Product Description

Wanna surf Oahu's famous North Shore? Trek across the Big Island's active lava flows? Or just lazily sun yourself on Maui's golden beaches? Whenever Hawaii calls, this definitive guide puts detailed coverage of all the islands at your fingertips, plus mo' bettah advice to help you plan the perfect getaway.

• KNOW YOUR WAY and never get lost again with 80 trustworthy maps - more than any other guidebook to the islands of Hawaii

• BE INSPIRED by full-color highlights and insightful history, culture and food & drink chapters written by Hawaii specialists

• DISCOVER YOUR OWN tropical paradise with in-depth itineraries, off-the-beaten path detours and expert authors' Top 10 recommendations

• FIND THE FUN with hundreds of opinionated reviews of star attractions, oceanfront resorts, diverse eateries and nightlife

• TALK THE TALK with our handy Hawaiian language chapter, including pidgin phrases

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #274436 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 564 pages

Amazon.com
From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there, chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has the experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money.

Join Lonely Planet Hawaii experts for the best advice on traveling to what Mark Twain called "the loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean." This is a great guide for people of every budget, featuring more than 60 maps, directions for the best outdoor activities, plus background notes on the islands' history, cultures, and people. There's also a Hawaiian language guide, including useful pidgin words and phrases. --Kathryn True

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Excerpted from Lonely Planet Hawaii (Lonely Planet Hawaii) by Glanda Bendure, Sara Benson, Ned Friary. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Hawaii is an extraordinary place - a touch of magic for some people, a dream destination for others. The very name Hawaii rolls off the tongue like a soft tropical breeze. It conjures up images of hula dancers swaying under tropical palms, tanned surfers barreling their way across the waves and, in the background, the alluring twang of a steel guitar, the perfumed scent of ginger blossoms.

Once you arrive in Hawaii, you'll find that those classic and sometimes cliched images really do hold true. You can while away an evening at a luau, catch a sunset cruise, lounge on a beach chair with a frosty pina colada in hand.

But you'll also find much more. You'll find aloha, Hawaii's renowned spirit of hospitality. A vibrant multiethnic culture. And impossibly beautiful landscapes, from red-hot lava surging into the sea to precipitous hillsides dripping with waterfalls and luxuriant vegetation.

No question about it, Hawaii's natural beauty is awesome. Mark Twain fittingly called it 'the loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean.' Although the Hawaii of today is far more developed than the one Twain explored, it nonetheless remains a gem.

The Hawaiian Islands are high and rugged, lushly green and cut by spectacular gorges and valleys. The islands are ringed with beautiful beaches, ranging from bleached white to jet black, and every single one is open to the public. The terrain is amazingly varied, climbing from lowland deserts to Alpine mountaintops, with everything from barren lava flows to tropical rain forests in between.

Hawaii certainly does have the expected mass tourism, high-rise hotels and crowded beaches. But that's only one side of the picture. You can also find scores of tourist-free areas and secluded beaches to explore. There are small dusty towns with cowhands and rodeos, surfer havens with health food stores and small cafes, and little art communities with galleries and workshops.

Hawaii boasts some of the world's top surfing and windsurfing spots and has excellent conditions for snorkeling, swimming, diving, kayaking and most other water sports. And it doesn't matter if you're a novice wanting to jump in and get your feet wet for the first time, or an expert looking for some hot competition, you'll find ideal conditions.

There's great beach weather all year round. Hawaii's climate is unusually pleasant for the tropics, as near-constant trade winds prevail. Much of the time the rain falls as short daytime showers that are accompanied by rainbows.

Hawaii's six main islands all feature lovely beaches and splendid scenery. Their leeward coasts are sunny, dry and desert-like, with white sands and turquoise waters. The mountainous windward sides have tropical jungles, cascading waterfalls and pounding surf. The uplands are cool and green, with rolling pastures and small farms. Despite all that the islands have in common, each also has its own unique characteristics.

Oahu is the most developed of the islands, with Waikiki providing nearly half of the tourist accommodations in Hawaii. Honolulu has all the pluses and minuses of urban life, from good museums and lively nightlife to congested traffic. The state's capital contains wonderful restaurants, with both inexpensive ethnic food and gourmet cuisines. Oahu also has the best surf.

Maui is the second largest and second most developed island, but it still boasts plenty of unspoiled places well off the beaten path. The scenic coastal drive to Hana and the sunrise at Haleakala are two of the island's highlights. Maui is also the best island for watching humpback whales.

The Big Island has two things the other islands don't: snow and erupting volcanoes. There's room to move, with enough space for ranchers, astronomers and traditional fishing villages, as well as alternative communities that have settled on the side of the lava flows.

Kauai has Hawaii's greenest scenery, a deeply cut canyon resembling a mini-Grand Canyon and the famous razorback cliffs of the Na Pali Coast. The least developed of the four largest islands, it's a mecca for hikers, kayakers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Molokai, the most Hawaiian of the islands, is rural, slow paced and only lightly visited by tourists. Lanai, the smallest island, has recently reinvented itself, changing from a plantation economy based on pineapples to a luxury resort destination.

Overall, Hawaiians are some of the friendliest folks you'll ever encounter. They love to 'talk story,' to tell you about island life and share their experiences. It's not unusual for someone you've just met to strike up a conversation that's as warm and friendly as a chat you'd have with an old friend. As they say in the islands: Lucky you come Hawaii.

Customer Reviews

Useful travel tool.
My husband and I honeymooned in Oahu and we took this AND the Frommer's guide along. I'd take either or both again.

Not bad, but there is a lot to cover in this one book...
I can't help but look at a Hawaii visitor guide and check out whether my favorite eateries, locations, and activities are included. This one has a lot, but it covers all the Hawaiian Islands that visitors may, well, visit! That's a lot of material for one book to cover if its intent is to be complete. There are island-specific books that give more info (for example, the "revealed" series), but this one is darn good. It certainly focuses more on the activities for the low budget traveler than most do.

I know Oahu better than the other islands, so how accurate is Lonely Planet's Hawaii? It's pretty good. There are so many eateries in Honolulu than many are not included. Maybe its good that you will be steered away from my favorites! Seriously, I like The Shack in Hawaii Kai, Island Manapua in Manoa, and Volcano Joe's Island Bistro across from the UH campus for some delightful vegetarian. There's the Xcel outlet store in Haleiva, BBQ in Wahiawa, super diving off Makaha, and a less exploited trail and waterfall in Lyon Arboretum, right next to the heavily-used Manoa Falls trail.

There were some favorites included. Willows is a buffet treat in Makiki, Deep Ecology in Haleiva is a very pleasant and knowledgeable dive shop, and the Honolulu Zoo, although okay as zoos go, has its Wildest Show in Town summer music series every week (only a $2 donation requested... cheapest deal in Waikiki).

This isn't a bad choice for a guide book if you are only going to take one book. Nothing beats asking a local, however. Be friendly, and show aloha to the residents and to our special places. Don't litter, and pass a site by if it looks too crowded. There are plenty of things to see and do.

Mahalo.

interesting read
I bought this for our honeymoon since we were visiting all the islands and this seems to cover everything. It was an entertaining read with good information.