Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands [Paperback]

Earl R. Hinz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993

The fifth edition of this sailing standard includes updated charts and text reflecting changes in regulations and facilities for most countries and specific ports of entry. New appendices include procedures for entry to Australia, which are more exacting than most Pacific landfalls, and an extensive list of information sources: cruising guidebooks, important general tourist guides, chart suppliers, and key web sites for the countries covered by Landfalls of Paradise.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"The only complete cruising guide to the islands of the Pacific . . . a must." —Islands

"A trove of information for the cruiser planning to set sail for the Pacific. . . A very readable, easy-to-follow guide." —Santana --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Earl R. Hinz has sailed Pacific Ocean waters since 1958, gaining extensive experience while accumulating 40,000 nautical miles in racing and cruising boats. He is the author of numerous books and hundreds of articles on sailing. In 2001 he was awarded Cruising World magazine’s medal for "Outstanding Contributions to Voyaging and Seamanship."

Jim Howard began his Pacific experience in 1986 after passing through the Panama Canal on the way to Korea and Japan. He has written several books on cruising and since 1989 has written for the Japanese cruising magazine KAZI and more recently for Multihulls Magazine. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 369 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr; 3 Sub edition (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824814665
• ISBN-13: 978-0824814663
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,665,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the only one of its kind, November 12, 2000

By 

David Stanley (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands (Latitude 20 Books) (Paperback)

Considing the relatively small market for a book like this, it's not surprising there's virtually nothing comparable in print. And Earl's territory is vast - all of the Pacific islands from Hawaii to New Zealand and north into Micronesia. The numerous maps should prove useful for orientation and could save you a bundle on official charts (although the author and publisher disclaim any responsibility for errors). There's lots of useful 'passage planning', yacht entry, weather, and public holiday information here, but the country intros could be shortened and the yacht facility sections beefed up. The oversized B&W photos throughout the book occupy space that could be better utilized. An appendix provides four pages outlining the use of amateur mobil radios, but no mention of communicating over the internet is to be found herein. At times, the coverage is skeletal and uneven. For example, on Tahiti only Papeete is visited. Moorea isn't included (!) and the popular Leeward Islands merit only a few lines. In contrast the seldom-visited Austral and Gambier islands receive four pages of maps and texts. In Fiji, Earl only descibes facilities in the main ports of entry: Suva, Lautoka, Levuka, and Savusavu. Really out of the way anchorages are seldom discussed. All that said, these criticisms are mute as there simply isn't another South Pacific cruising guide to choose from. It's a credit to Earl Hinz that he has kept this book going through four editions, and hopefully the electronic revolution will allow him to rejuvenate his book. Meanwhile Landfalls of Paradise is a basic reference work every Pacific sailor will want to carry aboard.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Landfalls of Paradise: Complete waste of money, March 11, 2010

By 

3eagles (SF, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands (Latitude 20 Books) (Paperback)

If you have lots of money and a big enough boat to bring every available book ever written on the South Pacific, then you should buy this book. But if you are like the majority of cruisers out there with limited space and budget, this is DEFINITELY a book you could do without. For starters, it covers far too large a geography to get into the details you would want to know information about (only three pages on the Marquesas, really?!) Additionally, the information is extremely outdated for having been updated in 2006 and has been out done by newer books (my wife and I sailed through the SoPac in 2009 and every time we used this book we found the information either non existent or incorrect). And finally, the book lacks the most important information you need as a cruiser, which is detailed charts and information on anchorages or passages through reefs. Without a doubt, this book would be an interesting read if you never make it to the South Pacific, but if you do get there you will want to look at the other books available on this subject. I would say this book was a complete waste of money for what we needed.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bit surreal, April 5, 2009

By 

John W. Howard (Okinawa Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands (Latitude 20 Books) (Paperback)

Earl wrote this book based on the voyages through the South Pacific he and his wife Betty undertook on "Horizon" their Morgan Out Island Ketch. It is a bit surreal as I sit on the deck of that same "Horizon" some thirty three years later and read of those voyages and places. The boat is still in the Pacific, granted a bit farther out on the rim, lying Kadena Marina, Okinawa Japan. The book is a great page turner even if you don't plan to voyage. It is a bit dated in some of the photos and data, but then again, the islands age slowly, in fact everything is a bit slower in this part of the world.