Customer Reviews

Maui for Dummies

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't think this title can qualify as a guidebook. It feels like it was written in a big hurry. Using it we found big holes. The advice in it is dated and there were so many discrepancies we had to buy another guide mid-vacation. Then our vacation took a big turnaround for the better.

Maui is a real beautiful place for a family vacation if you know where to go. The traffic was pretty bad but there are certain tricks for getting around all that.

The book seems a couple of years old (although it says it's published in 2005). There are certain places that have moved or closed. However, the general idea of the book is to familiarize you with Maui which I thought it fulfilled the overall purpose. There are great tips which I corroborated with locals including good snorkeling spots, best snorkel gear, best luaus, restaurant, shops, etc. It lists out the places you SHOULD go while in Maui and suggests what to avoid and refuse. This is my first Dummies travel book and I plan to use future Dummies along with the current year's Frommer's for updated info. By the way, Cakewalk in Paia....no longer there.

This is a pretty decent book, with some good information and tips on the island. The post it not tabs are nice to mark information you want easy access to. Some of the icons (heads up, kid friendly etc) are also helpful. Beware - there is some word for word duplication with the Frommers book.

For anyone traveling to Maui, this is a decent resource. But the ultimate is Maui Revealed.

I really liked this book. I read it from cover to cover. It gave me information about what to see and where to go and places to eat and the cost of each. I am going to Maui for the first time and have already booked some of the things we will be doing because the phone numbers are in the book. Believe me, I will be taking this book with me for reference.

Two of the biggest mistakes I've ever made were buying this book and the Maui Revealed. They both were smooshy and fuzzy and didn't at all help me find anything other than the popular sites where EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE from Arkansas to Missoula to Hoboken to Dallas go. Get me away from the white sock crowd!!

My advice is to research Maui on the internet before (the hotels especially} you go and buy a few maps so you can understand the road system. If you like to surf, book a hotel near Paia. The Haiku area is real nice.

If you have never been to Maui, this resource is really top-notch. I am a big fan of the "for Dummies" resources because they do such a tremendous job of giving you tertiary but vital information. Sometimes the web can be a great resource, but to get unbiased, synthesized information, books like this one are great. Especially if you are into traveling. While researching a wedding and honeymoon on Maui, this book was great and put my fiancee and I on the right track for planning everything from our rehearsal dinner to the wedding on Kapalua Bay Beach. You can find out where to stay, what to do, what to eat, and you will not be dissapointed. This is a fair and balanced travel guide that really comes through. A

Joseph Dworak

I am a regular visitor to Maui and I got this book cheap at a library book sale because I am always interested in anything to do with Hawaii. It was surprisingly informative and accurate. The author has even covered some 'local' restaurants (unlike other guide books) she's now blurted to the world, but also missed a few, so some of my favorite finds are safe.

I liked the very detailed, personalized info on hotels etc: 'the owner leaves notes in your room saying things like bang the top of the TV twice if the reception is bad'.

This is an author who clearly enjoyed her research. I gave her four out of five only because she spills the beans on my favorite hideaway restuarant. Now I'll never get in!!!

I have both this book and Revealed and by far I recommend the Revealed book. This book is ok to use as a companion guide with Revealed, but I did not find it nearly as helpful. I mainly bought the Dummy book to see if I could get a different point of view about sites, restuarants, etc. and I did in some cases, but I will be using the Revealed book as my main guide when I go back to Maui this year.

An excellent place to start. Good overall examination of the island to decide if you wish to dig deeper.

Don't listen to the San Jose guy, he doesn't know what he's talking about. If you look at the table of contents, you will see that the hotel listings only take up 12 of the 300 pages of information. And the information is different from a AAA Guidebook (which I have in addition to this one). For example, the AAA book will say something like "313 units, some with whirlpools" and that is about as descriptive as it gets. The Dummies book will mention something like "You're welcome to pick fruit, vegetables, or flowers from the extensive garden" or "for maximum peace and quiet, ask for a unit removed from the Kihei Road." The Dummies book also points out "Kid Friendly" and "Bargain Alert" hotels.

I think the information in this book is priceless, and yes, some of the info can be found on the internet, but you can say that for ANY information book. So why do you get the AAA book? So you can have all the info in one place. Why would you get this book? To get all the info in one place, without the online ads. I also think the reviews of the restaurants are great.

If you can, open up the book at a local bookstore and read some of it. You will see that its information is better than most of the other guidebooks. The store I went to did not have Driving and Discovering Maui, so I ordered it online. The reason is that the Dummies book, although filled with great maps, does not have any color photos. That's why I gave it a 4 instead of a 5.