Travel to Caribbean

Lonely Planet Puerto Rico

Format: Paperback
Author: Ginger Adams Otis
ReleaseDate: September, 2005
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Rating:

Better than nothing
It was a bit outdated than. I bought this book 2 years ago for a trip to Puerto Rico. I traveled there again 9/2/06 to 9/11/06, this was my fifth time, so I have a bit more knowledge than the first timer. For the most part every bit of information about Rincon is inaccurate. Everything closes the week of labor day until around the end of October, so do not go there during those dates, you will have wasted your day. Well not everything is closed, Rincon proper is still open. And you can always watch the surfers at sandy beach or go snorkeling at steps beach (rent your gear at Taino Divers, they are still open). In fact there is a great coffee house that stays open,(better than starbucks and they have soy milk!) it is called Taino international cafe, try their frozen coffee drinks, they also have WiFi.

Prices have gone up for the camuy caves and the ferry ride to Gilligans Island, but only by a couple of bucks. There is a lot more traffic than the last time I went there, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time, otherwise you would have wasted a day in the car, when you could have been happier sitting at a beach. I stayed on the west coast, so I was traveling mostly going east, but from what I could tell the traffic was equally bad going west. I believe most travel guides say it takes 2 1/2 hours to travel from San Jaun to Rincon, bank on it taking ATLEAST 3 and perhaps up to 5. So leave very very early.

Anyway, I think this book is better than having no book, the directions are generally the same, some places do not exist anymore, but just call up before you venture out. Pretty much you will find a decent amount of people that speak English (especially in Rincon, where almost everybody is from the states, talk to them they have good stories, most of them went to Rincon for a vacation and stayed).

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Very UNHAPPY with this book
In fact, we were thinking about burning this LP copy. We just came back from a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico (04/21 - 05/01, 2006) and we have to COMPLETELY disagree with the previous review. Don't get us wrong, we own several copies of LP for China, Eucador, South America, Guatamala, and etc. But we have serious reservation about recommending this one to anyone else. Here are some of the reasons:

1. Several budget restarurants in Old San Juan no longer exist. They include St. Germain, Brenda's Cafe, and Los Amigos. It became very frustrating after going to several places and finding out 3/4 of them were closed.

2. The same happened in Ponce, but for hotels. Two out of three hotels listed on pg. 166 (center of Ponce, by the Plaza las Delicias) were not there - they simply don't exist.

3. Now, telephone numbers. we can't say that all of them in the guidebook are wrong, but the ones we called are either disconnected or a wrong number. This goes for the UA Cinema 150 in San Juan (pg. 105), which we found out at a Holiday Inn in Isla Verde that it was torn down a year ago. Or the Museo de Art Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, which doesn't open on Monday, as the guidebook indicated - in fact, no museum in San Juan opens on Monday!

4. We can list more annoyances, like the lack of good maps for most of the cities described, or bad driving directions. . .

We are not saying that this book has no value, but when you finds enough inconsistencies and errors, you has to wonder what else is wrong, and more importantly, whether or not you can actually trust and rely on the guidebook. And in that respect, our answer is NO.

The take home message: carefully compare this book with another. If you do decide to buy this LP, always call the places ahead to see 1) if it still exist, and 2) if the number is correct.

On a side note, at one point during the trip, we thought that we would probably have had more luck with a coqui as our guide than using this guidebook! =).

Very UNHAPPY with this book
In fact, I was thinking about burning this LP copy. I just came back from a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico (04/21 - 05/01, 2006) and I have to COMPLETELY disagree with the previous review. Don't get me wrong, I own several copies of LP for China, Eucador, and etc. But I have serious reservation about recommending this one to anyone else. Here are some of the reasons:

1. Several budget restarurants in Old San Juan no longer exist. They include St. Germain, Brenda's Cafe, and Los Amigos. It became very frustrating after going to several places and finding out 3/4 of them were closed.

2. The same happened in Ponce, but for hotels. Two out of three hotels listed on pg. 166 (center of Ponce, by the Plaza las Delicias) were not there - they simply don't exist.

3. Now, telephone numbers. I can't say that all of them in the guidebook are wrong, but the ones I called are either disconnected or a wrong number. This goes for the UA Cinema 150 in San Juan (pg. 105), which I found out at a Holiday Inn in Isla Verde that it was torn down a year ago. Or the Museo de Art Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, which doesn't open on Monday, as the guidebook indicated - in fact, no museum in San Juan opens on Monday!

4. I can list more annoyances, like the lack of good maps for most of the cities described, or bad driving directions. . .

I'm not saying that this book has no value, but when one finds enough inconsistencies and errors, one has to wonder what else is wrong, and more importantly, whether or not one can actually trust and rely on the guidebook. And in that respect, my answer is NO.

The take home message: carefully compare this book with another. If you do decide to buy this LP, always call the places ahead to see 1) if it still exist, and 2) if the number is correct.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Caribbean travel books.

	Insight Guide Puerto Rico (Insight Guides)
	Lonely Planet Caribbean Islands (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)
	Rand McNally Puerto Rico Easyfinder (Rand McNally Easyfinder)
	Let's Go Puerto Rico 2nd Edition (Let's Go Puerto Rico)