Costa Rica's National Parks and Preserves: A Visitor's Guide, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: Recommended for nature lovers
Review: (From Planeta Journal) - One of the first guidebooks to focus on the parks and preserves, this book is now in its second edition. It's an invaluable resource for visitors who'd like to get to know Costa Rica's lesser known parks and includes trail directions, dozens of hikes and descriptions of local flora and fauna. The new, second edition of this book includes five new national parks and preserves, plus updated and expanded descriptions of all 40 of Costa Rica's protected areas.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for the nature-conscious traveler
Review: Contrary to the last review, we found this book to be extremely useful, and it contained background information and useful maps (such as the area around Sirena ranger station in Corcovado) not contained in other more general guidebooks. Also, there is a considerable amount of natural history information that was not contained in the other books that we had with us, such as the Lonely Planet guide.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Hi, I am working at ILISA Spanish Language Institute in San Jose, Costa Rica and I just want to say that this book helps our students a lot by giving them helpful inside information and thus by getting to know all the ins and outs about this fantastic country. Thanks!

Rating:
Summary: Good supplement to travel guides
Review: This book is great for what it is. It's much better than most travel guides for specific park info. It includes maps of trails, information on getting to the parks, whether the park itself has accomodations available, and wildlife/ecosystem information for each park.

DO NOT use this as your only guide. There is no info on accomodations or restaurants in the area. Also, some of the best places to go in Costa Rica are private reserves, rather than national parks.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful guide to a wonderful place!
Review: This book made my trip to Costa Rica much more enjoyable than if I hadn't brought it with me. It provides a wealth of information about the natural and human history of the parks and preserves system. I heartily recommend it to anybody traveling to that beautiful country.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of paper!
Review: This book provides very little practical information. I purchased this book hoping it would contain more info on the parks than the standard Costa Rica guidebooks. I was sadly disappointed. The other guide books such as The New Key to Costa Rica and Moon's Handbook provide as much and in some cases more info on the parks than this guide. Plus they provide all the other information such as hotels, restaurants and transportation.
Save your money. I wish I had.