Moon Handbooks Tahiti: Including the Cook Islands (Paperback)

While planning, Tahiti Handbook helps you find out which islands will be more interesting, easier or cheaper to visit. Stanley gives a good idea of what to expect in the islands, while you can still have a great adventure and discover things on your own. In the Pacific, this guide will save you money and trouble. Accommodations of all categories are described, often including critical commentary. The same applies for restaurants, transportation and organized activities.
In a travel guidebook you can never expect everything to be correct: things change. Stanley admits that. Still, for every new edition of his guides, he makes a research trip to check places listed in his book. On these trips Stanley arrives unannounced and tries to identify himself as little as possible. This way he is better able to experience a place like any other traveller. For this fifth edition of Tahiti Handbook, the Marquesas and Easter Island were visited in addition to more regular places. It would be nice to know what islands were exactly visited. If you feel some information is incorrect or missing from Stanley's guide, you can write him and he will seriously look at your comments.

The chapters on history, people and places and the references in Tahiti Handbook are an excellent starting point to learn more about Eastern Polynesia. In my opinion, some more attention could have been given to the language section. It is obvious Stanley loves the islands. Still, he does so without writing over-positive about them. Stanley will tell you about the French nuclear testing at Moruroa and Papeete traffic jams.

You can find 56 maps in Tahiti Handbook, including ones of more remote islands. Of the main islands; there are detailed maps of towns to show accommodations, restaurants, offices and more. With exception of the coloured map and the index map at the beginning of the book, the maps in Tahiti Handbook are fine.
There are not many photographs in Tahiti Handbook, and most of these are in black and white. Without doubt this helps to keep the price of the book down. Also, you don't really need photographs here: Stanley's writing will bring Polynesia to life for you.

Despite some small critical notes, I still give Tahiti Handbook five stars. There is nothing to match this guidebook. Take it when you go to French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and/or Easter Island no matter what your budget or style of travelling is.

There is a certain mystique about the South Pacific – I mean, lets face it – who hasn’t dreamed of living the easy life on a remote tropical island, laying in a hammock strung between a couple of swaying palm trees at the edge of a languid tropical lagoon? Of course the reality is a bit different – even if there is a bit of truth to it all. David clearly understands both the myth and the reality and this book covers a bit of each.

Just from the research I've done for my own little write-ups, I know just how much work can go into even a small travel article, so I can't even imagine how much effort must have put into a book with this much substance. If you are traveling to (or even thinking of traveling to) any of the areas covered by this book (especially French Polynesia), this book deserves a place in your collection.

It is a comprehensive guide on what to see, where to eat, how to get around and where to stay (for all budgets), which is what you expect from a good guidebook - but it's David's personal stamp that makes it so rewarding. It's informative, honest, and sometimes opinionated with a deep understanding of Polynesian history, culture and lifestyle. There are excellent practical tips on things like health & safety, where to get internet access and even toilets where you should take your own paper - but it's more the personal tips on how to make the transition from 'tourist' to 'traveller' that I appreciated...
"A wise traveller soon graduates from hearing and seeing to listening and observing. Speaking is good for the ego and listening is good for the soul."

This book is a shortcut on the road to becoming a wise traveller. This doesn't mean it is all about getting off the beaten track. Tracks become beaten because there are worthwhile things to experience and they should be taken. David provides the 'must see' highlights as well as information for those willing to explore further. Being a wise traveller is more about attitude than itinerary. As David says, "If things work differently than they do back home, give thanks - that's why you've come. Take an interest in local customs, values, languages, challenges and successes."

Another undercurrent is David's realism and commitment to the environment. He pulls no punches, whether they are aimed at the countries who used this region for nuclear testing (particularly the French) or at those who pillage the Pacific for piscatorial pleasure - "spearfishing (is) like shooting a cow with a handgun."

Allow a few extra dollars in your travel budget for this book and it will be an investment. The reward you will gain from your travels to this wonderful part of the world will be enhanced immeasurably.