I have done some research and I have found that the author of this travel guide (Andrew Doughty) write reviews on businesses and in some cases has not even used there services. Now to write a bad or good review without having actually used the companies service is not good nor fair journalism. Not to mention the anger this author has created by "revealing" the hidden spots on all the Hawaiian islands. Just saying beware of his advice and reviews. Hawaiian Locals are not happy with Andrew Doughty.

Overall, a great guidebook. With so much to do, you really need someone to help weed out the bad stuff. Author's detailed descriptions of island's attractions were a great help.

The restaurant reviews with their subjective ratings of food, price and service were dead-on accurate. We never had a bad meal on restaurants rated ONO.

Definitely will use the other guides.

The book is a great reference for using when planning a trip to Hawaii.
We also bought Big Island and Oahu and use them every year that we go back to visit the islands. It's great to find the 'off the beaten path' treasures since they are not usually crowded with lots of tourists.
HIghly recommend it!!

My husband and I just returned from Maui. We used the book the entire time we were there and found it to be very helpful and informative. It contains a lot more USEFUL information than the other guidebooks that we took with us. We used the advice about restaurants, snorkel trips, the Hana Highway, and the trip around the West Maui Mountains. We would have missed some breathtaking sights had we not had this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is going to visit the island. From the look of things, it was recommended to a lot of other visitors as well. We saw the book being used everywhere!