I feel like I am close friends with Harriet and Andrew after reading and using three of their guidebooks.

This book, Mauai Revealed, provided some great insights on what to see and do while on Maui.

Its candid, first-person narrative makes me feel like I'm receiving advice from an old friend. I feel like I know them, because I certainly do trust them.

They are also scuba divers, which was very helpful to my husband and me when we selected a dive company in Maui.

We booked dives with Mike Steans Diving, whom they highly recommended. The actual experience was even better than our high expectations. They were a first class diving operation and we probably would not have found them without this book.

The book is filled with maps and helpful, detailed information. I was very impressed with the almost mile-by-mile advice they provided regarding the "Road to Hana." This is where I found what I believe to be an inconsistency in location of a particular waterfall. I made my husband turn around and go back because I was so sure that I must have been wrong. However, it appears a paragraph might have been out of order, thus referring us to an incorrect location. However, we found the waterfall anyway and this little hiccup was a small price to pay for the overall great information we gained.

Without their advice, we would never have found one particular waterfall that was directly below a bridge. We followed their specific directions, got out of the car, and sure enough- there it was - spilling out just below the bridge. All those other cars just passed by, never knowing what a treat lay below them. (I was certain none of them had the Maui Revealed book or they would have stopped there, as well.

They had some good and accurate information regarding golf courses that also helped us decide when and where to play. The information regarding our hotel was dead-on, as well. I was very impressed. I found myself quoting them a couple of times (something my husband did incessantly last year when we were in Kauai - see my review on The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook http://epinions.com/content_12659101316).

The many maps they provided in the book proved to be very helpful, especially when we set out to Lahaina on a whim in search of the Hard Rock Cafe. With just a couple of turns we were soon in the right location and even found the right parking area. The maps made it much easier for us to get where we were going.

My biggest disappointment is that I didn't get a chance to experience "Tastes of Mexico" -- a restaurant (actually in a food court) that they highly recommended. I had been craving Mexican food the entire time I was in Hawaii and we had just enough time to eat and get to the airport following our drive toward Hana (we didn't have time to go all the way TO Hana).

I grabbed the book and told my husband I would find us a good place to eat near the airport. Lo and behold! There it was -- a great Mexican place in a mall we had passed near the airport. They raved about the food, as well as the reasonable prices. Too good to be true, I thought. Then I completely jinxed myself after reading the review aloud to my husband. "After everyone has read this book," I said,
"they've either raised the prices or gone out of business."

Imagine my dismay when we arrived at the mall, saw the sign, "Tastes of Mexico," then went inside to discover this great find had, indeed, gone out of business. We even inquired at the store next door to see if they had relocated. Alas, they had gone bust! A lot can change in a few months, I suppose.

Overall, this proved to be an extremely helpful tool during our trip to Maui. I highly recommend it to anyone going to Maui.

Recommended: Yes