Travel to Australia And South Pacific

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed (Ultimate Kauai Guidebook)

Format: Paperback
Author: Andrew Doughty
ReleaseDate: 01 November, 2006
Publisher: Wizard Publications Inc.
Rating:

Great book for planning a vacation to Kauai
It was very useful throughout our trip with finding beaches, restaurants, things to do, and just overall planning. We used the previous edition to plan a previous vacation to Kauai. We definitely think you should get the most current edition though. Last time we used an older edition and some of the restaurants and places had gone out of business or changed names. We just bought the new edition for our next trip this summer.

Maui Revealed it 100% tried and true
Ok honestly I skimmed this Kauai version but I will say that we went to maui 3 times and our Maui revealed book goes with us everywhere! The beach section was the best part. . great little secrets and believe it not . . . they are still secrets. . wait maybe not after this review! Restaurants right on the money!
I am assuming that this version by the same authors will do the same for us.

Great for the active traveler
This one was head and shoulders above the rest in terms of usability. I bought several guidebooks prior to spending two weeks on Kauai. It is especially useful for the active, athletic, adventurous traveller who wants to hike, kayak, and surf, and who likes to eat casual meals in places that the locals frequent. It might be less useful for the traveler who is more into poolside massage and high end restaurants.

The maps were incredibly good. There are tons of tips that only locals would know, like where the access points are to several hidden beaches, and which which routes say 'no trespassing' but actually are public. We didn't leave our cottage without this book, and we used its maps whether we were hiking or driving.

The hiking guides were better than some of the books that are completely dedicated to being hiking guides. There are some great adventures listed, but less active travelers should be aware that when the author says it's a bit of an adventure, he means it. So by all means enjoy and explore, but the author assumes that you will use good judgement and turn back if the weather is incompatabile with taking a certain route, or if you aren't fit enough to be up to it.

One of the best tips from this book was to use Learn to Surf surfing school. They really were fantastic, and will travel to whatever beach has the right conditions for you. This makes them as useful for the intermediate surfer as for the beginner.

The restaurant reviews are not as consistently good as the hiking and outdoor adventure reviews. We were never led astray by an ONO designation, and in fact we discovered some great places. The restaurant guide in this book is good for finding tasty, hearty food after a day of hiking, kayaking, or surfing. Some of the restaurants without ONO designation were pretty bad. (Skip House of Noodles - drive down to Lihue to Hamura's instead. ) That being said, though, this guide pointed us toward a gem that became our favorite restaurant of the trip - Cafe Coco. Most of the time, though, the reviews were not as helpful as the ones in Frommers. Likewise, the accomodation guide points you more toward resorts, hotels, and larger condo developments at all price points, but not as much as Frommers toward small, unique cottages and rentals.

I found that the ideal combination (for me, as an active, athletic, adventurous traveler) was to use this book as my primary reference, but to use Frommer's for restaurant and accomodation information. .

Related products:
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	Kauai Underground Guide (Book & Audio CD, 17th Edition)