Rating: 
Summary: Synopsis
Review: Hit the road with award-winning author Bruce Whipperman to explore 2,000 miles of gorgeous beaches, quiet resorts, and vast stretches of unspoiled country. With the comprehensive information provided, you can learn to bargain like a native, track birds like a naturalist, and swim with the fish. Pacific Mexico Handbook brings to life this fascinating region that attracts people as diverse as the Huichol Indians seeking the sea goddess to the sun worshippers who flock to the Mexican Riviera
Rating: 
Summary: No more Moon for me
Review: I just returned (Dec 2002) from a trip to Mexico using this publication. This was my third trip with a Moon Handbook. I was not to happy with the one to Baja, I found the one for Costa Rica filled with inaccurate information but this one was the worst. I found the maps to be mostly useless, directions to places not very helpful, several recommendations absolutely pointless. Even though this book was published OCT 2001, MANY times I was left with the impression that the author NEVER was on-site or has not revisited since the first edition. This guidebook seemed unfocused, information arranged not practical, and descriptions are exaggerated and/or misleading. Case in point - the town of Playa Azul. The town is given almost 4 pages and a rather poetic description is used to make it sound like a pretty cool place. As it turns out the town itself is very run down, many houses are bad repair, most hotels are dirty hole-in-the-walls and the seafood palapa restaurants are in a shape that most travelers that are just a little worried about cleanliness s/would not eat there. Playa Azul is for Mexican budget travelers and offers nothing that could not be had any other place around there.
Barra Vieja would be another example of where the book is off the mark. After reading Mr. Whipperman's description, I was not prepared to drive along a 4 line highway most of the way, past a very nice golf facility and all the construction that was going on there.
.... and this are just two of my grippes about this book. Despite the book, I had a great time. I saw a very beautiful side of Mexico. I would recommend a trip to Pacific Mexico to anyone. I am going back there in March. I will look for a travel guide I feel more aligned with and whose recommendation I can trust.
Rating:
Summary: No more Moon for me
Review: I just returned (Dec 2002) from a trip to Mexico using this publication. This was my third trip with a Moon Handbook. I was not to happy with the one to Baja, I found the one for Costa Rica filled with inaccurate information but this one was the worst. I found the maps to be mostly useless, directions to places not very helpful, several recommendations absolutely pointless. Even though this book was published OCT 2001, MANY times I was left with the impression that the author NEVER was on-site or has not revisited since the first edition. This guidebook seemed unfocused, information arranged not practical, and descriptions are exaggerated and/or misleading. Case in point - the town of Playa Azul. The town is given almost 4 pages and a rather poetic description is used to make it sound like a pretty cool place. As it turns out the town itself is very run down, many houses are bad repair, most hotels are dirty hole-in-the-walls and the seafood palapa restaurants are in a shape that most travelers that are just a little worried about cleanliness s/would not eat there. Playa Azul is for Mexican budget travelers and offers nothing that could not be had any other place around there.
Barra Vieja would be another example of where the book is off the mark. After reading Mr. Whipperman's description, I was not prepared to drive along a 4 line highway most of the way, past a very nice golf facility and all the construction that was going on there.
.... and this are just two of my grippes about this book. Despite the book, I had a great time. I saw a very beautiful side of Mexico. I would recommend a trip to Pacific Mexico to anyone. I am going back there in March. I will look for a travel guide I feel more aligned with and whose recommendation I can trust.
Rating: 
Summary: info not up to date, not helpful for bus travel
Review: I took this book on a recent trip to Oaxaca and was very disappointed. The author assumes that readers who wish to venture out of the city will rent a car or hire a driver, and accordingly, provides very little information about bus travel. The limited information provided (ie, you can take a bus to Monte Alban from the Asbastos terminal) was out of date and no longer valid. The book contained useful maps. However, equally useful maps are available at no cost from the toursit information office, which, by the way, is longer at the location indicated in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Essential for a Mexican road trip
Review: I used this book extensively this past summer for an epic driving trip into Mexico that took me almost to Manzanillo. I found the book extremely useful for discovering those off the beaten path sidetrips. I also used Fodor's but found this book a notch above in terms of helpful recomendations.Since the bulk of the 3+ weeks was spent in Puerto Vallarta(actually Mismaloya) the book proved to be a good guide for excursions into the surrounding states of Nayarit and Colima. For the most part the details given were accurate but with any travel book there are problems with current information as things are usually in flux in the tourist trade. I suppose that is why they can come out with new editions every year. Some of the information when missing can be a letdown, for example one day we went out for an adventure in the hopes of seeing the turtle rescue attempts in a not so nearby bay only to find out it was not exactly natures right time. There were other let downs such as the time we wet out to Mexicalitlan ," House of the Mexicans", where the ancient Aztecs/Mexica supposedly set out from Aztlan to establish Tenochitlan where the eagle would be found on top of a nopal devouring a snake. The description calls it a "scenic little island town." If you consider peering into the open doors of the living rooms of the locals I guess it was scenic! For my part I found it to be a waste of a drive. The museum was closed also which brings to a point one should consider whenever driving to a destination in Mexico. Do not arrive during the tradional siesta time or one will have to wait until 4 or 5 in the afternoon to enjoy the local musem etc! By contrast unexpected pleasant surprises can result by the books ommision of information as in the opportunity to see the hatching of baby crocodiles at the end of the jungle cruise on La Tovara near San Blas. All in all the guide is very, very useful to plan out a trip and see things and experience different parts of Mexican culture. The short histories, hotel recomendations, restaurant guides etc are pretty accurate and invaluable in planning a trip within a trip. There is diversity in recomendations for the earthy camper or the posh five star luxury hotel traveler. I would recommend this book for any traveler along the lovely Pacific Mexican trail.
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Summary: It's worthwhile paying attention to readers' criticisms
Review: In its three editions since 1993, the Pacific Mexico Handbook has covered Oaxaca more comprehensively than any general guidebook. It is especially praised by readers for its detailed, very accurate text and maps. Such precision flows directly from my own gruntwork, which I do regularly on location, checking every fact subject to change, either by direct on-foot inspection or by telephone. So, to me it's serious when a reader writes that a tourist information office in Oaxaca City is not where my book says it is. I last visited the missing office in August '98 and it was there, functioning exacly where my text and city map (p. 501) shows it, at the northeast corner of Aves. Cinco de Mayo and Morelos. Calling the telephone number listed in my book, I found what I suspected. The office had moved to the headquarters of federal-state tourism (also listed in text and pinpointed accurately on my city map." The other criticism from the same reader implies that Pacific Mexico Handbook's coverage of local bus transportation is so poor that I seem to be expecting every Oaxaca vistor to hire a car and driver to visit Oaxaca Valley touristic sites. This is simplty incorrect. On page 514, a three-paragrap[h section describes "Getting Around the Valley of Oaxaca." I start off by not recommending the public buses at the second-class terminal, because of month touring that way." Instead, a few sentences later, I recommend ". . . .taking a tourist bus. . . ." (a $3-$5 per person option), which I state leave daily from a number of downtown hotels, two of which my book pinpoints by text and map and supplies telephone numbers for. As a matter of policy, both I and my publisher welcome suggestions and information from readers
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Summary: Fantastic for the Independent Traveller
Review: My friend and I used this book, and a wrinkled photocopy of a map, as our only guides on a bicycle trip from Mazatlan to Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. This is the rare travel book with an authorial voice that enhances the information rather than distracts. Mr. Whipperman obviously has a deep love of the region (especially Oaxaca and Indigenous regions of Guerrero)and a love for the kind of travelling that makes travel worthwhile. Laudable detail on the places you end up, rather than seek out, and the tasty bits of history he includes make you glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Useless!
Review: Want my book? It is useless. This book is full of information, none of it practical. You can't find ANYTHING you are looking for in it. NO hostels are listed. They don't even highlight any of the amazing festivals that are held here in Mexico. Believe me, I am living here in Mexcio, and I am going to go buy the Lonely Planet. I wanted something more specific to my region, but this is NOT it. This book is written like the author took one pathway through the region, and wrote along the way. So unless you are following the exact same route, the information is SO useless.
Rating:
Summary: Useless!
Review: Want my book? It is useless. This book is full of information, none of it practical. You can't find ANYTHING you are looking for in it. NO hostels are listed. They don't even highlight any of the amazing festivals that are held here in Mexico. Believe me, I am living here in Mexcio, and I am going to go buy the Lonely Planet. I wanted something more specific to my region, but this is NOT it. This book is written like the author took one pathway through the region, and wrote along the way. So unless you are following the exact same route, the information is SO useless.
Rating:
Summary: Among many others, this was the most comprehensive of all!
Review: We have traveled repeatedly to Mexico since 1988. We have investigated numerous travel guides during that time. Discovering this book ended our search for a guide that was comprehensive, detailed, up to date, and not rephrased advice covered by all the other guides. Time after time the advice in this book has guided us to unforgettable excursions both on and off the beaten path.
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