1 comments about Hawai'i Wildlife Viewing Guide.

1. It would be easy to poke fun at a Hawaii nature guide that excludes relatively undeveloped Molokai because it is still too natural.
   However, Watchable Wildlife Inc., which sponsors this series of guides, has a point. Molokai has plenty of birds, but it also lacks "the infrastructure needed to accommodate visitors and protect the habitat and wildlife."
   For similar reasons, Haleakala National Park excludes almost everybody from the magnificent remnant of native environment at Kipahulu on Maui.
   Maui, however, is pretty well-fixed for harmless wildlife viewing. Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary provides easy views of rare birds sandwiched between an airport and an industrial area.
   "Hawai`i Wildlife Viewing Guide" is highly selective, with only 31 prime sites chosen throughout the state. These include the sunken crater and favorite snorkeling spot Molokini, another site with excellent close-ups with wildlife and easy access, within Maui County.
   The other Maui County sites are the summit of Haleakala, Big Beach, Oheo, Polipoli, Waianapanapa, Kipahulu (the highway views, not the forbidden interior), Kealia, and the whale sanctuary in Kihei; plus Manele-Hulopoe on Lanai.
   Access information is full and reliable. Some other advice is dubious. Waianapanapa does not have, in my opinion, "a beautiful swimming beach," and the "excellent swimming" at Big Beach is best avoided in anything but the smallest surf.
   There is a valuable section on the ethics of watching wildlife, and the book is nicely illustrated.
   A neutral comment that mongooses and feral cats can be observed at Oheo parking lot would have benefitted from a pointer that both, but especially the cats, are serious enemies of the birds, especially seabirds, that the guide is largely aimed at.
   And if you're going to Molokai and want to watch wildlife, there is an excellent spot at the Nature Conservancy's Kamakou Preserve. It isn't as accessible as the sites in "Hawai`i Wildlife Viewing Guide," but a call to the conservancy in Honolulu can set up a visit on monthly guided tours. (Four-wheel drive required.)

No comments about Audubon Guide to the National Wildlife Refuges: California&HI: California, Hawaii, and Midway Island (Audubon Guides to the National Wildlife Refuges).

No comments about Tourism and the Economy: Understanding the Economics of Tourism.

No comments about The adventures of Huckleberry Hashimoto.

1 comments about Paradise Family Guides Big Island of Hawaii: The Most Complete Guide to Family Fun and Adventure!.

1. We visit the islands every year. This is by far one of the best books for the Big Island. The companion books for the other islands are excellent, as well.

No comments about Adventure Guide Kauai (Adventure Guides Series) (Adventure Guides Series) (Adventure Guides Series) (Adventure Guides Series) (Adventure Guides Series).

No comments about O'ahu's Hidden History: Tours into the Past.

5 comments about Fodor's Hawaii 2007 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

1. This is a decent book that gives you information on lodging, activities, eats, etc. The problem is that all of the Hawaiian Islands are packed into this one guide. That limits what can be said about each island. The books such as "Big Island Revealed" are much more detailed and aren't afraid of letting you know if a resort is prettier on paper than in reality. Those are 5-star books that a vacationer to the Islands must have.



2. Our family is planning a vacation to the islands, and my husband had an outdated guide book. We needed a current guide of the islands.



3. Excellent product! Came extremely fast--faster than expected--and in excellent condition! Will definitely buy from this person again! Thanks so much!



4. What I like most about this book is that there is plenty of great information on each island's character, which is very helpful. If you're into the nightlife, restaurants and party scene, you don't want to be spending half of your vacation in say Kauai (for example). And if you're into nature photography, likewise it would make little sense to spend most of your time on Oahu. Every island is somewhat tailored to a particular lifestyle, so definitely look into each before booking!
   
   And as you would expect with any Fodor's reference, there are many detailed hotel and restaurant recommendations as well. This is a must-have reference if you've never been to Hawaii before and own no other books of its kind. We searched through quite a few before buying this one and are glad for it.
   
   The main flaw are the maps. I would like it if the maps were more detailed. They could have used one spread for each high level island map (which is what the book has), and then one spread for the east and west sections of each island, so you can really see where the main roads go, where the best stopping points are, etc. Still a great book overall. Highly Recommended.
   
   One thing to remember: the north and east shores of each island get more rain than the south and western shores, depending on the time of year. Sometimes it's easy to forget this looking at the beautiful pictures of hotels online, etc. :-)



5. I've been using Fodor's Guides for years and always find them accurate and helpful. Don't leave home without one!

No comments about 50 Thrifty Big Island Restaurants: Dining on a Budget, Island Style.

1 comments about Oahu Hikes: The Best Hikes and Walks on the Island (Lone Pine Guide).

1. I have just come back from Hawaii and used Oahu Hikes as my primary source for hiking around Oahu. I found it bit ironic that the author is from British Columbia while I am from Alaska, writing this review about a hiking book on Oahu!
   
   There are several good things about this book that I liked. I found the writing easy to read, the book comes with many nice colorful photographs, great looking hiking maps blown up so we can see better and they are all on contour maps. The book is well organized and I found it easy to find the trails I like to do. The author also does a pretty decent job telling the reader how to get to the trail heads although some of her directions is slightly outdated. On this, I don't blamed the author as traffic environment on Oahu is an ever changing evolution. The author also included some side information on Hawaiian history, plants and other assorted facts connected to the trails that I found interesting.
   
   As good as all that sounds, I also found many troubling elements about this book that resulted in my two star rating. For one, the book really doesn't tell you anything about the trail, the steepness of the hike, what kind of trail profile to expect or the general nature of the hike. The author's rating system is so subjective, it relatively meaningless. What may be easy to her may be terribly hard for others and vis versa. Some of the trails listed can be outright dangerous when it wet or muddy while others may not. The book tells you how to complete the hike but nothing more.
   
   Many of the information given about the trails are badly outdated for a book that came out in September of 2007. Good examples can be found where the author stated that flashlights may be needed in the dark places like the spiral staircase along Diamond Head trail hike as you hiked into the military bunker complex. Anyone who done this hike during the past couple of years knows that Hawaii State Park puts lights into these dark places (tunnels and staircases) and nobody,,,nobody uses or bring flashlights to this hike anymore. I done this hike over 50 times during the past 4 years and I have never seen anyone uses or bringing a flashlight unless they came before dawn to see the sunrise. Even then, the lights were working inside and the flashlights were for the outside. The lights came on line in 2004!! (It probably don't help that the section where Diamond Head hike is described, there is a very nice photo of a great view - from Makapu'u Point. Obviously a wrong photo inserted there.) Another outdated fact lies in another popular tourist hike, trail to Makapu'u Lighthouse. Here the book tells you that you have to park along the highway to get to the trail Another sheer silliness since there is a nice large parking lot off the highway next to the trail-head. I first notice this during my visit in March of 2006! There are many more like this throughout the book but obviously, it is questionable when or if the author ever hiked these trails recently. (Recently would be within the past two years of the publication date.)
   
   Some of the mileages given also appears to be very questionable. Prime example is the Kaunala Loop Trail where she gave a "3 miles" of total hiking while most of the other Oahu hiking books gave it close to 4 to 5 miles of total hiking. Why is this? I figured out that the author only counted the loop itself and nothing more. While this may work if the author only wrote about the loop, her section on this trail have her starting out at the parking area next to the Boy Scout camp where you have to walk around or over two gates to get on a four wheel drive road that will take you to the loop. That is still a good amount of walking before you get to the loop. All other books counts those distance as part of the hike but this author does not even although she start her description from the parking lot. This is misleading as I was led to believed that the entire hike from the parking area and back was "3 miles" as stated when it was more closer to five miles. This type of misinformation is not very helpful to anyone.
   
   I also thought it was funny that the author in her section on Kaena Point trail (south), she did not mentioned the erosion of the trail that have totally eaten away the entire section. That part of the trail could still be crossed during the recent years but with certain amount of care. Now, in my recent visit (two weeks ago to this writing), additional part of that erosion have been lost and locals been hiking over and around it that part, creating a goat trail. (This is not the sea cave part that the author described in the book.)
   
   Overall, it is hard to recommend this book to anyone looking for a good hiking book on Oahu. My basis for this is clear, I am not really sure if the author actually hiked these trails and if so, when. Her information is often outdated (for Sept 2007 book) but also inaccurate and misleading. There are several good books out there that may not be as colorful as this one but it probably is more accurate and describes the trails in greater details.
   
   (In fairness though, I do admit that her information on Manoa Falls and Maunawili Falls trails appears to be accurate enough.)