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| Hawaii The Big Island Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook (Hawaii the Big Island Revealed) | 
 enlarge | Author: Andrew Doughty
Publisher: Wizard Publications Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $11.01
You Save: $5.94 (35%)
New (16) Used (5) from $10.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  244 reviews
Sales Rank: 1976
Media: Paperback
Edition: 5th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 308
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 098146100X
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.6910442
EAN: 9780981461007
ASIN: 098146100X
Publication Date: May 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Lots of useful tips, but lots of dated material January 22, 2006
26 out of 27 found this review helpful
The strengths of this book lie in the authors' thorough local knowledge of the island. For example, if you're interested in finding hidden beaches, volcanic pools, self-drive advice into the Waipio Valley, and so forth, this is probably the best book for these kinds of tips. They are excellent at detailing the logistics of seeing island sights on your own (exactly when, how, etc.). They also warn about potential difficulties you might encounter, such as tourist scams or signs indicating a private road when the road is in fact public (Waipi'o Valley).
It has some serious weaknesses, however, when it comes to its sometimes heavy-handed opinions on local businesses. One example is the Red Sail Dive operation in Kohala. I signed up with them despite the authors' description: "Groups are held on a tight leash. Get in, get out, let's go, next site. We received no briefing whatsoever." Since they had a desk at the hotel where I was staying, I dove with them, and found this description to be completely inaccurate. I asked one of the instructors about that, and he said that it was like that 10 years ago (certainly not in the five years he worked there). This advice was been repeated in the newest edition, leading me to believe that once the authors form an opinion, they often stick with it rather than re-evaluating it for subsequent editions. It would be more accurate for them to say "When we last dove with them in 1996,..."
Another glaring example for me was their review of the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, which they don't recommend. I more often than not stay at 4* properties, and this is one of the nicest hotels at which I've stayed. It's rated #1 out of 70 hotels on the island of Hawaii on tripadvisor.com (based on 229 reviews), so my opinion doesn't seem to be off-base. What's even more striking is that they recommend the sister property, the Mauna Kea Hotel, which is over 30 years older, has smaller rooms, less attractive common areas, and a less attractive beach.
Their restaurant reviews also seemed based on the authors' limited experience. They didn't recommend the Tres Hombres in Kawaihae, yet I found this to be one of the only affordable places for a decent meal in the northern Kohala resort area (where it's otherwise nearly impossible to get a dinner for two without drinks for under $100). They did recommend the Grand Palace Chinese restaurant in southern Kohala which had some of the blandest Chinese food I've had.
As a final example, their helicopter section doesn't even mention Paradise Helicopters, which not only has the lowest-priced volcano/falls tour from Hilo, but also has all-window seat flights (unlike most companies) with 2-way headphones. We found them (and got a discount) through Tom Barefoot.
In summary, if you have a car and time to tour the island, you will probably want to buy this book for its precise and accurate geographical and logistical information. It also has good background information in an easy-to-read writing style. I would be very wary of their opinions on local businesses, however, since these opinions seem to be made on the basis of limited experience. Therefore, this book wouldn't be too useful for someone who plans to just spend a few days in his hotel and not rent a car.
 Great for tourists but ..... May 31, 2004
21 out of 26 found this review helpful
As someone who has an apartment on Ohau and has spent time on all of the islands,including the last 21 consecutive years (just returned from 4 months there) I find the series of "...Revealed" books most attractive for tourists who visit the islands. However, these books identify too many places to see and things to do that involve infringing upon local residents rights, property, and traditions, that I am afraid that they could easily lead the reader to become an "ugly tourist". I only hope that any readers take the time to do additional research, if only talking to local residents, before charging off in a state of excitement to experience "paradise".
secrets??? June 2, 2004
18 out of 32 found this review helpful
Regretfully I award this book only one star. No good vegetarian restaurants were listed. I didn't have my laptop with me and so the secret number in the book was of no use. We were always turned around and the so-called Ono gems were loaded with tourists carrying the same book. We got to know them by name after awhile and it became comical.
Our 3 week vacation in Hawaii September 2, 2004
17 out of 32 found this review helpful
We took our kids to Hawaii for 3 weeks first stopping in Honolulu to get acclimated and then spent the rest of our time staying with friends in Kona. We brought several guidebooks along and opened this one first because it had a good map on the inside cover. We switched to the Moon book because it was denser and had better information every time. My wife didn't like the Revealed because it poked fun at the locals.
The Big Island Revealed January 15, 2000
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
The Big Island Revealed is the only book you will need while touring the Big Island. The content is accurate and excellent. The book is broken down into locations. We toured a location a day and found the descriptions excellent. The authors cite mile makers for each route which is an easy way to find cites. We highly recommended this book and hope the authors (who live on the Big Island) will write like books for the other islands.It should be noted that the B&B we stayed in had purchased this book for each room for their guests to use since they felt it was excellent, also. Warning, we do not recommend tourists with 2WD rentals try either "The Road to the Sea" nor "Manna Rd". Both of these were too dangerous.
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