Travel to Australia And South Pacific

Moon Handbooks Tahiti: Including the Cook Islands

Format: Paperback
Author: David Stanley
ReleaseDate: September, 2003
Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
Rating:

Tahiti: Including the Cook Islands by David Stanley
There are some interresting sections and others no so interresting. I have started reading the book. The book seems to be complete in that it publishes everything you ever wanted to know about French Polynesia's past and the surrounding area, including the Cook Islands and the Marquesas. Remember that this book covers 3. 600 square miles of the south Pacific, so it is not particularly specific to any island, or even group of islands. It covers a triangular section from Hawaii to the North, New Zealand to the southwest and Easter Island to the Southeast. I have not read the book long enough to see if there are recommendations on places to go, restaurants to eat in or places to see. I'll have a better fix on this as I continue. Bon Voyage!.

Very useful each day of our trip!
We used it during the planning stages to pick our resorts and research the activities we might be interested in in Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora. An excellent guide to the islands of French Polynesia. Each day we were there, the book helped us plan our activities and learn more about the islands and what they had to offer. The island and Papeete city maps were of great use finding our way around. The book covers all islands of French Polynesia and the Cook Islands. I enjoyed reading about all the others we didn't visit. Will definitely take this our next trip down. Highly recommended.

The best guidebook for any kind of trip to Eastern Polynesia
Stanley has been writing guidebooks to these islands for almost 25 years. During my two big trips through the South Pacific, I always had one of David Stanley's guidebooks in my backpack. Like his other Pacific guides, this fifth edition of Tahiti Handbook (which includes the whole of French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and Easter Island) is completely packed with information for the traveller.

Tips for travellers
While planning, Tahiti Handbook will help you find out which islands will be more interesting, easier or cheaper to visit. Stanley gives a good idea of what to expect in the islands, while you can still have a great adventure and discover things on your own.
In the Pacific, this guide will save you money and trouble. Following Stanley's advice to sleep at Tahiti's airport when arriving at night, to wait for the early morning bus instead of taking a taxi to your hotel, will already save you the cost of the book. Accommodations of all categories are described, often including critical commentary. The same applies for restaurants and organized activities. Stanley identifies with any kind of traveller. He answers almost any possible question to arise on other travel matters.

Incognito
I haven't used this edition of Tahiti Handbook in the field yet, so I can't say much about the accuracy of the travel information inside. However, during my trips through the islands, Stanley's information usually proved reasonably up-to-date. You can never expect everything to be correct, Stanley admits that. For every new edition of his guides, he makes a research trip to check the places listed in his book. On these trips Stanley arrives unannounced and tries to identify himself as little as possible. This way he is better able to experience a place like any other traveller. For this fifth edition of Tahiti Handbook, the Marquesas and Easter Island were visited in addition to more regular places. It would be nice to know what islands were exactly visited. If you feel some information is incorrect or missing from Stanley's guide, you can write him and he will seriously look at your comments.

Lively and critically
The chapters on history, people and places and the references in Tahiti Handbook are an excellent starting point to learn more about Eastern Polynesia. In my opinion, some more attention could have been given to the language section: an extension of the Tahitian and French section and adding Cook Islands Maori, Spanish and Rapanui.
The biggest problem with this book, as with Stanley's other guides to the Pacific, is that you'll want to go to almost every island he so lively introduces. With every new edition, Stanley not only updates travel information, he also perfects his writings. Stanley won't bore you. It's obvious he loves the islands. Still, he does so without writing over-positive about it. Stanley will tell you about the French nuclear testing at Moruroa and Papeete traffic jams. As he puts it on page 3: `Through this book we've tried to show you the best of the region without ignoring the worst. Paradise it may not be, but it's still a remarkable part of our planet. '

Three in one
Since the previous edition of Tahiti Handbook, the Cook Islands and Easter Island are also included, without making the guide too thick or expensive. The only I only place I miss in Tahiti Handbook is Pitcairn. Since it lies between French Polynesia and Easter Island, you would expect it to be included. It does receive more visitors than islands like Puka Puka or Maiao these days. For information about Pitcairn, you need to get Stanley's South Pacific Handbook.

Maps and photographs
You can find 56 maps in Tahiti Handbook, including ones of more remote islands. Of the main islands; there are detailed maps of towns to show accommodations, restaurants, offices and more. The atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago are a bit underrepresented. But since these are mostly thin necklaces of land, this is not really important. In general the maps in Tahiti Handbook are fine. Only the coloured map and the index map at the beginning of the book could be better: the lagoons of the coral atolls have all been coloured in like land.
There are not many photographs in Tahiti Handbook: two coloured ones at the beginning of the book and a handful of black and white ones throughout the book. Without doubt this helps to keep the price of the book down. Also, you don't really need photographs here: Stanley's writing will bring Polynesia to life for you.

Take it!
Despite some small critical notes, I still give Tahiti Handbook five stars. There is nothing to match this guidebook. Take it when you go to French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and/or Easter Island no matter what your budget or style of travelling is.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Australia And South Pacific travel books.

	Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide, 4th Ed. (Open Road Travel Guides Tahiti and French Polynesia Guide)
	Insight Compact Guide Tahiti & French Polynesia (Insight Compact Guides)
	Lonely Planet Tahiti & French Polynesia (Lonely Planet Tahiti and French Polynesia)
	Hidden Tahiti and French Polynesia: Including Moorea, Bora Bora, and the Society, Austral, Gambier, Tuamotu, and Marquesas Islands (Hidden Tahiti)