Mexican Riviera Travel Books

[jjansen12]

My husband and I are going on our first Mexican Riviera cruise in May. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good travel book about the area.

Thanks for the help! :)

Jennifer

[SDPadreFan]

Really don't need to spend money on a travel book. You can get much better information here as well as on the TripAdvisor forums. TripAdvisor is CruiseCritics parent company. They have very active forum boards for most cities. Here are a few.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g152515-i84-Cabo_San_Lucas_Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g150792-i257-Mazatlan_Pacific_Coast.html

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g150793-i46-Puerto_Vallarta_Pacific_Coast.html

 

There are many more besides these.

[househunter]

I agree! Books can be very outdated while the information you get here and especially on tripadvisor is right up to the minute, even posted on the same day from a local who lives there. The Cabo board as Darrell said is very active and you can find out anything you want there. I have heard that the PV board is good as well but I never go on that one.

 

Good luck!

[tulsacubfan]

If you do want a book, and are a AAA member, the Mexico travel guide has a bit of information - not a lot, but it is new.

[bobnsofi]

from a cruiser's point of view, we agree with the above seasoned advise, your best bet is to get cruise specific info on the internet, and no book we know of, addresses the cruiser's point of view.

 

On the other hand, books are handy reading material. Fodor's travel books come to min. Barne's and Noble and amazon.com would be where we would shop for a book.

 

Cruise ships also have libraries, and usually have travel books that can read in the library, but not checked out and taken to your cabin.

 

 

[jjansen12]

Thanks for the advice... you were right Tripsdvisor is just what I was lookign for.

Thanks again,

Jennifer

[gomexico]

Moon Handbooks publishes a guide for the Pacific Coast of Mexico and I think it'll be the best book you can travel with. The TA web forums are heavily populated with commercial interests and one needs to be very aware of the "advice" given there. Concentrate, rather, on trip reports - otherwise you may be unknowingly steered to venues/businesses/guides you should probably avoid.

[SDPadreFan]

I would completely disagree that TripAdvisor's forums are "heavily populated with commercial interests". Those forums are populated by people who love those destinations. People who spend week's, months, and even some who now live full time in those locations as retiree's. I have NEVER received bad advice on any TripAdvisor forum. The "regulars" who constantly participate in these boards (especially the active ones) keep a sharp eye out and instantly report any occurrence of fraudulent or improper commercial activity. Those post's are reported and removed immediately.

 

I would add one caveat however. It is possible that on a very small board (say Cooperstown, NY as an example) that commercially tainted advise could appear, but that is because some of those boards see very low activity for much of the year.

[quincytoo]

I would completely disagree that TripAdvisor's forums are "heavily populated with commercial interests". Those forums are populated by people who love those destinations. People who spend week's, months, and even some who now live full time in those locations as retiree's. I have NEVER received bad advice on any TripAdvisor forum. The "regulars" who constantly participate in these boards (especially the active ones) keep a sharp eye out and instantly report any occurrence of fraudulent or improper commercial activity. Those post's are reported and removed immediately..

 

I totally agree.....I use TA for pleasure and business and the good advice I have received on TA is immense. I am on the PV site daily and any post that even smacks of improper commercial behaviour is reported and removed.

 

Travel books are a fun read BUT often have outdated material. I would never spend money on one.

[gomexico]

Facts are facts. TA gives commercial interests free reign to, without disclosing conflicts, promote themselves and their friends. CC prohibits such behavior - posting unsolicited commercial activity, and undisclosed commercial participation. As I've said already, the hotel reviews are excellent at TA, as are the first-person trip reports - it's the other material with which readers, unsuspecting readers, need to be cautious and read between the lines. Beware, also, of unsolicited private messages from persons who don't tell you they're in the tourism business, and also post to various web forums under different names than they're communicating to you with - and that's been a problem at TA. Good thing is that there is a wide variety of resources out there and we should be reading them all and then blending the information and figuring out for ourselves what we want to do, where, with whom, etc.

[quincytoo]

Facts are facts. TA gives commercial interests free reign to, without disclosing conflicts, promote themselves and their friends. CC prohibits such behavior - posting unsolicited commercial activity, and undisclosed commercial participation. As I've said already, the hotel reviews are excellent at TA, as are the first-person trip reports - it's the other material with which readers, unsuspecting readers, need to be cautious and read between the lines. Beware, also, of unsolicited private messages from persons who don't tell you they're in the tourism business, and also post to various web forums under different names than they're communicating to you with - and that's been a problem at TA. Good thing is that there is a wide variety of resources out there and we should be reading them all and then blending the information and figuring out for ourselves what we want to do, where, with whom, etc.

 

Sorry but I totally disagree with what you are saying here. The sites I am on daily, Nuevo, PV, SanJuan PR, Victoria and then what ever forum for where ever I am going to be going to next has never ever once shown such behaviour.

 

My personal experience hase been that ANY self promoting posters, business and such are actually shut down faster on TA then here.

 

Maybe I am looking on the wrong forums but in my many years on TA I have never encountered that at all.