Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Micronesia

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

 

 

I have been to Micronesia twice. The first time I lived there for a couple of years, and the second time I went as a tourist. I purchased this book before returning the second time. It had been seven years since I had been in Micronesia, and some of it had changed drastically while some parts hadn't changed at all. This book was a great guide, and helped me to find some of the better spots that I had somehow managed to miss while I lived there. Here is how the book stacked up. THE GOOD: 1) This book covers all of Micronesia, and that is no small task. It has information about all parts, ranging from Palau to the Marshall Islands. 2) This book gives a lot of information about each island. It explains the history, tells you what you should take, tells you about hotels and restaurants (from the five star establishments to the low end ones), tells you about how to travel to each island as well as how to travel around while on the island and many other bits of useful information to make your stay more enjoyable. 3) The maps are good. They aren't super detailed, but are nice maps of the islands and the villages on them. Quite good enough for any sight seeing or exploring that you might want to do. 4) This book tells you about the popular and good diving spots, hiking spots and historical points. So even though some of the book may be outdated (the nicest hotels in Guam) there are some things that will probably never change (how to hike to a nice hidden waterfall on Pohnpei.) THE BAD: Parts of Micronesia are changing quickly, and this book fails to capture those changes. For example, the list of popular places to stay, eat and shop on Guam wasn't very helpful since the island had changed so much in the past five years (since the book was published). To counteract this information lag, I just picked up tourist publications while I was on Guam, and that updated me enough to fill in all the gaps. OVERALL: It is like a computer that is a couple of years old: sure it is outdated some, but it still works nicely, and it is much better than having nothing at all!

As a merchant marine, "travel" comes with the job. I have long been a collector of maps and travel guides, always searching for items that are the most user friendly & seeingly written for my budget, not one of the Rockerfeller's. I will tip my hat to Lonely Planet here. They accomplish the impossible with every book. Never did I expect to open a single guide book, not to mention a series of them & find myself so mesmerized by what was written. Their guides are not the commonly found or should I say "forced" "stay at the $$$$ hotel, eat at the $$$$ restaurant"... They give you such a wide, realistic range of places to go, visit, stay & enjoy, that they change you from the prospective dreamer ho-hummingly flipping pages in a book to the traveler that sees his/her goals come to pass. After all, isn't that what we really want out of travel? As for this particular guide book... I have been in Guam 4 months on and 4 months off since February of 1996, visiting Saipan as part of work & Rota & Tinian on my own time... I have used & abused this book (Cover still intact) & I have had many co-workers borrow it, with everyone coming away a satisfied reader. So, whether it be Guam, Saipan or any part of Micronesia, this is one guide book that I strongly recommend & if you are doing an around the world trip with Japan as your next stop... Do the right thing... Get the Japan Guide book, but also shell out a few extra dollars and purchase the Japanese Audio Pack. It is hands down the easiest (& one of the most economical) basic language teachers out there & it even comes with a Phrase Book! My current Lonely Planet Guide library includes: Micronesia, Japan (Book & Audio pack), Korea, Singapore-Brunei-Malaysia, Tonga, Southwest USA (Arizona-New Mexico-Utah), & Maldives & Islands Of The East Indian Ocean. I look to expand as I am planing a trip to Argentina's Andes in 2000. A satisfied ! customer I shall remain... I hope you, the reader of my review, read this & come to realize what wonderful publications Lonely Planet offers us. If you do, step back an use AMAZON.COM for all your travel needs. You will be glad you listened. (You know, I always thought these reviews were written by paid personel somewhere, TRUST me this isn't the case at all <Laughs out loud> Customer satisfaction is my reward!) Happy Travels to all!

This is an OK guidebook for information about culture and hotels. I found that it covered all the basics. It covers all of the island nations in the Micronesia area. The section on Palau and Yap were particularly useful to me. However, I thought that there wasn't enough information about scuba diving. Most of the people visiting this region are interested in scuba diving. There isn't enough information on dive shops or dive sites. In fact, there aren't any maps of dive sites at all. If you're going to go diving, I would try another guidebook. If you're just going to go sightseeing, this is just fine. Also another thing I would like to see in the next edition is a few more photos. Sometimes photos can help you decide whether to go to a place or not. With more photos, I think this guidebook would attract more people to these lovely islands.

Lonely Planet's Micronesia was very useful on my recent trip to Guam and Saipan. The history and descriptions of places to see were detailed enough and accurate and the maps were helpful. The book is a bit out of date (2000)so I did not use any of the information on hotels, etc. Guam, in particular, is changing pretty rapidly.

This is a great general introduction to Micronesia. I have sent the book to my friends several times, and as they came out to Saipan, they were able to experience on the "Island Hopper" Continental flight, places such as Pohnpei, Chuuk, and later on Yap and Palau. Good explanation of what to expect, what to see, and tips on making your trip relaxing and beneficial. I thought it was well done and have recommended it to others traveling through our islands. The photographs and sketches were not only colorful, but helpful. Kaslehlie!

This is a nice, concise guide, to micronesia, covering Palua, Kiribati, the Marianas, Nauro, The federated states of Micronesia, and other small islands that stretch between New Zealand and Hawaii. There are a number of recommendations for the best way to travel between islands and how to plan your journey. THis is not a book that is aimed for the specialist, for scuba-divers it needs to be supplimented and the same goes for those intending to travel by boat. However the book is excellent when it comes to history, restaurants hikes and hotels. It is a wonderful guide-book, indispensible for the island hopping traveller.

Seth J. Frantzman

The book is great!Is in perfect condictions like if I have boght it in a store!