Subjects:  1. Boating - General    2. Boats and boating    3. Caribbean & West Indies    4. Guidebooks    5. Puerto Rico    6. Reference - Cruise Guides    7. Sailing - General    8. Sailing - Navigation    9. Sports    10. Sports & Recreation    11. Motor / power boating & cruising    12. Virgin Islands   

Reviews (4)

Better than nothing
I bought this book 2 years ago for a trip to Puerto Rico.It was a bit outdated than.I traveled there again 9/2/06 to 9/11/06, this was my fifth time, so I have a bit more knowledge than the first timer.For the most part every bit of information about Rincon is inaccurate.Everything closes the week of labor day until around the end of October, so do not go there during those dates, you will have wasted your day.Well not everything is closed, Rincon proper is still open.And you can always watch the surfers at sandy beach or go snorkeling at steps beach (rent your gear at Taino Divers, they are still open).In fact there is a great coffee house that stays open,(better than starbucks and they have soy milk!) it is called Taino international cafe, try their frozen coffee drinks, they also have WiFi.
Very UNHAPPY with this book
We just came back from a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico (04/21 - 05/01, 2006) and we have to COMPLETELY disagree with the previous review. In fact, we were thinking about burning this LP copy. Don't get us wrong, we own several copies of LP for China, Eucador, South America, Guatamala, and etc. But we have serious reservation about recommending this one to anyone else. Here are some of the reasons:
Very UNHAPPY with this book
I just came back from a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico (04/21 - 05/01, 2006) and I have to COMPLETELY disagree with the previous review. In fact, I was thinking about burning this LP copy. Don't get me wrong, I own several copies of LP for China, Eucador, and etc. But I have serious reservation about recommending this one to anyone else. Here are some of the reasons:
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Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Puerto Rico    5. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (3)

Loved this book
I bought this book as a Valentine's gift for my husband as we honeymooned there - Nevis - a few months earlier.It included lots of information and beautiful photographs of areas we visited, plus information about places we want to make sure we visit upon our return.Having been there, I can say the photos are not enhanced and that the island and it's personality were accurately captured by the author.If you haven't been to Nevis, this book will make you want to go, and you will not be disappointed.If you've been fortunate enough to visit Nevis, this book will have you booking your return.

I absolutely love it
I think this book is very interesting and informative. I absolutely love it. I use it as my bible when I am trying to tell my friends about where I am from. It is a great buy.

Fabulous!!!
This is THE reference on Nevis. It covers it all: history, traditions and customs, religion, political life, economy, people, architecture, topography and geology, climate and vegetation, flora, fauna, etc. Written in an engaging style, it also details what to see, where to stay (with complete descriptions and numerous photographs of all the hotels, villas and inns so you will have a very good idea of whereyou will be staying before you go there), the sportsactivities, the beaches, the restaurants, Nevis-style cuisine, shopping, etc. Unlike the other books on Nevis I've seen that just give you the superficial tourist view, this book is obviously written by an insider who has been living on theisland for many years, and who knows Nevis extremely well. In addition it is full of gorgeous pictures. If you are goingto Nevis or just doing research on the island, this is the one and only book to buy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. History    3. History / Caribbean & West Indies    4. Nevis    5. Pictorial works    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Central America    3. Reference - Guides (General)    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies    9. Virgin Islands   

Reviews (3)

A Cultural Tour of Puerto Rico for Mid-Income Tourists
This is a good guide for seeing the cultural sights of Puerto Rico, especially in San Juan.The book is geared towards travellers only moderately concerned with budget.A few pieces of information are outdated, such as bus numbers and changes in price, but the numbering system (up to three stars) is useful for the first-time traveller with little knowledge of the country.Detailed descriptions of the sights in San Juan help visitors get a sense of the city's history while the walking tour takes them around to key spots.There is a comparable walking tour of Ponce, along with a description of the Museo de Arte de Ponce which prevented me from missing out on this fine museum. Ponce is the only place where we tried one of the listed hotels. Although the book described Hotel Belgica as "roughing it," we thought the accommodations were fine and enjoyed the unusual atmosphere of an old-style hotel.The book is full of useful tidbits.For example, en route to Parguera (which should get two stars, not one), the name of the road changes several times along the way (101, 116, 315, 305, 304).No wonder people get confused.Additional information: The book should include a warning that the $5 boat trip to the Phosphorescent Bay near Parguera doesn't let you see much, so it's best to go with the friendly folks at Paradise Scuba Center (the address is listed).Additionally, the Rio Camuy Cave Park sometimes sells out of tickets by 9am (especially on weekends), so it's best to get there early.Finally, good snorkeling is available in San Juan on the west side of the Wyndham Hotel (Condado).

Why doesn't someone write a decent travel guide to PR?
I've used this guide for three PR vacations, and each time I want to throw it across the hotel room. But I can't because the other guides are even worse or even less comprehensive. What's the problem with this one? The lack of description: it gives you no feel as to what makes each beach/hotel unique.Invariably every second beach is summed up vaguely as 'one of the bestbeaches on the island,' even if one has brownish sand and no snorklingwhile another "best" beach is pristine white, loaded with fish,and secluded. It's the same with hotels, too, except there's no explanationof what the mood is like there, what kind of people stay there, what theview is like, what the rooms are like, if there's a bar to hang out inafter dinner, how close the beach is.... It's almost comic, except whenyou're trying to figure out where to spend your precious time and money. This book had few redeeming qualities.
My husband and I purchased this book to go on our honeymoon and were sorely disappointed.The descriptions were vague and often downright incorrect.Luquillo beach, which the authors described as one of the bestbeaches in the Carribean, had dingy grey water and was filled with garbage. This is only one example of many many misrepresentations.The guideleaned almost exclusively to very expensive restaurants, and even thesewere nothing to write home about.We had more luck after we ditched theguide and started exploring on our own.Its one good point was someinteresting background on the history of Puerto Rico.However, this wasnot enough to make me buy another Frommer's guide. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Puerto Rico    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Reviews (3)

On and Off the Beaten Path: The Cent/South Bahamas Guide
The initial review looks great!When I get to the Bahamas the real review will begin.

Lacking
I am getting ready to take off for the Bahamas next month so I decided to take a trip to the ship's store and have a look at the cruising guides.I am heading to the Southern Bahamas so you would think that this guide would be perfect.It is NOT.I took a quick look through the contents and index and discovered he did not cover the Exumas.How could this be?Ah... Mr. Pavlidis wants you to buy YET ANOTHER of his books, one specifically covering the Exumas.Appauling.How can you say you are covering the central and southern Bahamas WITHOUT even one chapter on the Exumas? One of the best
Pavlidis' guide will get you to places you didnt think you could visit.It also assumes you are a competent tropical water sailor and wont do stupid things like run into rocks, etc.Where other guides state "local knowledge required" for an area Pavlidis gives you the best current info and then warns you to be aware of possible changes and hazards.If you want to find places where there is still a lobster under every rock and no other boats in sight, this is the guide to use. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bahamas    2. Boats and boating    3. Caribbean & West Indies    4. Description and travel    5. Guidebooks    6. Nautical charts    7. Travel    8. Travel - Foreign    9. Caribbean islands    10. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (1)

Clear and Easy
This sturdy map will be used for years.The clear coating prevents that fuzziness from wear at the folds.The street listings will be useful for exploring the island on foot, and all the print is clear and easy to read. A must for visitors to Bermuda, well worth the price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Maps    3. Maps & Road Atlases    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (4)

Wonderful
This book has everyhting you can possibly look for in a book and more.I never found so much information in one book.I would recommend this book to everyone...

Choose Costa Rica for Retirement
When trying to choose a country for retirement, this is one of John Howells's best books.He gives the reader comprehensive information, sensible advice and encouragement. We will refer to it again and again while in the process of moving.

Chose Costa Rica for Retirement
This is an excellent guide for folks who want to live in Costa Rica either on a part time or full time basis.Good advice about real estate, investments, how to find new friends, great places to go. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Subjects:  1. Reference / Maps    2. Travel    3. Curacao    4. Maps    5. Maps, charts & atlases    6. Netherlands Antilles    7. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (4)

Great book!
When I went to Bermuda for the first time recently, I wanted to leaarn more about this lovely island.Labrucherie's book provides exactly what I wanted - a readable and fairly comprehensive history of the island, as well as many beautiful pictures.Just perfect!

Magnificent!
Extraordinary photography, combined with intelligent, concise, even poetic text.I am English, but I have lived in Boston for many years. Bermuda is perhaps my favorite island--for its civility, its quiet beauty, a little touch of England in the middle of the Atlantic. This book captures Bermuda as I have seen no other book do ... perhaps because it focusses on the small things: the tiny flower known as Bermudiana, the young schoolgirl gazing deep into the camera ... The picture captions are concise, but packed with information; the author chooses and rations his words carefully! There's also, for those who want it, a complete text which conveys the history of the island.A small quibble: there's no information about hotels, restaurants, etc. However, this is not a guidebook, but rather a coffee-table "documentary" book, and in that department it is incomparable.

Absolutely superb
Having travelled to Bermuda many times over the past twenty years (and I lived there for a time as well), I have to say this is the finest and most complete "coffee-table" book on the island that I have ever seen.It is large-format, filled with superb color photographs (including a lotof aerial shots as well as some archival photographs of Bermuda in themid-20th century). The text gives you a concise, intelligent overview ofBermuda's history. I've given a number of copies to friends who love theisland. The jacket blurb says the author was once a Peace Corps Volunteer,and it shows ... this is a real in-depth portrait, not just"post-cardy" superficial coverage. I have several other books onBermuda, but this one is in a class by itself. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Travel    2. Bermuda Islands    3. Caribbean & West Indies    4. Description and travel    5. North America    6. Pictorial works    7. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (4)

One Fine Book for a Panama Canal Cruise
I recently purchased "Panama Canal by Cruise Ship" by Anne Vipond. It is superb! I am a recently-retired submariner from the U.S. Navy and was stationed at one time in the Canal Zone. I have transited the Canal twice on Navy ships and again recently as a part of a Panama Canal study program aboard the Isla Morada. I am a serious historian of the Panama Canal from before the Panama Railroad to the present. I have accumulated much information in the form of books and over 350 old postcards of the Panama Canal Zone. But I have never seen such a "meaty" yet concise history of Panama and the Canal as Ms Vipond offers. The
Misleading Title
With the title of Panama Canal By Cruise Ship I expected the book to primarily be about the Panama Canal and what you would see from the ship as well as features of the various cruise lines servicing the Canal.What I found was that the majority of the book described ports of call that your particular ship may or may not visit.

Panama Canal by Cruise Ship
This is a very compact, comprehensive book not only on the Panama Canal but also the Caribbean Islands and Mexico.
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Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Central America    3. Mexico    4. Reference - Cruise Guides    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (4)

A bit of a let down
Earlier dive guides I have used have come from the Globetrotter series - who do not have a guide for Barbados, which is what I was looking for. Coming to the "Complete Diving Guide" after the high standards of Globetrotter is something of a disappointment. There is nothing wrong with the book in terms of the content it is providing - it gives information on the sites, some (though by no means all) dive schools, and a little background on the islands. However, the writing style is very narrative - think "what I did on my diving holiday this summer" type essays. The presentation is also a bit dated. It is not a bad guide by any means, but if Globetrotter do get around to publishing on the area, it is almost certain to be a better bet.

winston reed
July 2001 I dove several of the sites reviewed by ms Ryanand Mr Savage Needs more vacation details
I found this guide pleasant to look through, but not half as helpful as Best Dives of the Caribbean by Hunter Publishing, which gives a lot more detail on the dive sites, places for kids to snorkel, hotels and everything I need to plan a vacation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Reference - General    3. Scuba & Snorkeling    4. Sports    5. Sports & Recreation    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Water Sports    8. Caribbean    9. Caribbean islands    10. Guides    11. Scuba    12. Scuba Diving    13. Swimming & diving    14. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (12)

really detailed, good social commentary
I am about to leave to study abroad in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. I bought this book, as well as the Lonely Planet guide. I think the Rough Guide is far superior to the Lonely Planet one.
Interesting but unnecessarily negative
I recently travelled to the Dominican Republic and purchased this guide for my trip based on the online reviews.
very useful guide
I used this guide to travel in Santo Domingo, Costanza and Samana and found it to be very useful in trip planning.First of all, it helped me to identify Samana and Constanza as great places to visit without the heavy tourism.It was also packed with information on practically every town we passed on the way and offered good hotel and restaurant recommendations.My only criticism is that it seemed the author probably traveled by car and the information on public transportation wasn't quite as thorough as in Lonely Planet guides.However, the sheer volume of other information and the easy to use layout made up for that.Overall, a very solid guide for both pre-trip planning and travel within the DR. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Central America    3. Dominican Republic    4. Guidebooks    5. Reference - Guides (General)    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Travel Guides    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Reviews (1)

finding paradise at last
Just the book for me. The review in Caribbean Cruising caught my eye. If they say its good, it is. I've sailed the Caribbean three seasons now and just done all the wet and nasty stuff beating north. Since getting a copy of this book in Trinidad I've got to Bequia in easy style. Oh boy, it makes the Caribbean feel like Paradise. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Caribbean Area    3. Description and travel    4. General    5. Sailing    6. Sailing - General    7. Sports    8. Sports & Recreation   

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. North America    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Bermuda    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Reviews (2)

WEAK!
This book is pretty weak... I guess the price should have been a dead giveaway!

Good book for your tackle box
I bought this 64-page 6"x9" booklet mainly to keep in my tackle box. It has figures of basic knots. It talks about how and when to set up baits,lures and rigs under various conditions. It also gives techniques when fishing from jetties, banks, inshore, offshore, bridges, canals, etc. It's really handy if you are not having a particularly good fishing day and you want to move or change bait. I would have rated it a 4-star, except that it is a 1992 book, and the information on tackle and rigging is generically informative, but specifically just too old. The techniques info is just fine though. I'd recommend it only as a reference booklet. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Fishing - General    3. General    4. Oceans & Seas    5. Sports    6. Sports & Recreation    7. Fishing Tackle    8. Fishing Tips    9. Saltwater Fishing   

Reviews (2)

Very Handy Reference
This book was a great reference of where to go and where not to go.We were able to plan our whole trip using the book and had a great time.Unfortunately some of the places mentioned for dinner are still closed due to the last hurricane that really did some damage there.If you are traveling make sure you check the websites or with your hotel when you get there before you take a drive out!

Great guide To the Caymans
This guide was very useful in planning my trip. The reviews of resturants and other locations were very helpful and up to date. Hell IS over-rated!!It's almost pocket size, so it's handy to have with you to look up general information while you are on your trip.Have a great trip!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Cayman Islands    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Bahamas    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Turks & Caicos Islands   

Features

• Folded Map

Reviews (2)

Great find!
I have not purchased a map in a while.I am beyond myself impressed with the quality of this product!It has a smooth finish which makes me think I will be able to hang onto it for a very long time-I think it will last beyond my lifetime.

Good map, no inserts
This is a decent map of the DR - quite detailed and easy to read. It feels a lot more like paper than a laminated map would, so I'm hoping it will be as rip-proof as it says it is.
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Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12    2. General    3. Maps    4. Maps & Road Atlases    5. Travel    6. Dominican Republic    7. Travel / General    8. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (4)

Just what I was looking for.
This is the 3rd dive travel book I have purchased writen by Lawson Wood. He covers all the information you will need to plan a dive trip to Cozumel, Cancun and the Mayan Riviera. Besides the 160 dive and snorkel sites there is a brief history of the area and lots of travel tips. If you are a diver you will like the dive site discriptions and underwater photography. This is one of the best books of its kind on diving in the Mayan Riviera area.

good coffee table book on dive sites of the Yucatan
This book is very nicely arranged and designed. The writing is clear and concise and well thought out. The sections on the marine environments and diver safety were great. Not so great were directions getting to some of the dive locations. The author may have visited most of the dive sites on a dive boat and never attempted to reach the locations by car. We are snokelers and tried unsuccessfully to reach some of described locations on the Mexican Riviera. The map of the Mexican Riviera was not good. The scale was off by an order of magnitude. A few of the roads listed in the book on the map were not actually there. Some of the actual roads were not on the map. Most roads going from Highway 307 toward the shore are hotel private property. We repeatedly got turned around by uniformed personnel at hotel gates and had to give up reaching dive sites. It might be useful in future editions to tell how to get to a location by car. Giving GPS coordinates would be good too. This is a good book for planning a diving trip to the Yucatan area. But not so great once you get there.

A Good Book Overall But Lacking For A True Adventurer
This is a good book for someone visiting the Quintanna Roo Coast and Cozumel who is going to use commercial dive operators for most of their diving. For the true adventurer however it is not really adequate. Why? Well say you need to find a reef on your ocean kayak and you are without a dive guide. This book will not really help you find that reef because it does not go into exact reef location detail, it just says like 100 yards off beach X. Well those beaches in Cozumel are long white strips of sand and are prettty much indistinguishable from one another. Also, no information on where to camp on Cozumel and on the Quintanna Roo Coast. It does however have good reef descriptions, general travel info and helpfull advice for tourists. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Australia & Oceania - General    2. Caribbean & West Indies    3. Cozumel    4. Guidebooks    5. Mexico    6. Scuba & Snorkeling    7. Scuba diving    8. Skin diving    9. Special Interest - Adventure    10. Travel    11. Travel - Foreign    12. Yucatâan (State)    13. Sports & Recreation / Scuba & Snorkeling