No comments about COSTA RICA: Surfing Travel Guide.

3 comments about Costa Rica: A Natural Destination.

1. The author clearly loves this country and the book shows it. However, she does not do a good job of organizing this information in an easy-to-read way. The text is continuous and does not have any headings. I also got the feeling that she did a lot o promotion of her local friends who own restaurants, hotels and nature preserves. Overall, the book does not give a professional impression. I do not recommend it.



2. There is a lot of good information here, if you are willing to search it out--since information about one destination might be found in several sections ("What to See," "National Parks," "Private Nature Reserves," etc.) Ree Strange Sheck has a lot of knowledge to share, and I feel she only writes about what she has personally researched and experienced. I found many interesting lodging descriptions in various price ranges, where travelers can experience natural areas on their own. The author also mentions local guides, nature preserves, drivers and Costa Rican tour companies which provide services similar to the large foreign tour companies as well as the opportunity to meet Costa Ricans, generally at lower cost and with more benefit to local people. My first choice in Costa Rica guidebooks would be The New Key to Costa Rica, but this book is a nice supplement.



3. Hi, My name is Leonie and I am working at ILISA Language Institute in Costa Rica, San Jose and I just want to say that this book helps our students a lot by giving them helpful tips and their way around in Costa Rica. Thanks!

2 comments about Let's Go Costa Rica 2nd Edition (Let's Go Costa Rica).

1. I just returned from a two week trip in Costa Rica. I used this guidebook for planning the trip, and for that it was useful with concise and honest summations of each city and region. But once in-country, I was consistently disappointed. There were mistakes on maps and wrong phone numbers, leading to a lot of confusion and one cancelled hotel reservation. Transportation schedules were accurate but the book lacks a central page of transportation tables where all can be seen at a glance. Let's Go is thinner (read: lighter) than other Costa Rica guidebooks, but you pay for this in that the listings aren't very complete -- the Monteverde/Santa Elena region had ten times as many hotels as are listed in the book.
   I bought this book in hopes that having something other than Lonely Planet would lead me to new and less-visited places. But I suppose that a traveller will find these places on her own. I'd advise this book in combination with others for trip planning, but take something else along for the ride.



2. Let's Go never disappoints. Their recommendations are on point, geared towards my traveling style as 20-something who is well-traveled. It's information is easy to find and well laid out. It's information is concise. It's just the complete package.
   
   Lonely Planet is way too popular to be useful to me, and luckily there's a better alternative: Let's Go.

1 comments about Costa Rica: An Ecotraveller's Guide.

1. This book is excellent for planning, interesting ecology and climate notes, and for the flora and fauna highlights of each region. Do not expect a field guide that identifies each species, however.

1 comments about Culture Smart! Costa Rica: A Quick Guide to Customs & Etiquette.

1. CULTURE SMART! COSTA RICA isn't your usual travel guide: its focus is on Costa Rican culture and standards of etiquette, and it tells how to avoid culture shock by providing an easy overview of attitudes, values, and social arts from body language to taboos and habits. Many similar books are geared to businessmen: not so CULTURE SHOCK! COSTA RICA, which covers some business concerns but many tourist concerns too. It's packaged in a pocket tote format, which makes it the perfect take-along reference.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

No comments about Costa Rica pura vida.

4 comments about Costa Rica in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture.

1. Hi, I am working at ILISA Spanish Language Institute in San Jose, Costa Rica and I just want to say that this book helps our students a lot by giving them helpful inside information and thus by getting to know all the ins and outs about this fantastic country. Thanks!



2. I'm extremly angry at this entire process because I ordered this book for a very important reasearch paper I'm doing on Costa Rica and was relying on it for much needed information. The book, however, has not yet arrived at my house! In the ordering sheet is says usually mails within 2-3 days. I hope the book comes within the next few days so I can still use it, and then perhaps I will write a review of the actual book! Please send me the book!



3. When one purchases a book that says on the inside flap that "This edition first published in 2002," one might expect the information to be up to date. The truth is, the book was written in 1997, six years ago, and has not be updated at all. This is important because information about every subject covered (history and politics, economy, society, environment and eco-tourism, and culture) has changed in critical ways since that time.

   That is not to say, that the book is useless - just not accurate in 2003. What I found annoying is the immediacy of the writing and no indication that you are reading anything but current information. Unless you happen to know that Figueres is no longer president of Costa Rica, you would likely assume the facts and figures presented were correct as of 2002.

   There have been two Costa Rica presidents elected since the author took fingers to keyboard. Much has changed in Ticoland, but you would never know it from reading this book.




4. This is not a "book," per se, but a 75-page "guide" in which facts are presented as statistics in a sort of beaurocratic mode. It's like reading a report from a financial research institute or a forensic accountant!

   A MUCH better overview of the country's geology, politics, economy, immigration, agriculture, ecological convservation, and social history is the coffee-table book, "Costa Rica : The Last Country the Gods Made."

   PLUS it's a beautiful book. I mean, just look at the cheesy cover of "Costa Rica in Focus"! A much better buy for the money, and more interesting writing all-round!

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

No comments about Sarapiqui Chronicle: A Naturalist in Costa Rica.

1 comments about Green Encounters: Shaping and Contesting Environmentalism in Rural Costa Rica (Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology) (Studies in Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology).

1. Green Encounters: Shaping and Contesting Environmentalism in Rural Costa Rica covers the inner workings of a country renowned for its environmental management. Luis Vivanco is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Vermont, so his is an anthropological view as he examines Monte Verde politics, culture, and environmental issues. Very few books narrow the focus to one country's policies, fewer yet focus on a single region, and even fewer include the social and political backdrop necessary for understanding - all of which are contained in Green Encounters, making it a unique college-level analysis and acquisition.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch