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Paradise Family Guides: Maui - Guide Review

About.com Rating 5

By John Fischer, About.com

Paradise Family Guides Maui

by Candy Adair Aluli
The Bottom Line
As the owner of virtually every guidebook about Maui, this latest edition of Paradise Family Guides Maui by Candy Aluli has risen to the very top of my list of best general Maui Guidebooks. You can't find any single guidebook to Maui filled with more information and, most importantly, accurate and insightful information written by an actual long-time resident of Maui and expert in the travel industry.
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Pros
  • The Best General Guidebook to Maui
  • 450+ Pages of Top Notch Information Written by a 20+ Year Maui Resident
  • Printed on Eye-friendly Paper Stock
  • Excellent Sections on Where to Stay and Dining
Cons
  • No photographs
  • Listing of Maui related websites misses gohawaii.about.com
Description
  • 450+ pages of up-to-date and accurate information on easy-to-read paper stock.
  • May very well be the only general Maui guidebook written by a long-term Maui resident.
  • Author's Personal Best Bets for each section are on target and based on actual personal experience.
  • Sections on Where to Stay and Dining are easily the best available from any other single source.
  • Detailed general index as well as separate indexes for just dining, dining by location and lodging.
  • Excellent regional sections including a wonderful section on the world famous Hana Highway.
  • Where to Play includes biking, hiking, kayaking, and even off roading plus many other activities.
  • Scuba diving, sea excursions and snorkeling sections are more detailed than you'll find elsewhere.
  • General Information section is 50+ pages and more complete than you'll find in any other book.
Guide Review - Paradise Family Guides: Maui - Guide Review
For many years the concensus choice for best general Maui Guidebook has been Wizard Publications' The Ultimate Maui Guidebook. Still a fine book, The Ultimate Maui Guidebook has come under sharp criticism in recent years, primarily for suggesting activity locations which involve trespassing on private property or which are damaging to Maui's delicate natural environment. I also have found that I disagree with many of the comments in the book.

The latest edition of Paradise Family Guides Maui is written by Candy Adair Aluli who actually lives on Maui and has done so for over twenty years. In her day job, Candy runs a public relations agency on Maui through which she is keenly aware of the needs and desires of visitors to Maui as well as the most recent additions to the visitor industry.

Paradise Family Guides Maui is my pick for the best general guidebook to Maui. It is thoroughly readable which is a rarity in the guidebook industry. More importantly, as an annual visitor to Maui, I find that I agree completely with most of Candy's Author's Personal Best Bets.

I always take several guidebooks with me when I visit Maui, and Paradise Family Guides Maui will now be with me on future visits. Available numerous places at a discounted price of under $12.00, you won't find a better buy for over 450 pages of detailed and accurate information.

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