Doughty - Oahu Revealed: The Ultimate Guide to Honolulu, Waikiki & Beyond

When the sun goes down, Waikiki will continue to light you up.

Published by Wizard Publications, Inc.

Post Office Box 991

Lihue, Hawaii 967660991

Copyright 2015 Andrew Doughty. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9780983888796

All photographs taken by Andrew Doughty and Leona Boyd, except photo of the skydivers in Activities chapter courtesy of Tom Sanders.

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 we will incorporate some of your suggestions into future editions. 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 for brief extracts by a reviewer for the purpose of a review, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information was correct at press time, the author 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 the wizard that exists in all of us...

CONTENTS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Oahu: land of myths. Were not talking about ancient Hawaiian myths. Were talking about the myths that exist about this island, both for visitors and for those who live on the neighbor islands (including me before I moved here to do this book). The biggest myth is that Oahu is Waikiki and Waikiki is Oahu. Nothing could be further from the truth. Oahu has all the wonder, adventure and discovery that a person could ever ask forand far more.

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 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.)

Longtime locals have been surprised at some of the items described in our book. We have found many special places that people born and raised here didnt even know about because thats all we do explore 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 , and 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 unhappy 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 turtle cool! ) 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 that they send us, and we use them to our advantage. (Thanks for the heads up to that incredible coconut cake at so-and-so 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 other maps you will find, and yet they omit extraneous information that can sometimes make a chore out of reading a map. Weve also used a technique to highlight only the roads we think are relevant to you and left the countless ancillary roads faint, but still visible, so youll know theyre there but wont be overwhelmed when you read the maps. Where needed, weve drawn legal public beach access in yellow, so youll know when youre legally entitled to cross someones land. Additionally, we repeatedly drove and GPS ed every inch of every road and trail on the maps. This is important because many of the roads and trails represented on existing maps have been shifted, moved or eliminated. You could become very frustrated trying to find certain beaches or other scenic spots using other maps. We physically check every place and often use aerial photography and a GPS to determine the best methods for getting to certain places.

Slick (and not so slick) free magazines and publications are strewn throughout the island. Most claim to point you to assorted wonders. Theres nothing wrong with that. But the adage, You get what you pay for, applies. Lets put it this way: If all the companies in this book were companies that we had to solicit for advertising, how much candor do you think we could provide? Thats why you pay for the book, not the companies we describe. Were free to be as brutally honest as we want to be. Since we accept no advertisements, our allegiance is to our readers, not advertisers.

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. All businesses mentioned in this book are here by our choosing. Not one has had any input into what we say, and we have not received a single cent from any of them for their inclusion. 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, its for the same reason. We review businesses as anonymous visitors to ensure that we are treated the same as you. (Amazingly, most travel writers announce themselves.) What you get is our opinion on how they operate. Nothing more, nothing less.