Moon Handbooks Costa Rica

Rating:
Summary: One of the best guide books I've used
Review: Having traveled extensively on five continents, I know a good guide book when I see one. On two five week adventures traveling through Costa Rica by bicycle, backpacking, bus, car and boat my wife and I found Baker's book invaluable for locating food and lodging to suit our moods from adventurous and a little crazy to predictable and comfortable. This book is very practical, containing all the information you need to see the 'attractions' of Costa Rica but also includes descriptions of out of the way places and back-doors into some of the National Parks if you want some solitude or a unique experience. I'm anxiously awaiting the new edition slated for December of 1998 release.

Rating:
Summary: THE most useful guidebook
Review: I bought 4 guidebooks before our trip to Costa Rica, and left "Explore Costa Rica" at home because the middle section of the book had already fallen out after a few looks. "Lonely Planet" was also left at home because the reviewer didn't seem to go inside most of the restaurants and lodgings he reviewed. I took "New Key Guide" and "Moon Handbook" and rarely opened the "New Key Guide". The writers of "New Key Guide" don't seem to like Costa Rica very much, making unnecessary and inaccurate comments like "Costa Ricans don't trust each other, and neither should you". This left me relying on the Moon Handbook, which more than made up for the inadequacies of the others. It has everything you need: first you need to find a place to stay. They're grouped by price and described accurately as to amenities and type of clientele. Then you want to eat. Same orderly presentation. Some of the other guides group the hotels and eateries all together, without sorting into price and type. What a hassle to do the sorting yourself when you're tired and it's late. Moon Handbooks also give lots of descriptions of things to do. But the best and most indispensible part was the town maps. I don't know how we would have figured out where we were going without them. This is the only one you need. And it is still intact after a month of daily use and abuse.

Rating:
Summary: This new edition worth the price
Review: I've used a prior edition of this guide but this new edition is substantially changed including itineraries and sites rated must-see by the author. The book is packed with insight but this edition is LOTS easier to use. The author is really guiding travelers based on their interest, time, and travel experience.

Rating:
Summary: Returning travel guide
Review: If there was ever a travel guide that was boring, this has to be it. Most guides have some type of color in them as well as better maps. I could see the pages easily tearing or getting worn on a trip. Tons of reading, but unable to quickly find necessary information. We really need a DK Eyewitness Guide for Costa Rica, maybe the DK guides are not as comprehensive, but it sure is easy to find information quickly.

Rating:
Summary: A great complement to another guide
Review: This was 1 of 3 books I took on a recent trip to Costa Rica and we referred to it frequently. It is very well researched with interesting information on the flora and fauna that I didn't find in the other guides I had. It is a good book for nuture enthusiasts as well as beach combers.

The reason i say it makes a great complement to another guide is that for most regions, the book lists a myriad of hotel options with 1-2 sentences regarding what to expect. something like, "Hotel Smith, located on the beach is run by a Swiss German family. They have a pool as well as a restaurant that serves dinner only and they offer laundry service. $XX 123-4567." We had trouble with this sort of factual information because comparing 20 hotels all with that level of detail and enthusiasm often left us wondering where to go. For that reason we relied on Frommers, which was able to provide a great deal more information about 4-8 hotels in a given region with some qualitative information to help us know where to start looking for lodging.

As others have noted, there's too much information in here with small typeface and thin pages which kept it from being the book we turned to first, the information was relatively accurate and the first several chapters on flora, fauna and history made the book well worth its price. In all, this was a really good book that we were really happy to have with us.


Rating:
Summary: naturewonder
Review: Traveled in Costa Rica a month ago with this book and was very disappointed. The information in the book is badly outdated. My travel companion had the Lonely Planet Guide to Costa Rica, which was much better. My advice is to go with the LP Guide to Costa Rica

Rating:
Summary: A Great Travel Guide
Review: We have just returned from a four-week trip to Costa Rica. We bought three guides to plan the trip: the Moon Handbook, Lonely Planet, and Footprint. Of these the Moon Guide was by far the best. Author Christopher Baker has a great way of identifying interesting places to stay, eat, and visit and helping the reader visualize what they are like. As a result we discovered mnay exceptional places to stay and found that his desciptions were right on target. If you are planning more than a one-week quicky to Costa Rica this is the guide to plan your trip.

Rating:
Summary: Data is not the same as info
Review: We just spent 3 weeks in Costa Rica, carried 4 of the major travel books and Mr. Baker's was the one we used constantly. The others mostly took up space in our luggage. The long introductory section was very complete and interesting - history, ecology, geography, lots. We found that this book had much useful information about the many parks, about small towns and large. We liked the small local maps. We enjoyed the hotel reviews and found them to be reliable. Funny! Mr. Baker uses more adjectives per sentence than anyone we have ever read! The book only lacks a good map for drivers. Why not add one?

Rating:
Summary: If You Can Only Afford One Book This Is The One To Buy !
Review: We purchased the 1999 edition directly from Moon (it was so new Amazon had not received it yet) hot off the press ! We also purchased several other competitors guidebooks to take with us. The Costa Rica Handbook came back from the trip very worn! Of all the books, this one has the most travel information, the best maps, most useful suggestions and funny traveler's stories that were relevant to our trip. We tried using and referring to the other books many times while in Costa Rica, but we found ourselves reaching for the Costa Rica Handbook by Moon time and time again! If you can only afford to buy one book with information on travel to this country buy this one! One shortcoming you should conisder before buying this book - it contains little about wildlife...you will need to purchase another book that contains pictures and identification information about animals, plants, insects, birds, etc. of this country if your primary purpose for going is to sight animals and birds native to Costa Rica ! Another note: If you are planning on driving outside of tourist areas you might want to learn a little Spanish...we speak intermediate Spanish and while I was in the country, I couldn't help thinking that someone who had no knowledge of the Spanish language would find traveling by car and stopping outside of tourist areas (lodges, restaurants and gas stations) a bit confusing (they speak almost no english outside of tourist areas)...Know your road signs in Spanish! it helps a lot - buy a beginner's guide to Latin American Spanish with a tape so you can hear pronounciation.