Customer Reviews

Fodor's Hawaii 2005 (Fodor's Gold Guides)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
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I have to give Fodor's Hawaii a Gold Star. We traveled to Lanai and Maui and Kauai with our golf group and as the days passed we all got a chance to read each other's guidebooks. All of us agreed that this was way over the top for QUALITY and insider tips. Theunissen pulls out all the stops and I'm just rereading it now that I'm home and still find places I want to return to and spend time. Make sure you get the latest copy. They come out with a new one every year.

This book is a decent guide for trip planning in Hawaii. For each island, there is a general introduction to geography, climate, and history, a map, and a listing of greatest places to visit. Next come suggested itineraries for varying lengths of times, for example, 1 day, 3 days, or 8 days. The main section of each chapter consists of specific suggestions for things to do and places to stay and eat for localities on the island, together with more detailed maps. Relative measures of costs for the recommended hotels and eateries are noted, as well as addresses, phone numbers, and web sites where available. Notes about sports, theater, and shopping are also included. At the end of the chapters are more tips about such topics as airport arrivals, transfers, and transportation, car rental, and sight-seeing tours.

At the end of the book is a collection of articles covering more general information about the state. This section includes a brief overview covering topics from geology, to mythology, to fashion (the famous Aloha shirt). Next is a listing of books and films to enjoy before you visit, then a historical chronology, some general travel information about Hawaii (business hours, car rental rules, what to pack, safety tips, taxes, climate, holidays, etc.). There is also a introduction to Hawaiian phrases, a menu reader, and an index. Metric conversion tables are printed inside the back cover, and vacation checklists inside the front cover. There is a set of color plates covering all the islands at the very beginning of the book.

One of the particular strengths of this guide when compared to others is that it often provides estimated driving times for routes across the islands or to particular attractions. This can be incredibly helpful for trip planning, since it gives you a gauge of what activities might be possible to fit into a single day, or how long to allow to get from one place to another. The suggested itineraries are also quite useful-even if you don't plan to follow them, they do provide a starting point for planning your own itineraries. While this guide book doesn't specialize in pointing out the cheapest places to stay and eat, there are some possibilities listed for all budgets, and including the web addresses is quite useful.

I swam through the pages while relaxing by the hotel pool. I always like the restaurant reviews and we went to quite a few nice places. For Fodor readers you can expect the same ol same ol. They don't go off the deep end and are rather conservative with their outings. Sampling the restaurants and keeping the listings current is their strong suit.

We just got back from a trip to Oahu and the Big Island. This book is satisfactory for persons not doing many activites, but the guidebooks "Oahu Revealed" and "The Big Island Revealed" had
a great deal more information about snorkeling, ocean kayaking, beach conditions by season for boarding, etc. The pictures in the "Revealed" series really helps you get a feel for the places you may want to visit. I would recomend Fodors for a person who is not leaving a megaresort or staying only in Waikiki, but the other books have much more helpful info about activities and parks.

Also, the maps in Oahu revealed are the best I've found. Period. Lots of em, well cross referenced, good color schemes, and easy to read.