I picked up “Maui Revealed” at a Barnes and Noble yesterday (I was intrigued by samples from the Kauai version at TUG a few days before) and just have to let everyone know about this great Maui version. My enthusiasm is such that I haven’t stopped talking about it to my wife since I bought it, and I could not wait to tell everyone else as well, before I actually sit down and go through it page-by-page. Everywhere that I randomly thumb through it, I am impressed and amazed with its superb and abundant photos, well supported descriptions and explanations of the popular and arcane tourist spots, and interesting sidebars. I’ve visited Maui about ten times, and although I am far from an expert about all that it offers, I previously thought that I knew a lot. However, now I’m eager to get a thorough reeducation.

The initial attractions are two foldout Coverleafs: The inside front displays 21 small strip maps of Maui, with page references to their full size maps inside, where the respective island sights are discussed at length. The rear coverleaf contains fifteen, one inch square, glossy color photos of “the 15 best beaches” (also indexed with page #’s to the corresponding inside text) and a good size map listing all beaches on Maui. These tiny photos, all boasting blue-green waters, golden sandy shorelines, and coastal interiors, present a truly wonderful overview of Maui’s best spots (oooh, I keep turning to this coverleaf), and many of these beaches have larger and different views inside.

The book has 21 excellent color sectional maps throughout, clearly displaying highways, naming beaches and viewpoints, and comprehensively listing all resorts and hotels. The 303 page book has a large number of excellent color pictures of key beaches, view spots, and representative tourist activities: I find them all evocative of what Maui means to me.

The biggest major shortcoming is that there are 15 condo and hotel reviews in the book (although virtually all appear to be named. The 15 are excellent reviews and have representative, aerial overview pictures of their properties, but these are apparently intended to serve as samples of the full slate that is available elsewhere. The good news, especially for TUGers, is that all accomodations are reviewed ONLINE at the publisher’s website, www.wizardpub.com. This site is already linked at TUG (via mention of guidebooks for Maui, and Kauai and The Big Island). A large map appears on screen, with each hotel or condo named and linked to a combination review and aerial photograph. (NOTE: Wizardpub’s online resort REVIEWS are restricted only to purchasers of the book, via a special code printed in the book, but ALL AERIAL PHOTOS are viewable for free!). I think that the online “Maui Revealed” overheads are as equally valuable as TUG’s exterior photos of condos (in its Resort Reviews), which I consider “worth a thousand words” in evaluating resorts. (NOTE: The photos of Maui resorts are much brighter and taken closer up than those for the Kauai web version; I’ve also noted that the Kauai and Big Isle versions do not include resort reviews, either. Hopefully, the online editions will catch up.)

I call special attention to the www.wizardpub.com website for Maui because it contains an extensive list of web links to all sorts of businesses that relate to Maui (besides just the hotels and condos), including an enormous number that are on the island. The web listing is organized by business function, even including weddings (for which the book itself lists five wedding coordinators, and favors one as the “most reputable”).

The tour of Maui is divided into six broad regions, and is full of valuable perspectives, using frank descriptions, humorous comments, and “inside tips.” I’ve already found several “inside scoops” in the vein of “everyone ignores the ‘No Trespassing’ sign here.” It also gives beach names which I’ve never heard of before (Dig Me, for the main Kaanapali beach…huh!), and draws particular attention to other beaches that I think are little known: I’m now looking forward to exploring Oneloa Beach, and hope that many other readers discover the broad reach of Kahekili Beach (as I have for years).

I am also impressed that each of the six regional sections contain a list of “Best Bets:” a random collection of their most interesting or eclectic places, eats, and activities, and flavored with a good sense of humor (including some sarcastic digs at what are actually “worsts”).

My wife and I rarely dine out at Maui’s many fine (and even moderate) restaurants, but I was impressed by the reviews for the places with which we are familiar. The 140 restaurant reviews range from very brief to lengthy and even include some “cheap eats.” Most seem sufficiently useful and there are many frank and refreshing comments. Dining covers about 25 pages and has an index on page 245, so readers might want to compare that scale to other guidebooks, in order to judge the comprehensiveness of this section.

There are many discussions of Maui tourist activities, as well as some very useful charts presented as sidebars. In particular, it has a detailed review of snorkeling tour boats (as well as the best snorkeling and scuba sites), a list of golf courses and their fees, as well as discussions of windsurfing, biking, parasailing, and 13 pages about “special adventures.”

I encourage every TUGer interested in Maui to give this book a look at big bookstores. I think every first time visitor should have a copy and that many frequent visitors will also find it worth the $14.95 price. The authors are Andrew Doughty and Harriett Friedman and the ISBN is 0-9639429-7-2, with a publication date of August 2000. And no, Wizard Publications is not paying me a cent for all this unabashed tribute.

posted 01-27-2001 12:17         

With respect to on line reviews, my understanding is that they placed most of Maui resorts reviews online because there are so many Maui resorts worth reviewing and they have space limitations -- it would have taken way to many additional pages to publish and added to the cost of the book (I think they're aiming to keep sales price at a certain level to attract buyers). I don't think they ran into the same problem with Kauai and the Big Island because of the fewer number of resorts/condos, etc. Perhaps with the Oahu edition, they'll run into the same problem that they encountered with Maui and will place most of the reviews online. I doubt they would start doing it wholesale for all the books because, after all, those reviews are worth paying for and people could get the "secret" password for accessing those portions of the web site from other book owners or just from reading the book in the bookstore.

[This message has been edited by liubruin (edited 01-27-2001).]

[This message has been edited by liubruin (edited 01-27-2001).]