2 comments about Insight Guides Guatemala, Belize And the Yucatan (Insight Guides Guatemala, Belize, Yucatan).

1. Great photos, excellent culture and history overview, highlights important sites ... the entire series by Insight Guides is the best. Don't leave home without one!



2. This book is filled with beautiful pictures and some semi-informative history and background on the region. However, it is utterly useless as an actual travel guide. Information on where to stay, recommended eateries, and transportation options is limited to 34 pages at the end of a 388 page book, of which 10 pages are devoted to Guatemala, 10 pages to Belize, and 14 to Mexico's Yucatan. The lovely pictures and brief background information might serve to sway a wavering would-be traveler, but add 3 or so pounds of deadweight on to the actual journey. The real title of the book should be "The Insight Oversized Travel Brochure of Photos of Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan".
   We started the trip with only this unwieldy paperweight in our packs, and a day later, were standing on the shores of Lago Atitlan dumbfounded; not simply by the spectacular beauty surrounding us, but by the simple fact that we were standing there at all, fed, clothed, and housed, not a single facet of which was due to this bundle of paper useful primarily as fuel for a fire (though, if you in fact did so, the toxic fumes from the chemical-coated pages could probably kill you). We rushed to the local bookstore to pay gringo prices for Lonely Planet's "Central America on a Shoestring"; this guide actually made it possible for the journeys to follow.

3 comments about An Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

1. Like her other book on the Yucatan, this one focuses on many smaller sites. I was surprised that it didn't mention El Puente as a site, however, and it was written before the Copan Museum opened, which is too bad. Unfortunately it is already sadly outdated. I hope she does another book soon.



2. This book, while somewhat outdated, provides accurate and detailed information about the ruins in Guatemala in particular. The guides I traveled with all wanted to purchase it to enhance their information. The descriptions help you make decisions about where to go and having it with you enhances viewing. Places are generally easier to get to now.



3. This book, while somewhat outdated, provides accurate and detailed information about the ruins in Guatemala in particular. The guides I traveled with all wanted to purchase it to enhance their information. The descriptions help you make decisions about where to go and having it with you enhances viewing. Places are generally easier to get to now.

3 comments about Frommer's Caribbean Ports of Call (Frommer's Complete).

1. While Frommer's is the king of travel advce and I have sworn by thier advice and knowledge while traveling, this particular eddition is no better than 2005 or 2006. It is a re-tread. So if you have a version from 2006 or 2005, stay with it. There is really no new information worth spending the money on. While I do not realy fault Frommer's for using old information, since not much changes in the caribbean, it should be more clearly noted that there is not much new in thier book.



2. This book is an excellant choice if needing info on ports visited by cruisers - helped a lot, as it was our first cruise. Lots of good advice from start to finish.



3. Great book to throw in your backpack and take with you on the cruise. You can bone up on a bit of the history and it will get some ideas ffor excursions or places to visit on the islands.

1 comments about Mexico Guatemala El Salvador Belize Nelles Map (Nelles Maps).

1. This map begins in the southwestern USA covering from Phoenix and Dallas southward. It also covers the eastern half of Honduras to Tegucigalpa. The northern half is on one map and the southern on the reverse.
   
   It has good markings for national parks and ruins. The region around Ciudad de Mexico is covered in more detail.
   
   The advertising claim of multiple languages needs clarification. Only the LEGEND is printed in four languages. The place names are generally in Spanish with occasional English comments--clear enough for any English reader.
   
   Distance is given in kilometers (sometimes miles in parentheses).
   
   The map has a nice durable cover as its first 'page', however sticking with that cover limits the overall size of the map; it could have been larger with an additional fold to allow more height.
   
   4 centimeters equals 100 kilometers.
   
   This is a good durable general map, however of very limited usefulness for driving. Only the major roads are identified by number. Secondary roads are extensively noted but not numbered or identified. An exception is Mexico City (which has street names) but not the regional map of the same area.

5 comments about The Rough Guide to Belize (Belize (Rough Guides), 1999).

1. After looking at several other books we chose this one for our 14 day trip in January of 2001. It was an excellent resource for important info and interesting tid-bits. It is a little old now and some information is out dated at this point. It could really use an update. My husband and I would volunteer to go again!! We had a great time and higly recomend Belize for the less mainstream traveler. Go now though, it is definatly changing! Don't miss Hol Chan marine reserve snorkeling and Placencia village. Also, we loved Crooked Tree and Tikal. Have a great time and take this book with you!!!



2. We had Lonely Planet "Central America" and Fodor's "Guatemala and Belize", but it was Rough Guide we kept coming back too. In our trip to Guatemala and Belize we spent 4 days in Belize, but only out on the Cayes. Most of the time was spent on Caye Caulker (a very laid back and relaxing escape) staying at Mara's Place which was listed in the guide without much fanfare, but hit the spot.

   If you need low budget (~25US per room - no tax!) stay with Mara. She is right near the swimming spit and has lovely cabins (no A/C, but ceiling fans) that are simple, but clean. You'll always notice Mara driving around town in her sporty ATV.

   For the size of the Caye the restaurants are plentiful with most listed in the guide.

   The one short coming was scuba info. Belize barrier reefs are known for their great scuba and snorkeling and the island has plenty of shops - but only 1 is listed. They will refer you elsewhere if they can't accomodate you, but I am surprised that Rough Guide didn't dedicate more space to this popular sport. I assume the writer either a) didn't spend much time on the Cayes or b) didn't care much for water sports. Might have been both, but this is a huge oversight given that the Cayes are one of the most popular destinations in Belize.

   Despite this shortcoming - you won't be disappointed.




3. (Planeta.com Journal) - This 300-page book is a superb second edition that details the best of ways of exploring Belize (and nearby Tikal and the Bay Islands). What Belize First calls "a tour de force" is a must-read for travelers heading to this country. Author Eltringham's first visit was during his tour of duty by the UK's Royal Air Force. He's returned numerous times and covers community tourism issues with the same clear-spoken authority of trekking and diving. Independent travelers will relish the detailed information, practical advice and helpful maps.



4. My wife and I went to Belize in April 2002. I reviewed several books of Belize, of which there were few. This one seemed to be the book to buy. I wasn't disappointed. It had very good restuarant recommendations for Ambergris Caye as well as hotel info. Some information was not updated (internet cafe in Cayo had moved, [an inexpensive] great internet connection place was not mentioned also, a series of cabins that were listed as in business in Crooked Tree were *completely* run-down and *nowhere* near being in business) but this didn't hamper our vacation very much. It had good info on stuff to do in and near Cayo. Bottomline: buy this guide if you're going to Belize.



5. This book, though it has many excellent sections and qualities, has one short-coming: its accommodations and restaurants are dated (published 2001 but most establishments were reviewed in 2000 or 1999). There are many new establishments that have opened and a bunch that have closed. I knocked on the door of the "Trends Guest House" in Belize City only to be told by the neighbor, "Its closed. Been closed for two years", "Oh", I replied. "Yea man, there was a murder" the neighbor said. "Oh?" I replied. "Yea, the owner was murdered by a guest." Oh! I replied. So the recommendations are hit and miss, but for those that which were open, the comments are reliable (most have raised their prices) and worth pursuing.

   If you are going to snorkel or dive, you should know that much of the reefs in the Northern Cayes (Ambergris & Caulker) are 65-85% dead. This is because of the three hurricanes in the last 5 years. According to one marine expert, it will take 20 years or more of them to return. Nothing is said about the destruction to the coral reefs in this guide.
   
   On the plus side this guide has excellent Internet references. Almost every hotel has email addresses and many of them have webpage addresses. Maps are clear, concise and easy to use. Tons of references that point you to a plethora of information on Belize. (most with web address). Belize is completely covered, no area of interest is omitted, and Peter Eltringham has include a very good section on TIKAL, Flores (across the boarder in Guatemala) and the Bay Islands (Roatan).

   His bibliography on recommended books to read is valuable and solid for anyone that wants to know more on Belize.

   All Rough Guides have a difficult to use number system to quote the price range of a hotel, i.e. one hotel is a number '6' which means between BZ$110-150 that scale is back on page 28 of the guide, then you convert the BZ$ to $US. This system is a pain when it is so much easier just to say $75 dollars.

   Bottomline: WHEN the new edition comes out, Rough Guide to Belize will be at the very top of the Belize guides but, until then, you will be best served by another guide.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Belize.

1. I booked and prepaid Ruby's in Ambergris Quay on their recommendation, and found it to be an absolute dump, full of cockroaches, grimy throughout. There were many better choices for the same price which were not in the book. But a hotel they criticised, La Casa de Don David near Tikal, we found to be spotless, reasonably priced, good food and very convenient for visiting the ruins. This definitely brings into question the integrity of their hotel ratings and the independence of their recommendations.



2. For those people planning on traveling to the southern parts of Belize, be forewarned that the Lonely Planet guidebook has not been updated since the hurricane destroyed much of Placencia a year and a half ago.

   We stayed in Placencia for a week using the Lonely Planet guide, and some of the restaurants and accommidations listed no longer exist. The places that do still exist have been totally rebuilt since the reviews were written.

   Finally, the activities listings were generally accurate but the reccommended guides no longer offered the services described in the book. We went out of our way to find the reccommended guide only to discover he no longer gave tours!




3. We used this and while, yes, last year's hurricane did make some of the information less relevant, this was still the most up-to-date guide in our party. I particularly enjoyed the cultural focus, which is really why I travel, anyway.

   The book is colorful, contains lots of interesting details, and was actually easier to read than some of the others we had. I had no trouble with the hotel listings.




4. I thought this book was very helpful...my sister and I traveled throughout the country (with the exception of Placencia and the southern part of Belize) and over to Tikal, Guatemala and the info was pretty accurate. For a boat trip to Lamanai, the pricing was actually cheaper than what was listed in the book, and other prices were fairly consistent despite the book being a couple years old. The best advice if you are thinking about staying somewhere that is listed in the book is to check out the website (which is one of the best features of the book....many others I looked at did not include website information) and see pictures for yourself. If a website is not listed, it is often because it is new - I did a google search and was able to find a website or info for every place we stayed in Belize. We stayed at four different places during our week stay, all listed in Lonely Planet, and I was happy with each one. Another big plus to this book (particularly for me) was the info on precautions to take, and the full page warning on the botfly. A couple weeks after returning and after several doctors misdiagnosing it, I had a botfly larvae in my head, and it was something I read about in LP that I alerted the doctors about. It took a week and a hospital stay until I could find someone who would believe me, but I can't imagine how long it would have taken if I hadn't had this info beforehand! I was very happy overall with this guidebook and despite the botfly, would return to Belize again.



5. Greatly enjoyed this book. Filled with useful information, but not so huge that its to heavy for the packpack.

1 comments about The Rough Guide to Guatemala & Belize Map (Rough Guide Country/Region Map).

1. The quality of the paper and the appearance of the map are great. The map itself is useless. I don't know what they used for data or if they had it checked before publishing it but, on a recent trip to Guatemala, it proved to be full of errors. In one case it showed a road as paved which has never been paved and for which there are no present plans to pave. I drove the road and it is only suitable for high clearance, rugged vehicles. Another section of road shown as dirt has been paved for years. I had planned to take another road shown as paved but was told by locals that it was not paved and only suitable for SUV's and pickups. If a map does not reliably show roads, their location and type and if it has numerous geographical references wrong, it's not the worth the beautiful paper it's printed on. As a result of my experience I do not recommend this series of maps.

No comments about Michelin the Green Guide Mexico: Guatemala Belize (Michelin Green Guide: Mexico, Guatemala and Belize English Edition).

5 comments about Scuba Dic.: Caribbean Sea, Vol. 1.

1. I was skeptical at first when I saw this, but I was getting bored just knowing the names of the fish I came across. I thought this would turn out like Fish Flips(eg only names of fish listed for each pic), but it has a LOT more to offer. There are written descriptions for each pic, that don't just list facts, but also explain how to find & approach sea life (eg. Size, time of day, hiding spots/location, animals behavior, etc.), I found this really useful, because after tooling around with my camera, I was getting tired of only getting snapshots of fishtails. The book held up great UW; the pages just got sticky bc I didn't rinse it off initially, but I left it overnight in fresh water and there was no problem after that. Since i started taking along scuba dic for dives, it's been abused more times than tina turner, & its still in good shape....thus far. I do think it's better to get familiar with it on your surface interval vs trying to learn underwater. But all in all, it's a really good idea.



2. Waterproof materials, GREAT photos, extremely useful information. I would recommend this clever reference guide to any diver. I can't wait for more scuba dic volumes! Retractable device a must, too.... places marine species identification literally at your fingertips.



3. Just in the first five minutes I learned to much about the world under the sea.Great book.



4. I like its physical size since its large enough to easily utilize while checking out interesting animals, yet not overly big and clumsy so as to interfere with your equipment. With the animal's photo on one side of the page and its environmental aspects discussed on the opposite side, e.g., size, hiding areas, and behavior, it helps enlarge one's knowledge and appreciation for subject. And I first tested its `waterproof' capability in my marine aquarium, where it was left for 30 minutes, then removed and cleaned in freshwater. Still looks like new, and I'll test it somewhat further when I go to the Caymans in the near future. I'm already looking forward to Vol. 2. Bob Goemans



5. I'm a recreational diver at the moment and I love this reference guide to some of the amazing stuff you can encounter while diving! Although it's just a small sample of what you'll run into underwater, it's a very informative and helpful guide to browse through before and after your dives to give your dive a fun scavenger hunt! It comes with a retractable clip that prevents it from getting lost or misplaced. A great gift for those considering becoming a scuba diver and veterans alike. Even if you don't go diving it will take you into the amazing underwater world through the wonderful pictures along with a description of the marine life shown.

No comments about Belize, Guatemala & Southern Mexico (Footprint - Travel Guides).