Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed

5 star:		(128)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Great book for things that don't change. Good for your hikes, waterfalls, beaches etc., but way out of date on activities and restaurants. Most of the reviews and citing of restaurants are at least 5 years old.

This book is amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone going to Kauai. My wife and I used it (along with Fromers) on our recent vacation. I can not imagine making the trip without it. We were constantly consulting the book for what we wanted to go see or do (or not see or do) and the restaurant section was invaluable. We especially liked the beach pictures in the back and the descriptions. We unfortunately did not time to hit all of the many beaches of Kauai, but the book left us feeling good about the ones we did select. I don't think this book let us down in any of its advice. Definitely a must have for any trip to the island and I assume the others written about the other islands are just as good. I hope to find out soon.

Want the real insight on Kauai so you don't feel like just another Haole! Gives you the inside scoop on all the important stuff, like on which business' are reputable and which ones are NOT!!--how else would u know this valuable knowledge?? They do all the homework for you, so you can make your own informed choices without having to waste your time and money!!

This is my 2nd trip to Kauai, and really did find this book very helpful in many respects. The hikes are great, although I did find the book was organized in a very scattered manner. We followed the off road routes near Anahola, south to Donkey's Beach, and it was a disaster. For one thing, the roads were not accurately drawn for their description and quantity. Although we had a brand new Jeep 4WD, we were met with with huge boulders, narrow and bushy roads that scratched our car to no end. The worst part, however, was going to the wonderful smaller beaches only accessed by these roads. Although there was no doubt the beaches themselves were absolutely phenomenal, the "locals" attempted to intimidate us by standing by their jacked up trucks, starring until we left, ready to dial "911" on our cell phones. We asked a local about this later, to which they replied that the area is known to be "Angryhole-a" territory--all the angry locals tend to meander that way, especially on the weekends. No where in the book did it mention the true nature of this small town, the local attitude toward tourists, and the confusing and dangerous nature of off-roading, especially when their maps were really off!

I bought 7 guide books for my first trip to Kauai. This was the best with the Lonely Planet guide being a close second. I didn't even take the other 5. There may be a better Kauai book out there someplace but I don't know where.

We've been to Kauai about 5 or 6 times and each time we go, we buy the latest edition of this book. It's accurate, truthful and their reviews are right in line with our tastes. An added plus is that their website is up to date and covers any changes since publication. Overall, a great resource. We haven't found a better guidebook and we have tried many.

We have been using this book for 4 years. Frank evaluations of places to go and things to do from the islander's perspective. I go every year and this is the only book I use. Kauai is one of the most beautiful spots in the world and if you have a chance to visit, jump on it.

just returned from a week on Maui and 5 days on Kauai, used the ultimate guidebooks for both islands. We enjoyed several restaurants and tours that the authors panned; found several "real gem" experiences to be unpleasant; and snorkeled on beaches they dismissed and loved them. A good guide but not the last word!

In reading some of the reviews for 1 and 2 stars about being out of date, they do publish updates on their websites. (Though I wish they were a little quicker about it and they still don't update some things people send in ever so definitely room for improvement) Also saw some complaints about getting some stink talk from locals at certain beaches. While all beaches are public, the locals have very few places left that are "theirs", I encourage tourists to stay at tourist beaches and let the locals have their secret gems. The biggest thing that dropped the rating for me was they stopped publishing the addresses of restaurants in their dining section. That has always been very helpful in the past and there's no good reason to stop doing it especially when they're making as much money off these books as they are.

If going to Kauai I would pack this book before I packed my underwear. This book will guide you to all the sights and interesting places. The directions are very accurate and easy to follow. Some of the eating places have changed hands but we found they were still very good.

A must for Kauai!