Customer Reviews

Adventure Guide to Costa Rica

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am here in Costa Rica in an internet cafe and had to take the time to tell everyone what a good book this is. It really gave us everything we needed to plan our trip and now that we are here, we use it to find just about everything. If you have not visited Costa Rica yet, get a copy of this book and come on down -- it is fabulous. PURA VIDA!

My husband and I just spent our honeymoon in Costa Rica and believe it or not, found this Adventure Guide to be the best resource for exciting things to do and see. It was also accurate for finding hotels that had that little bit of extra ambiance we wanted for romance. We had used Lonely Planet guidebooks on other trips but found this guidebook to be much better. It's easy to use, has lovely photographs, and for rainy nights it made good armchair reading. I heartily recommend the Adventure Guide for a wonderful vacation in Costa Rica.

This book was everything we needed in a guidebook, with more then we knew we needed! Honest reviews of hotels and insider tips for restaurants, we used this guide mostly to steer us to some of the most interesting eco adventures in the country. We saved much time and plenty of money with this guide. Wonderful photos too.

I really used this book a lot on a recent vacation to Costa Rica. As a first time traveler there I was amazed at the many cool spots to see and this guide pointed me right in every way. Besides good descriptions of where to go, what to do, and how to do it-this guide saved me a lot of time and money. I stayed in some of the more "tico" hotels and was very happy getting close to the people and the Costa Rican experience. I can't say enough about the good recommendations and tips. The color photos and maps are excellent and the authors showed how to do eco-tourism without high impact on the environment, which means a lot in Costa Rica. Highly recommended!

I took off a point for the pedestrian writing and the sub-standard photos. (The numerous quotes struck me as tangential, but I really liked the design ephemera, including the original luggage tag from Hotel Europa, CR's oldest hotel, a nice touch!) Now, on to the good stuff:

First off, Bruce & June Conord's "alternative accomodations" was imaginative and indispensable for me, and of course, in the true spirit of "adventure." Secondly, of all the rough-and-tumble excursions they present, my favorite was their walking tour of historical San José. On foot is really the only way to see Costa Rica's one and only capital city.

I would agree with a previous reviewer concerning the low-quality pictures. But to be fair, that is not what this exhaustively-detailed book is all about. Fortunately, I also bought the book Costa Rica: The Last Country the Gods Made, a luscious and amply photographed book that takes you on an envious visual tour of many of the places the Conords discuss.

For example, Last Country features 9 (much better) pictures of downtown San José, one in full two-page glorious panorama. In addition, the Conords cover Irazú Volcano in one page (with a few mentions elsewhere), while Last Country has 2 VERY unusal views of Irazú: page 93 pictures the description of the sloping farmlands benefiting from Irazú's volcanic soil as described on page 6; and page 16 pictures something that no other guide book I've ever read on Costa Rica mentions-wild horses roaming the calderas of the volcano!

As for my city-centricity, I further recommend On the Plaza: The Politics of Public Space and Culture by Setha Low, about the social implications of San José's two city squares, the Parque Central and the Plaza de la Cultura, which turns out to be more on topic than you think.

All 3 books are delightful for anyone who plans to travel to any of the rich coast's storied country sides in pages or in person!

My fiancee and I went to Costa Rica and wanted to get away from everything. This book led us to Uvita de Osa (not even mentioned in other books). This book gave us great local information and helped us plan our vacation form start to finish.

Hint: If you are travelling cheap and want a hand getting started in Costa Rica, call John at Safe Passage (www.costaricabustickets.com). You won't regret it!

This land of rustic beauty is explored to the hilt, complete with colorful photos and maps and full of easy-to-read practical tips. A must-read.

Anton Community Newspapers

This was 1 of 3 books I bought for a trip to Costa Rica and I can't say I relied on it for information at any point. Every time I opened the book to find a hotel or restaurant or choose the next destination, I closed it in frustration. I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't 2 other guides which I found to have more comprehensive information regarding the options of where to eat, sleep and adventure.

A previous reviewer was correct in the assessment that the book is not all whitewater and rappeling, although there are tons of adventures to experience there and basic information about which of those activities to do and where to find them can be MORE easily found in other books or by speaking to someone at your hotel.

After I bought my souveniers and such, I don't know why I crammed the book back in my bag.

Pocket Adventures' Costa Rica from Hunter Travel Guides by Bruce and June Conord: Having gone to Costa Rica before having this book, we wished we had used this guide before we went the first time, and it makes us want to return soon! Even though we had aleady experienced some of the places and activities we found described in this book, it gave us greater insights that we had missed in the visit. This enriched the trip we had already taken, which is most unusual for a travel guide. The books outlines the twenty top spots in Costa RIca and has divisions by areas of the country. The first half of the book tells about the eating and culture of what to see in the capital city San Jose, and the second half gives specifics about the other sections of the country, telling what to see and do and where to stay and eat. Whatever your specific interests and focus for your trip, you'll find where you need to make your reservations. There are even discussions of cosmetic surgery and legal prostitution. So whether you have already been to Costa RIca or plan to go or just want to learn about the Costa Rica, this book is a wonderful guide and worth buying

When one reads a "Guide" Book, one should not have to read nearly 100 pages to find something negative; After all, it is a foreign country and what to avoid is actually more beneficial than the "Oh,it is all wonderful" descriptions. There is very little mention of the different regions; However there is extensive information on every lodging place in the country. How this has received 4.5 stars is certainly a mystery to me. Evidently from reading "Trip Advisors" on the internet; everyone in Costa Rica has the Lonely Planet guide on Costa Rica!