The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed [Paperback]

Andrew Doughty (Author, Photographer), Leona Boyd (Photographer)

Book Description

Release date: October 1, 2011 | Series: Ultimate Kauai Guidebook

The finest guidebook ever written for Kaua'i. Now you can plan your best vacation--ever. This all new eighth edition is a candid, humorous guide to everything there is to see and do on the island. Best-selling author and longtime Hawai'i resident, Andrew Doughty, unlocks the secrets of an island so lush and diverse that many visitors never realize all that it has to offer. Explore with him as he reveals breathtaking trails, secluded beaches, pristine reefs, delicious places to dine, relaxing resorts, exciting waterfalls, colorful canyons and so much more. Every restaurant, activity provider, business and resort is reviewed personally and anonymously. This book and a rental car are all you need to discover what makes Kaua'i so exciting.



• The most up-to-date and accurate information available anyplace with up-to-the-minute changes posted to our website



• Frank, brutally honest reviews of restaurants, hotels and activities show you which

companies really are the best…and which to avoid--no advertisements



• Driving tours let you structure your trip your way, point out sights not to be missed along the way and are complemented by over 100 spectacular color photographs



• 15 specially-created maps in an easy-to-follow format with mile markers--so you'll always know where you are on the island



• Clear, concise directions to those hard-to-find places such as deserted beaches, tropical jungles, hidden waterfalls, rugged scenic coastlines, water-filled lava pools and scores of other hidden gems listed nowhere else



• Exclusive chapter on Kaua'i's beaches with detailed descriptions including ocean safety



• Unique Adventures chapter and over 60 pages of exciting activities from ATVs to ziplines



• Fascinating sections on Hawai'i's history, culture, language and legends



• Companion website with links to every business, events calendar, over 70 resort reviews complete with aerial photos--so you'll know if oceanfront really means oceanfront



"The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" covers it all--from the mile-high summit of Mt. Wai'ale'ale, to the sparkling underwater reefs. This is the best investment you can make for your Kaua'i visit. Whether you are a first time visitor, or a longtime kama'aina, you will find out more about Kaua'i from this book than from any other source. Discover the island of your dreams with "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a must for any serious visitor." New York Times



"Best guide to Kauai...Ultimate Kauai Guidebook." National Geographic Adventure



"...a terrifically useful handbook." Travel & Leisure



"Author, Andrew Doughty, covers Kauai thoroughly." Los Angeles Times



"Best Guidebook...You can trust it...Actually lives up to its title." Islands Magazine



"The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook is terrific--It's like having a savvy local resident with you." Dave Barry, nationally syndicated columnist & humorist

Book Description

Most travel titles are put together in a few weeks by visiting travel writers. Wizard guidebooks take over a year to compile and the writers are residents who personally and anonymously review every facet of the island. Their maps are the best you'll find. From restaurants to helicopter companies to scuba to beaches to trails. They see it all and show you the best the island has to offer. They also reveal who's the worst and who to stay away from. All told in a frank, humorous way that keeps the reading fun.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Wizard Publications Inc.; 8th edition edition (October 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981461085
• ISBN-13: 978-0981461083
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Travel > United States > Hawaii > Kauai
  • #7 in Books > Travel > United States > West > Pacific

More About the Author

Andrew Doughty has been exploring and writing about the Hawaiian Islands for many years and is the best-selling guidebook writer in the United States, with millions of books in print. Andrew reviews every business anonymously and has hiked and GPSed every trail, secluded beach and special place described in his books. When he's not on the ground, you'll find him in the air in his airplane designed specifically for aerial photography.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy the Kindle Version March 10, 2012

By kdsbg

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Purchased the Kindle version and found the maps useless. Do not purchase the kindle version. Bought the print version after. Reviews matched our experience visiting Kauai recently.

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Kauai guide book! January 20, 2012

By J. Wittenberg

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As timeshare owners in Poipu, we vacation on Kauai regularly and still wanted to have the most recent edition of this book (we've had 2 previous editions) to catch up on what is new on Kauai since our last visit in 2010. We have given this book as a gift to numerous friends and relatives traveling to Kauai for the first time and have been told that this book gave the "newbies" all the information that they needed for their vacation. Although there are plenty of free travel brochures available at the airport, those are all from companies who get a commission from the sales of their activities. The authors of this book can honestly give their recommendations of activities, restaurants, hotels, etc. We have found their maps to be incredibly helpful and accurate. Vacationing in Hawaii is not cheap, so it is wonderful that plenty of space is given to things you can do (sights to see) for FREE! We have found their descriptions of the restaurants, that we have been to, to be very accurate, although everyone has their own tastes.
Great guide book that is a 'must have' for the Kauai traveler.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource November 1, 2011

By Tscott

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great book to help you navigate your way through Kauai. I am not a world traveler by any means, but this book is so helpful. The author is well informed about the entire island and honest about various activities, restaurants and beaches. It is hard to imagine trying to discover so much of what Kauai has to offer on your own. If you are planning a trip to Kauai, buy this book!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect book for perfect vacation August 14, 2012

By Wizkid

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is fantastic! It helped us to have the perfect vacation in Kauai.
First, Doughty's reviews and recommendations are all spot-on. He has reviewed, it seems, every hole-in-the-wall eatery, every hotel and condo, every trail, every boat company, every helicopter company, every beach, every river. And his recommendations never once led us astray. And he recommends places no one else has ever heard of that are simply great. One example: Trees, a tiny bar tucked away behind what looks like a deserted shopping mall, a place you would never know of otherwise. Yet they had great food, perfect mai-tai's (served, incidentally, by beautiful, nice waitresses), and Doughty even mentions that on Monday nights an amazing rock guitarist, Jeff Caldwell, plays there, and that band changed my life. Finally, Doughty provides detailed maps and directions. I doubt very much that we would ever have found Hideaways without his help.
Second, the book is beautifully organized into regions of the island and then categories within that. It's easy to find your way around.
Third, the book is really fun to read. Doughty's style is hilarious and approachable. The amazing photos are so enjoyable.
I give this book my absolute highest recommendation.

Finally, unlike some other reviewers here, I thought the iPhone app was, if possible, even better than the book. It has all the same content, organized in more or less the same way. Plus it has all the maps accessible through the single map of the island to which the app opens. You just pinch the map and it goes to street-name level detail, even trail-level detail. You can tap the map anywhere and it will give you a list of all the places he recommends with distances.... What's more the app loads to your phone, so it doesn't require satellite connection or use up your battery with GPS. It was indispensable for our perfect vacation.

I was glad to have the book as a read-through reference and the large, beautiful photos. I was glad also to have the app for its on-the-spot access and amazing map.

I cannot praise Andrew Doughty highly enough. If only every author were this clear, thoughtful, complete, imaginative, and fun. Read more ›

33 of 44 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I prefer Frommers. April 20, 2012

By Disco Owl

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book to use along with my Frommers Guide...i feel it's always good to have at least 2 perspectives when traveling, and not rely too heavily on just one guidebook. Based on all the glowing reviews, I had high expectations of this book, and maybe that was my problem. This book is fine, but i wouldn't say fabulous, and i'd definitely take along another in addition to this one. I found this book a little confusing to navigate. And 90% of the time i looked for something obvious in the index, i couldn't find it. This probably frustrated me the most. (Trail names, restaurant names for example...) And speaking of restaurants, I'm very disappointed that this book completely ignores vegans/vegetarians in its restaurant reviews. It's 2012, and not everyone that goes to Hawaii eats fish. Frommers includes 2 pages devoted to vegetarian dining on Kauai, in contrast. A simple blurb for each restaurant reviewed about whether or not there is anything vegetarian on the menu would be MUCH appreciated by those of us who don't eat meat. You have no idea how hard it is for vegans when we travel, so ANY help is very appreciated.

The aerial photographs on the back cover of the beaches seem a little pointless to me, as all beaches look pretty much the same from the air. A great idea to include individual photos of each beach, but would have been 10 times more helpful to have standing-view shots of what i'm actually going to see.

There seemed to be a lot of back and forth in this book...always referring me to another page to "read more". And sometimes the page numbers were wrong. I wish guidebooks would organize themselves better. If you're going to talk about Waimea Canyon, do it completely all in one chapter. Because let's face it......if i'm traveling to Waimea Canyon for the day, i'm going to need to know about the trails, the restaurants, directions there, and the beaches nearby, all at once. It would have been nice to have all this information in one spot instead of constantly flipping back and forth throughout the book. I felt like i kept missing out on information about a certain beach for example, because there would be up to 3 or 4 different places in the book that referenced this particular beach, and each page had information that another page did not. So i was often finding myself figuring out something i had a question on, only after i got home from the beach and accidentally found another page talking about it. Really, the only asset i can see about this guidebook is that it includes some off-the-beaten-path sites, but keep in mind that most of these sites are probably off the beaten path for a reason...like dangerous surf, rip currents, long hikes to get to them, etc... I certainly did not gain anything special on my trip from having this guidebook with me. Read more ›