Costa Rica: The Complete Guide: Eco-Adventures in Paradise

by James Kaiser

From pristine beaches and jungle waterfalls to high-altitude coffee plantations, award-winning author and photographer James Kaiser shows readers the best of Costa Rica, including the country’s stunning collection of national parks. Filled with rich details and hundreds of high-quality color photographs, this guide, which provides fascinating chapters on the country’s unique history, culture, ecology, and wildlife, is sure to appeal to anyone looking for more than just restaurant and hotel reviews. Giving travelers everything they need to plan an unforgettable trip, this resource also includes a “Top 10 Ways to Avoid a Cultural Misunderstanding” that helps visitors avoid common, and potentially embarrassing, cultural mistakes.

Genres: Travel

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 18, 2013

About the author

James Kaiser is an award-winning travel writer and photographer. When not trotting the globe on assignment, he writes guidebooks to U.S. national parks. In 2005 his book Grand Canyon: The Complete Guide won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Full-Color Travel Guide and the Independent Publisher Award for Best Travel Guide. In 2006 he was a photographer for Yahoo! Sports at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Reviews

[✨ Anna ✨ | ReadAllNight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information and details. A lot more than the Rough or Fodor's guides. Great photos. The author did live there for some years, so that gives him an edge. Most interesting. Can't wait to actually USE IT!!

[Jamie West · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need to read this book BEFORE you plan your trip. For some stupid reason, I didn’t start reading it until the week I was leaving for CR. I had a wonderful trip, but I would have made different choices had I read this book BEFORE I planned the trip. We did use it for recommendations on things to see, do, and eat, as well as to help us identify plants, animals, and insects that we saw in CR. And it really whet my appetite to return and see some other parts of the country. It was also helpful in explaining some of the common customs (driving with Ticos, asking for the check, etc. ) that made our trip a lot easier and set expectations. It’s a really great overview of the country, its history, its culture, flora, fauna, places to stay and eat... It’s amazing the amount of digestible information this book packs in!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide for a Costa Rica vacation

This book was fantastic! We planned the details of our trip very shortly before we flew to Costa Rica and this book was a huge help! We were able to quickly scan the details of the different regions of the country and identify those areas we wanted to see on this trip. The book is organized extremely well so I didn’t have to read the whole thing. I could just go to the table of contents and read exactly what I needed. We used the book to find good hotels, tours and activities and even restaurants while we were there. And it was so helpful to have the book during our trip to review the details of each region as we traveled from place to place. I highly recommend this guidebook for before and during a trip to Costa Rica.

[Janice Barrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great country info. I moved from California two years ago. I recommend. BUT the descriptions of Tico people, and restaurant protocol etc are nothing like my experience. The Tico people are the kindest, most positive, real people I’ve known. The water is clean and drinkable., Due to surprise I started photographing bathrooms everywhere we went, always spotless. Beaches have no garbage etc left behind.
She refers to herself as Gringo and I’m sure a very nice expat.
Sadly, only rude people I have seen here have been Americans. This country has been compliant with masks. They care for one another. The most beat up le place on earth.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice overview of the entire country. There was good insight into the history and the people as well as each region highlighted with pertinent information and tips. I will look for more in depth information about the areas I want to visit but I am definitely keeping this for the future as I can see multiple visits happening due to the eco diversity of the country.

[Steve Matalon · Rating 5 out of 5]

muito bem escrito

Equilibra os lugares mais turísticos com alternativas menos lotadas. Muito objetivo. Li o lonely planet e o moon mas esse guia é bem mais informativo e seletivo.

[P M PERCIVAL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really found this book helpful and informative. Downloaded whilst I was in Costa Rica and would definitely recommend.