Auto Club Releases Bigger, Better Baja California Guidebook for Traveling Peninsula.

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1998--A new, expanded edition of "Baja California The Baja California Complete Travel Guide," is now available from the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The Baja guidebook is considered to be the most authoritative guidebook for traveling the peninsula.

The comprehensive guide to Baja California presents a detailed look at what's in store for travelers of any type -- from an average family to an off-road adventurer - planning to visit the peninsula from the U.S. border to Cabo San Lucas.

Aiming to turn readers into veteran Baja travelers, the book includes important information on currency, travel conditions, climate, transportation and transit, where to stay and eat, language and history, nightlife, shopping and U.S. customs regulations.

The primary author of this edition, David J. Brackney, will speak about his Baja experiences at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at Barnes & Noble, Metro Pointe, Costa Mesa, and again at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14 at Fashion Island's Barnes & Noble in Newport Beach.

The Auto Club has published Baja guides since the 1920s. This newest edition contains 335 pages of detailed up-to-date color maps and highly-descriptive information about Baja California's large and small communities.

The Baja California guidebook features the popular tourist vacation destinations of Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Loreto, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, Tecate, Mexicali and San Felipe. In addition to providing detailed information about these locations, the Baja book provides at-a-glance "Quick Guides" to these towns as well.

The guidebook highlights the region's distinctive rugged desert and mountain landscapes, recreation on the Pacific and the Gulf of California, unspoiled beaches and Spanish missions. One key chapter features wide-ranging recreational activities in Mexico that includes golfing, hunting, water recreation, boating, sportfishing, surfing, sailboarding, snorkeling and scuba diving. Detailed descriptions for backcountry treks, including trip supply lists, are also included.

Travelogues are one of the guidebook's focal points. These routes explain the landmarks and junctions seen while driving. Also featured in these sections are side trips that describe roadside facilities and other local points of interest reachable by high-clearance vehicles or four-wheel drives.

In addition, the guidebook provides motorists with detailed descriptions of the major Baja highways along with computed mileage logs and driving times. The guide also provides information on general driving and road conditions. Travel tips on traffic signs, gasoline, emergency road service and road repairs are also explained in the guide.

Both richly illustrated and packed with color photographs, the easily portable guide provides tourist information about the day-to-day lives of the Mexican people and the basics of Mexican law. The book also offers interesting short feature articles, called "Side Bars," about the Mexican wine industry, whale watching, roadside shrines, unusual rock art, and Mexican cuisine.

Historic Auto Club photographs dating back to the 1930s are sprinkled throughout the guidebook providing a historical context of the region along with the most up-to-date information as an accessible tourist destination. The guidebook retails for $14.95 and the Auto Club member price is $10.95 at Auto Club offices and Web site.

The Automobile Club of Southern California, the largest affiliate of the AAA, has been serving members since 1900. Today, Auto Club members benefit by the organization's emergency road service, financial products, travel agency and trip planning services, highway and transportation safety programs, insurance products and services, automotive pricing, buying and financing programs and legislative advocacy.

Information about these products and services is available on the Auto Club's Web site at www.aaa-calif.com.