Pauline Frommer's Costa Rica

This book came from the library after we came back from Costa Rica, so we read the section about the area's we had visited, and BOY was Paula right on! It's simply amazing how one person could have such complete observations about so many area's. I would highly recommend this book (and Costa Rica). I will be buying it for my sister who is on her way... May all your travels be filled with wonderment, beauty and love.

For my super-detail oriented personality there wasn't quite enough meat (logistics-wise) in Pauline Frommer's Costa Rica for it to successfully stand alone as the only guidebook for someone on an independent vacation (with rental car). If you're on a package tour it's more than adequate. But when taken along with another guidebook (Moon's Costa Rica in my case) Pauline Frommer's shined. It excels in recommending excellent beaches, beach towns, restaurants and hotels but is lacking in maps and discussion on travel logistics - i.e. how long it will take to drive from town X to town Y on the dirt road, etc. Here's where it shines and is worth purchasing. On three occasions it guided us to sights (a secluded hard-to-reach pink sand beach, a beautiful beach town, and a wonderfully authentic restaurant (where there was no menu but 2 huge plates of food, 2 sodas, and 2 dessert pan dulces all came to under $9)) that made our vacation really special and were either totally left out of the other guidebook or not emphasized sufficiently to warrant exploration. This is a mark of a great guidebook and allowed me to feel confident that the authors, David Appell and Nelson Mui, knew what they were talking about and recommend great stuff! We also like the author's laid back and relaxed, but realistic attitude. We only traveled to areas covered by 3 chapters of the book so I can only imagine the other gems recommended in other parts of the country. This guidebook can definitely work alone, but I simply like to have more details about transportation - especially maps. The next version should include more. Also, as a young man I almost did not purchase this book simply because Pauline's picture is displayed prominently all around. It looks like it's targeted to my mom's demographic, which it may be, but if its trying to be a new series of guidebooks aimed at allowing the traveler to "see more" and "spend less" it could appear more contemporary and less like a book for ladies.

I looked through several guides on Costa Rica before purchasing this one - it wasn't just a list of where to stay etc., it had the kind of info a good friend really familiar with an area would let you know. For example we are interested in staying at the beach on the pacific side and there was a lot of detailed info on the beaches and beach towns to help decide which area we wanted to stay in. I know which beaches are considered more family friendly and which towns are the party spots. The book also talks about things like the history of development in the beach towns and gives info on which are still sleepy towns and which are sort of like Cabo. Also included is info on alternatives to hotels, and lots of good websites to check out. This isn't a comprehensive guide but rather a good place to start with all the online resources you need for further info.