Doughty - Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook

Honolua Bay, right side, taken from the cliffs above.

Published by Wizard Publications, Inc.

Post Office Box 991

Lihue, Hawaii 967660991

Copyright 2016 Andrew Doughty. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-9961318-1-0

All photographs (except the cover) taken by Andrew Doughty and Leona Boyd. Cover imagery courtesy of Earthstar Geographics (www.earth-imagery.com). Cartography by Andrew Doughty.

All artwork and illustrations by Andrew Doughty and Lisa Pollak.

We welcome any comments, questions, criticisms or contributions you may have, and have incorporated some of your suggestions into this edition. Please send to the address above or e-mail us at .

Check out our website at www.hawaiirevealed.com for up-to-the-minute changes. Find us on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter (@hawaiirevealed).

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, except brief extracts by a reviewer for the purpose of a review, without the prior written permission of Wizard Publications, Inc.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information was correct at press time, the authors and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness, and the opinions based thereon, are not guaranteed.

Dedicated to Leo Doughty,

whose love of flight and adventure has left its mark, and who has always paid his dues in silence.

CONTENTS

Land Tours

Maui is the undisputed playground of Hawaii. No other island has the range of activities and scenery available to you here. Theres almost nothing you cant do on Maui: hike in pristine rain forests, snorkel in an extinct crater, coast a bicycle 10,000 feet down a volcano, walk along miles of beaches, frolic under a waterfall, dive into a natural freshwater pool, lie on a black or even red sand beach, or sip a drink as the sun sets over nearby islands. Whatever fantasy you have, Maui is bound to deliver.

Most travel publishers send a writer or writers to a given location for a few weeks to become experts and to compile information for guidebooks. To our knowledge, we at Wizard Publications are the only ones who actually live our books.

We hike the trails, ride the boats, eat in the restaurants, explore the reefs and do the things we write about. It takes us two years, full time, to do a first edition book, and we visit places anonymously. We marvel at writers who can do it all in a couple of weeks staying in a hotel. Wow, they must be really fast. Our method, though it takes much longer, gives us the ability to tell it like it is in a way no one else can. We put in many long hours, and doing all these activities is a burdensome grind. But we do it all for youonly for you. (Feel free to gag at this point.)

We have found many special places that people born and raised here didnt even know about because thats all we doexplore the island. Visitors will find the book as valuable as having a friend living on the island.

In this day of easy-to-access online reviews from countless sources, you can get ratings for nearly every company out there. What you get from our reviews is a single source, beholden to none, with a comprehensive exposure to all of the companies. There are two critical shortcomings to online reviews. One is that you dont know the source or agenda of the reviewer. Nearly every company that offers a service to the public thinks they are doing a good job. (But as you know, not everyone does.) So who can blame a company for trying to rig the system by seeding good reviews of their company at every opportunity or having friends write good reviews? Many also encourage satisfied customers to write favorable online reviews (obviously not encouraging un-happy customers to do so). But maybe their enemies or competitors retaliate with bad reviews. The point is, you never really know where those reviews come from, and its almost impossible to reconcile terrible reviews right next to glowing ones for the same company. Which do you believe?

The other problem is a lack of a frame of reference. A visitor to Hawaii goes on a snorkel boat and has a great time. (Hey, he snorkeled in Hawaii, swam with a turtlecool!) When he goes back home, he posts good reviews all around. Thats great. But the problem is, he only went on one snorkel boat. We do em all. If only hed known that another company he didnt even know about did a much better job, had way better food, and a much nicer boat for the same price.

We are also blessed with hundreds of thousands of readersfrom our books as well as our smartphone appswho alert us to issues with companies and places. Every single message from our readers is received, placed in a special database that we constantly have available while were out and about, and we personally follow up on every observation made by our readers. So when we walk into a business or restaurant, we check to see what our readers say and tips they send us, and we use them to our advantage. (Thanks for the heads up about that incredible coconut cake at such-and-such restaurantI know what Ill be ordering for dessert today.) With such a resource, and after two decades reviewing companies in Hawaii full-time, there aint much thats gonna get past us.

A quick look at this book will reveal features never before used in other guidebooks. Lets start with the maps. They are more detailed than any other maps youll find, and yet they omit extraneous information that can sometimes make map reading a chore. We know that people in unfamiliar territory sometimes have a hard time determining where they are on a map, so we include landmarks. Most notable among these are mile markers. At every mile on main roads, the government has erected numbered markers to tell you where you are. We are the first to put these markers on a map so you can use them as reference points. Where needed, weve drawn legal public beach access in yellow, so youll know when youre legally entitled to cross someones land. Most guidebooks have the infuriating habit of mentioning a particular place or sight but then fail to mention how to get there! You wont find that in our book. We tell you exactly how to find the hidden gems and use our own special maps to guide you.

As you read this book, you will also notice that we are very candid in assessing businesses. Unlike some other guidebooks that send out questionnaires asking a business if they are any good (gee, they all say theyre good), weve had personal contact with the businesses listed in this book. One of the dirty little secrets about guidebook writers is that they sometimes make cozy little deals for good reviews. Well, you wont find that here. We accept no payment for our reviews, we make no deals with businesses for saying nice things, and there are no advertisements in our book. What weve seen and experienced is what you get. If we gush over a certain company, it comes from personal experience. If we rail against a business, it is for the same reason. All businesses mentioned in this book are here by