1 comments about Moon Kaua'i (Moon Handbooks).

1. I'm not usually a big fan of guide books. But this one helped immensely on my trip. It is so accurate in its advice that I often felt the strange feeling of walking in the footsteps of the author. For example, it describes a hidden path at a lookout point, and sure enough its there. Or when it says that a parking lot is going to be full at 8 am in the morning; it will be.
   
   But the most valuable information to me was the "Highlights" page at the beginning of each section. Here the author tells you the "must see parts of the island." In my experience he is right every time. For example, I never would have thought to visit Limahuli Botanical Gardens. But it turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip.
   
   I highly recommend this book if you are going to Kaua'i for even just a few days.

5 comments about Day Hikes on Kauai, 3rd (Day Hikes).

1. I was disappointed when receiving the book. Despite of its title, all but one of the described hikes have an estimated hiking time of at most three hours which can hardly be considered a day hike. The shortest hike isn't a hike at all, followed by one lasting 10 to 30 minutes.



2. You simply do not find anything unique in the book that you could not find in other sources. Although I prefer the shorter hikes, less than 4 hours long, this book simply did not live up to my expectations.



3. I used this book & found several wonderful hikes that weren't mentioned in any of the other Kauai guide books. The best was the Waiema Canyon hike -- it wasn't a super-easy hike, but four of us (ranging in age from 25 to 50) did it in half a day. We had lunch by a beautiful hidden waterfall, & during the hike we found spectacular views of the canyon. Recommended.



4. My wife and I went on our honeymoon in Hawaii, and took this book and the Ultimate Kauai Guide Book with us. We tried to use Day Hikes more than a few times while on our trip, and more often than not we struck out with the damn book! It gave us bad directions for a few hikes, while the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook never led us astray.
   If you need a book for Kauai, take the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook. If you want a book for day hikes, do not buy this book.



5. There are a couple (out of 55) interesting and unique hikes in this guide, but if you have other books (which you probably do) then you already have the information. A couple of these hikes are complete cheats, like visiting the russian fort and a couple of the beach walks (you can figure those out on your own!).
   Only worth pulling off the shelf if you are going to do a LOT of hikes and need some more ideas besides the "usual".

1 comments about Mountain Biking the Hawaiian Islands.

1. This book really helped me on all my rides in Hawaii. Best of all, the book had sections on all 6 visitable main islands. The maps and trail descriptions were always right on... don't ride in the islands without this!

2 comments about Hidden Hawaii: Including Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Lanai, Molokai, and the Big Island (Hidden Travel).

1. I recently checked out this book (among others) from the local library prior to a trip to Oahu. For my trip, I was disappointed by this book, and found this to be one of the less-useful ones.
   
   First, this book was largely useless because the author omitted almost any information about accessing different tourist sites through Hawaii's tourist-packed mass transit system, The Bus. Most tourists I met relied on mass transit and tour buses. What good is a guidebook if you don't know how (or whether) you can get to the things the author mentions?
   
   Secondly, the author frequently lacks discernment and context in his suggestions. For example, the Waikiki Shopping Plaza is listed as offering "about a dozen [budget] ethnic and American restaurants", without context. When I visited, I discovered the usual set of food court fry pits that could be found in any American shopping mall. Why would anyone interested in "Hidden Hawaii" be interested in these?
   
   Needless to say, I rapidly tossed this book in my hotel room, and carried around the Rough Guide around. Thud.



2. This book was all right. The intro general-info pages are really detailed (info for traveling with kids, international visitors, senior travelers, transportation options, etc.). However, there are scant few photos -- just a couple of pages' worth stuck in the middle, and they're more landscape-oriented than tourism-oriented, so they really aren't relevant to a guidebook.
   
   There's some good information in there, but if you know what island you're going to already, then get a book about that particular island; otherwise you have to wade through a bunch of stuff that isn't relevant to your trip. For instance, I found the Hidden Maui guidebook to be much more helpful for the trip we'll be taking.

2 comments about Islands of Samoa: Reference Map of Tutuila, Manu'A, 'Upolu, and Savai'I.

1. As the author of Tonga-Samoa Handbook, I've used James A. Bier's map of the Samoas many times to check dubious place name spellings or to verify geographical information. The detailed index makes finding places a breeze and the drawing is amazingly clear. I recommend this map highly.



2. Found what we were looking for in this detailed map

2 comments about Day Hikes on Maui, 3rd (Day Hikes).

1. most of the hikes listed are widely found in many other sources. thse that were unique, had vague descriptions and were very difficult to find (i.e. bad descrptions to trailheads). all in all, a dissappointment.



2. The review prior to this sums up my thoughts pretty well, though I did enjoy having a book devoted just to the trails I was hiking. Looking back however, I'm not sure it was THAT great because half the trails are useless for most people.Overall the book lacks new substance and/or locations worth the average visitor's time on Maui.
   
   For anyone who really wants to get off the beaten path and hike, I'd suggest Maui Revealed, Maui Mile By Mile, and Maui Trailblazer in that order. All three are excellent guides which include hiking amongst many other great things.

No comments about Wave-finder Surf Guide USA & Hawaii.

3 comments about Hikers Guide to the Hawaiian Islands (Latitude 20 Books).

1. This is the Hawaii that you were dreaming of! Lush , tropical paradise without the competition of crowds at the beach! Let this author guide you to a private waterfall or atop a lava rock mountain to appreciate all the beauty hawaii has to offer. Great trail directions. Easy to follow with bits of history thrown in for entertainment. Offers trails for all ability levels, day or overnight hikes.



2. As time is of the essence while travelling, I wanted to make the most of my time on the islands. This book allowed me to explore and choose a hike that was perfect for the length of my stay. I felt comfortable with the route laid out on paper. I was dissatisfied with THE BUS route and scheduling on Oahu as compared to the simple statement under how to get there. I had to explore a different route and connection but felt that THE BUS system was to blame. Otherwise, I felt that the book did sufficiently lead to the perfect hike for me at the time. The trail was beautiful and I look forward to using the book again down the road.



3. We used this guide to choose and find trails to hike during a three week trip to Hawaii in 2002. We only went on 9 of the 44 hikes described, but this guide was nearly ideal for us with clear and easy-to-use descriptions and instructions.

1 comments about Tropical Family Vacations: in the Caribbean, Hawaii, South Florida, and Mexico.

1. Tropical Family Vacations gives a nice introduction to family travel in Florida, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Mexico. For each island or place, the author provides an overview with a description, visitor information, language and currency. All the listings--resorts and attractions--are oriented toward families. I was pleased to find both 800 numbers and web addresses. The descriptions are writtenin a pretty objective fashion. Expect description rather than evaluation. If you (and your kids!) know you want a warm vacation, but don't know where to go, this is a good first step in planning.

1 comments about Hawaii by Bike: 20 Tours Geared for Discovery (By Bike).

1. Slavinski's books describe bicycle touring in a way that most closely approximates my own rhythm and pace of cycling. The experienced cycle tourist will know what I mean. I recommend newcomers who want a book to try one of Slavinski's, as well as books by other cyclists. Perhaps you'll discover a writer who "speaks" to you. If not, then you may end up writing your own. Or you may become a truly independent rider--no books, *no* maps. Try it!