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Eyewitness Travel Guides

DK Eyewitness Costa Rica

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DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Costa Rica is your in-depth guide to the very best of this beautiful country.

From lush rain forests and sprawling beaches to majestic jaguars and beautiful scarlet macaws, Costa Rica offers travelers a unique and vibrant experience and draws them in with its natural beauty. A 48-page field guide to Costa Rica's varied wildlife and habitats can help you explore and provides detailed information on local species, national parks, and preserves, plus practical tips on how to plan your trip and photograph wildlife.

Discover DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Costa Rica .

+ Detailed itineraries and "don't-miss" destination highlights at a glance.
+ Illustrated cutaway 3-D drawings of important sights.
+ Floor plans and guided visitor information for major museums.
+ Guided walking tours, local drink and dining specialties to try, things to do, and places to eat, drink, and shop by area.
+ Area maps marked with sights.
+ Detailed city maps include street finder indexes for easy navigation.
+ Insights into history and culture to help you understand the stories behind the sights.
+ Hotel and restaurant listings highlight DK Choice special recommendations.

With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that illuminate every page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Costa Rica truly shows you this country as no one else can.

Series Overview: For more than two decades, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides have helped travelers experience the world through the history, art, architecture, and culture of their destinations. Expert travel writers and researchers provide independent editorial advice, recommendations, and reviews. With guidebooks to hundreds of places around the globe available in print and digital formats, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides show travelers how they can discover more.

DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: the most maps, photographs, and illustrations of any guide.

Reviews:

"Known... for its four-color maps, photos and illustrations, the [DK] Eyewitness Guides are extremely user-friendly for travelers who want their information delivered in a concise, visual way." - Chicago Tribune

"The best option... Color photos, maps, and diagrams bring the place to life." - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Awards:

Wanderlust Travel Awards 2009 - 2016

328 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 1994

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About the author

Christopher P. Baker

107 books9 followers
Christopher Paul Baker (born in Yorkshire, England, on 15 June 1955) is a travel writer and photographer currently specializing in the Caribbean and Central America. He is a contributor to magazines and other publications worldwide, and is the author of travel guidebooks (for publishers such as Lonely Planet and Moon Publications) and a literary travelog.

Baker was educated at Rastrick Grammar School, in Brighouse, Yorkshire. In 1976 he received a BA (Honours) in Geography from University College London, during which time he participated in a university exchange program at Krakow, Poland; and in two Sahara research expeditions. The following year he attended the graduate Centre for Latin American Studies, at the University of Liverpool, where he received a Masters. He returned to the University of London, received a teaching diploma from the Institute of Education in 1978, and spent brief periods teaching at schools in London between periods of travel in Europe and North America. His first travel article appeared in the Brighouse Echo as dispatches from the United States.

The Lowell Thomas Award 2008 ‘Travel Journalist of the Year,' Christopher P. Baker is one of the world's foremost authorities on Costa Rica and Cuba. He has authored and photographed guidebooks to Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Panama in the National Geographic Traveler series, as well as five other guidebooks on Costa Rica and Panama, plus the Costa Rica Pura Vida! travel app. He is also the author of the award-winning Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba, published by National Geographic Adventure Press. His more than 20 other books include the coffee-table book Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles. He has also written and photographed for more than 200 publications, from National Geographic Traveler to Newsweek, and has given talks about Cuba at National Geographic headquarters, the National Press Club, and the World Affairs Council, among other prestigious organizations. Christopher has been profiled in USA Today and featured on the National Geographic Channel, NPR, and dozens of other radio and TV outlets.

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5 stars
47 (29%)
4 stars
62 (38%)
3 stars
42 (26%)
2 stars
7 (4%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Sarah.
406 reviews35 followers
December 8, 2016
Very excited to travel out of the country! Usually I'm a compulsive planner, but I'm not sure how to do that for this trip. The driving situation seems a little precarious. Looking forward to some beach time, seeing a ton of wildlife and doing some thrill seeking with cloud walks and zip lines.
11 reviews
December 1, 2025
DK travel books are great for figuring out the locations you want to visit and the general activities you want to do. I always do a deeper research on the internet as I read the book. I prefer doing my own research for places to stay and restaurants, so the smaller number of recommendations in this book doesn’t bother me. I enjoyed the section about the
various animals and where to spot them in Costa Rica.
Profile Image for Jill.
262 reviews
January 8, 2018
I might want to go to Costa Rica, but I don’t really know what’s there. This book is a good resource before you ever leave your couch or curious web search. It is not full of actually itinerary-building stats and contacts, but it gives you pretty pictures and oversights of the different regions and sights to check out.
Profile Image for CJ.
22 reviews3 followers
January 22, 2008
some lovely pictures and a nice overview of costa rica, brief history, and intro to the different regions. i would've liked more detailed commentary, though, on outfitters, hotels, restuarants, intra-country travel options, etc. it's less colorful, but for detailed content, i'm liking the moon guide better.
Profile Image for Maribel.
96 reviews8 followers
July 22, 2008
I'm going to Costa Rica! This book has great pictures of all areas of the country. I hope the info is accurate :=0
2 reviews
Currently Reading
October 7, 2008
eyewitness is my fav. type of travel book, they have a whole series of them.
Profile Image for Dhaivyd Hilgendorf.
421 reviews9 followers
September 28, 2015
Very nice graphics and photos. The accommodations descriptions are lacking, but otherwise, this is a great travel guide.
Profile Image for Jesse.
769 reviews8 followers
November 23, 2015
Nicely visual overview of the main sights of Costa Rica. I will need to go somewhere else for restaurant and accommodation tips though.
502 reviews
February 27, 2022
Helpful for planning, AND I'm enjoying it more now that my vacation is over
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews