The Essential Surfing NICARAGUA Guide & Surf Map Set Paperback – February 19, 2010

I mainly used this book as a comedic prop. Yes, it's that bad. At first I agreed with one of the other reviews that said kudos to the author for having the only surfing Nicaragua guide book. But when you get to the pages - yes, pages -on Panga Drops, Iguana Beach Condo and Rancho Santana, you may start to notice the references to "our" private drive. This, combined with the obvious plugs for these places and the ridiculously detailed driving instructions (from any direction) lead one to believe the author has quite an invested interest. As a comparison, the entire entry for Lance's Left says, "Look for it. Ask around."This guide swings from giving directions to the break, a rating of skill required to safely surf there, type of break, and places to stay close by, to merely the name, "ask a local" for directions and "duis eget arcu. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis" etc for info about your hotel.In places it seems to indicate one break is an easy 30 minute walk down the beach when you're actually in a cove. If you wanted to hike over the hill you could do so, but I was dissuaded after a chat with an ex-pat. He had been a Navy SEAL for 10 years and now lived in Nica, spending all his time surfing. He tried the hike once and got so freaked out he'll never even consider it again, no matter how good the waves are. There really are bandits in the hills here.This guide is not utterly devoid of value - it does have some good info and gives you a starting place to find out more about quite a number of breaks (mostly by asking the locals) - just don't base your trip on it.

the guide has lots of maps and directions for finding surf spots in Nicaragua. I haven't been able to find a better guides. there's lots of pictures to get you stoked. all in all it is an ESSENTIAL guide for planning a trip to Nica. highly recommend it.

don't bother buying this there isn't much detail and you can get just as much info off of free surfing maps once you are there. Sorry I bought any of these Nicaragua books as they were all pretty useless.

I give this book two stars for being the only Nicaragua Surf Guide. Aside from that, it is brimming with glaringly obvious typos that don't inspire much confidence. In the "When to go" section of the introduction, it talks about Guanacaste & San Jose. Why is it talking about Costa Rica? Another useless part is the hotel section, where every chapter has incomplete information. Here is what it says for a typical hotel listing: "Your Hotel: Duis eget arcu. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices poseure cubila. ([...] 458-2415, $???? to ???/night)" It will repeat this exactly three times and has the same phone number for almost every hotel in the book.The sections on surf spots are way better, and if you're planning to go surf there, you should still buy this thin little book, assuming the surf spot descriptions are even accurate. There is much room for improvement.

Hi Everyone,I just purchased this guide and its incredible. There's detailed maps for each region in nicaragua as well as full color photos and info on how to get to the surf spots. This is the only surfing guidebook I've been able to find that includes the surf breaks in the central and northern regions of nica.Their Costa Rica guide is supposed to be really good as well:  The Essential Surfing COSTA RICA Guide & Surf Map Set (Volume 3)

I got this book from Durham Books LLC. They sent me the cover of the book with pictures of edible flowers on the inside. Never again. It is also very tiny, its the size of a pamphlet.

Would it really have been too much effort to proof read it once? I have never in my life seen a book with so many glaring mistakes. Entire paragraphs cut and pasted verbatim, missing words, spelling errors. I'd be embarrassed to have my name on this.

This book was a waste of time, not worth the expensive price at all. Save your time and just buy a lonely planet, you will receive just as much surf info as well as other useful information. All of that for a cheaper price also.

There's plenty of good information for finding and enjoying surf breaks all over Nicaragua.The book itself clearly had no proof reader and is printed on-demand and mailed out. There were multiple pages where accomodations were listed as YOUR HOTEL and all the text was Lorum Ipsum filler."YOUR HOTEL Duis eget arcu. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia. (www.??????.com,458-2415,$??? to $???/night). This appeared 3 times on one page and twice on another. 😂It's crazy that the quality of the overall publication is so weak. There are huge sections without capital letters or punctuation. Here's a quote from the book, "In the beach you can find simples but good restaurant where eat fish and all kind see food, the prices are cheap for 10$ for meal. In Poneloya you can find hotels and hostals where stay a few days for a relaxed period." 😂 Oh, yeah.Buy the book and expect to find great surf, but the book itself is pretending to be higher quality than it is. If it was a photocopied booklet, or a note from an illiterate friend, you'd be stoked to have such great info!

I bought it for exploring surfspots in Nicaragua, but it is not nearly detailed enough and many places in the book. But even worse it still contains chapters from an earlier Costa Rica edition. The editors were working so fast, that they forgot to replace certain chapters from an earlier edition of the book. Furthermore the cover hints east cost surfguide, but theres nothing inside on the eastcoast. Don't buy it.