Customer Reviews

Costa Rica - Adventure Map (Adventure Maps)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best detailed map that I have seen of Costa Rica. I highly recommemd it.

I used this map when I visited Costa Rica and it was useful for finding certain natural protected areas, and for choosing which roads to use. Certainly it was water resistant when visiting the rainy Monteverde zone. If you go to Costa Rica, buy it.

The National Geographic Map series is a decent one, but this has a few glaring inaccuracies that make it untrustworthy for travel in Costa Rica. For starters, the roads and their markings are incorrect in a number of places; many roads were paved when they were marked as dirt (such as the trip from Union to Nuevo Arenal). Some landmarks were not on the map at all (Los Patos in Corcovado is not there, Sirena is on there twice). The division of the country right in the middle also makes it hard to navigate between the two sides.

It is very readable and clear, but between a lack of highlights on the locations, inaccuracies, and the size of the thing it makes the map not particularly useful for travel - there are far better options. I'd recommend the Toucan map series instead.

I used this map along with one from Toucan Maps and one published by thecostaricamap.com. I found each of the three maps to be the best at times and used them equal amounts of time. The map from [...] had the most useful scale as I could look at a 12 x12 inch section of the map and look at the entire route for the day at a scale that still showed the principal towns and roads.

The National Geographic map was the best for going to the national park areas as it was more current than the Toucan Maps map for these areas. It also provides topographic information which the Toucan map of Costa Rica does not. The Toucan is like a standard USA street map while the National Geographic Adventure map is just what its name states.

None of the maps showed all the small towns and villages and none of them provide any guidance for getting from one end of the town where a highway ends and the other where it begins again. This is where a Costa Rica GPS map and guidance is more useful than any paper map I have been able to find. As the maps take up very little space and are relatively inexpensive I recommend buying both this map and the Toucon map and buying a downloadable GPS map with guidance as well.

Fortunately my Spanish was good enough to ask for directions and understand the people's responses most of the time. I also learned that the shopkeepers were the most helpful. If I asked someone on the street they would usually say they did not know where the road was to the next town. I did learn that I needed to ask the road to the next village instead of the next large town. Most of the people get around the country on the excellent Costa Rican buses and so I suspect that they do not really think about how to drive from one city to the next having never had to do it themselves.

Not unlike in the US where people know how to get somewhere but at a complete loss in terms of telling you how to get their yourself. They know the way but not the street names for the turn offs or will say turn left at the McDonald's which it turns out is how directions are given in Costa Rica as well.

Overall the map is nice looking and convenient to use. As other reviewers have indicated, there are many inaccuracies in the map. We travelled in the Liberia area, and experienced roads marked as paved, that were unfit for a car and had never seen an once of pavement, and some roads marked as unpaved that were excellent to drive. Some names of location and roads were altogether missing from the map. It is a disgrace for a map so widely distributed to have such inaccuracies. National Geographics get on the ball!

I have collected many maps and books on Costa Rica, and I find the National Geographic Costa Rica Adventure Map to be the most detailed and useful. It is also waterproof and easy to carry.

There is a 2008 edition of this map available that replaces the 2002/2004 edition. It is on Amazon at Costa Rica Adventure Travel Map (Trails Illustrated).

The good news was the map was by National Geographic. The bad news was the map was 8 years old. Needless to say this was not mentioned in the sales write up. Had we known this, we would have purchased a more recent map. So much for truth in advertising. Despite this problem, the map was useful, especially for geographic referencing.

We used this map to get from San Jose to Quepos and around the Costarena Sur highway. It was detailed enough for that purpose. We probably didn't really need it, but it was comforting to see the little towns pass by--just to know we were still on the correct road. It's CR after all, not everything is well-marked.

This is a very nice map of Costa Rica. It seems to be very comprehensive, listing all roadways big and small. I also like the material its made of. It should last for some time.