No comments about Belize, Guatemala & Southern Mexico, 2nd: Tread Your Own Path (Footprint - Travel Guides).

5 comments about Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Belize (Lonely Planet Diving and Snorkeling Belize).

1. This book is not worth buying. It provides very little information on specific dive sites. I did not use the book once to make a dive choice during two weeks in Southern Belize. A good dive book for Belize is really needed - it was difficult to locate good dive operators for some areas...but this book was of no value.

   It does have some nice pictures and a very basic fish/coral guide in the back.




2. This book has no discernible value to anyone planning a dive trip to Belize. First, it does not tell you which dive sites are good and which are worth skipping. This makes it difficult to plan your trip, assuming you have limited time and money to spend. The book does not even contain a list of top 5 or 10 recommended sites in the country.

   Second, the book has no information on costs or other logistical aspects of a dive trip. For example, it mentions that Dangriga is the departure point for diving certain reefs, but doesn't tell you that there are no dive shops in Dangriga: to do any diving around there, you have to go thru an out-of-town resort, which is highly inconvenient.

   Third, the capsule descriptions of 66 specific dive sites -- the heart of the book -- don't tell you anything meaningful and are irrelevant anyway because dive shops, not customers, choose which sites are visited. (Customers can choose which area they want to go to, but the dive shops select the specific sites within that area.)

   Finally, although the book was updated in June 2002, it ignores the fact that in October 2001, Hurricane Iris devastated the sourthern diving hub of Placencia. The reefs in this area are heavily damaged and therefore not worth visiting. The failure to update the book to account for this major development can only be explained by bad faith on the part of Lonely Planet, which should be ashamed to have put such a lousy product on the market.




3. While I agree with the previous 2 reviewers. I did find the book helpful as a brief and very general overview of what was available and what there was to see in those dive areas. It put the areas in geographical perspective for me and was a nice addition to the dive briefing. After the dive, the fish ID part was a nice memory jogger for doing my logbook entries.
   
   However, it does not help with planning a dive or a dive trip. You can get more info on that free from websites, magazines and dive tour specialists.
   
   Overall better than nothing if you're into filling out your logbook.



4. This is a fair book, but loads of sites are missing (from this edition at least) and much of the information I expected to find was not in it - particularly the prices and quality of the various diving shops. It is a mere overview of what you find under the sea, with little on how to actually get to that point.



5. It is a good overview book, but when we got to Belize realized that a lot of the sites that are listed are not called by the same name at all - so hard to determine what sites we had really dived compared to the book. Also it covers a lot of area in Belize (if you are going to Ambergris Caye then maybe 1/2 or 2/3 of the book is useful).

2 comments about Diving Belize (Aqua Quest Diving).

1. The Aquaquest guides are the best-written dive guides I've seen, and the Belize guide by Ned Middleton is no exception. It's well written, well-organized, and beautifully illustrated with photographs. It also includes a chapter on places to stay and eat that I found to be more useful than some stand alone travel guides. Middleton clearly knows his dive sites, and his descriptions and recommendations proved to be reliable.



2. 
   Note carefully the date of publication: 1994
   
   Much has changed in the past decade, especially in Caribbean diving.

No comments about Central America: Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama (Central America).

1 comments about Lonely Planet LA Ruta Maya, Yucatan, Guatemala and Belize (Lonely Planet Travel Guides).

1. Good book,(*****) Save me hundred of dollars in tour guides, hotels and places that even a regular tourist never knew that existed.Is a shame that they don't print a new edition, I'm triying to buy another as spare, for my futures trips to that wonderful area, lot of history and culture. you can trust Tom Brosnahan with your eyes closed, belived, you never be lost if you carry this book. Jose J. Valle. Cosmopolis,Washington,U.S.A

No comments about Let's Go: The Budget Guide to Mexico 1995/Including Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Let's Go).

No comments about Belize - Guatemala Road Map.

1 comments about The Temple of the Jaguar.

1. This is an excellent book. The publisher's review does not do it justice. I was afraid it would be bogged down by the author's introspection but found it had just enough to make his experiences more interesting & personal. It is a well-written & fascinating account of the history, flora, fauna and people of the Yucatan. Don't go without it!

1 comments about Guatemala and Belize: The Rough Guide, Second Edition (Rough Guide Guatemala and Belize).

1. The Rough Guides are really wonderful reference books for travelers, especially those on a budget. I appreciated not only the recommendations for lodging and restaurants, but also the cultural and historical content of the Rough Guide to Belize and Guatemala. This book contains very practical advice and budget-minded tips. The maps (especially street maps) are also of very high quality and easily readable. I have since purchased numerous other Rough Guides, but this one was the first I bought. It made a fantastic trip even more enjoyable.

1 comments about Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Belize.

1. Diving and Snorkeling in Belize is for divers - as a pictured cookbook is for hungry people... A very good source for divers, novice through advanced. The Book starts by covering some basics for every tourist to Belize, then moves on to an overview of Belize as a scuba-diver's wonder-world. Following, all sites are described explicitly. The site descriptions include easy-to-follow rankings of expertise required and characteristics, as depth, currents, visibility, etc., and directions to unique attractions in each site. Throughout, beautiful pictures enhance this coverage. The book definitely played a part in the decision to visit Belize, and for divers - is a recommended addition to the Lonely Planet reference to this region.