Garmin Maps for Mexico and Central America

What about City Select Mexico. It's available from EBAy and other sources, although not produced by Garmin anymore. How accurate is it???
Does the 276 have SD memory card?

here a few free gps map links... i haven't tried them yet but worth checkin out

Caribbean Map Project: GPS Maps for Central America and Caribbean

http://garminmapsearch.com/free Garmin GPS maps from all over the world


http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/catalogue.php free garmin maps around the world

i have more links to free GPS maps for latin america on my site

When you guys get to Nicaragua get a hold of me. if you ride down you have a free place in my house/posada.

I also rent motorcycles in Nicaragua, have details maps of Nicaragua and have done quite abit of riding in the country (and latin america) if you need help with on/off road routes.

just send me PM or an email at salvador at salcar dot net

Hello, in this link http://negrazongpsmaps.weebly.com are a lot of free Garmin Maps from all countries
Best regards

I have the 2006 version and it's not that good (their customer service is even poorer). The latest version is supposed to be better, but I'm not paying again to see if that is true or not.


Gustavo

Has anyone used these and can vouch for their quality?
Thanks

If it is anything like cGPSmapper the quaity varies from one map to another .. the only way to tell is to download them and see. The size of the .imj file is one method - the larger the file the more data it has.

How 'good' (accuratcy wise) it is is a different question. That can only be determined by comparision with the truth as you find it on the ground.

I agree with you Frank, but I am leery to use IMG files. What I have learned after a day or two of reading about how to use them, leads me to believe they do not appear in MapSource, but rather go directly to the GPS through a series of small progams I need to download from the net, learn to use, and most importantly, trust not to mess up my working GPS and laptop while I am travelling. This is not something I'm willing to do at this point.

I know there are a few maps that come in a self-installer type format that does work in MapSource, I am using one for Colombia now, but it is poor. I wonder why all the developers of these IMG file maps don't upload them as this type of file?

Thanks

I'm a newbie to Advrider, and have read the posts re: maps. Planning my first trip to MX. Could some of you provide me with the "unusual" things I am likely to encounter traveling by bike? I have heard countless "stories" from people who have and have not been there. You guys sound like you know what I should expect. If I am out of line with this, pls excuse. Thanx.

Bob
K1600 GTL

Planning your first trip to Mexico is like saying planning my first trip to Europe... Where do you want to go, how much time do you have, what are you hoping to see, what are you riding, what is your riding skill level, can you ride in sand, gravel or just pavement, have you ever traveled in a foreign country before, and so on. There's a massive thread that relates to just about anything you want to know about Mexico: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=546927
Read and absorb as much as you can, then join the discussion with questions about your plans. Mexico is an amazing country.... I love it there.....

I just bought an R1200GS, 2015, with what is supposed to be the latest and greatest Navigator V and maps. And then I tried to use the thing and found that where I was riding in Michocan the thing invariably got me lost. It hasn't a clue how to get through the towns and in several cases picked the exact opposite of the correct route.

For example, leaving Morelia on the main road up to the autopista towards Guadalajara, where I wanted to go, it kept trying to turn me around even when only a few miles from the entrance of the autopista. And yes, I made sure that the option of avoiding toll roads was turned OFF.

The thing is overly complicated and the maps are bad IMO. I had much better luck switching the display to compass and using direction and the infrequent directional signs to find my way.

Over $600 wasted IMO.

So, it's 2016 and I'm planning a trip through Central America, and then to South American beginning next October (2016). I've read this thread, which begins in 2004 or so, but was wondering what the current thinking is on maps for Central America. Not riding sandy tracks, but not necessarily needing the Quotas either. Just meandering through on the way south. What's the latest poop?

Just finished a month long ride through mainland Mexico (Piedras Negras, Xilitla, Jalpan, San Migueal de Allende, Guanajauto, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, Durango, Mazatlan) and Baja. This was a paved/sealed surface trip (i.e., not dirt roads). I downloaded the latest "Garmin City Navigator Mexico NT" for this trip. I can't speak for their accuracy regarding the rest of Mexico…..but for the areas I rode, the only issue I had was that the "one way" streets were not always labeled/identified correctly. As a result, when trying to auto route to a particular hotel, etc., it would try to route you in the wrong direction down a one way street. For me, this was a minor annoyance. In general, I was very happy with the product.

Hola,
you can download maps for Central America and Mexico and nearly the whole world here as well:

http://mapas.alternativaslibres.es/descargas.php

just scroll down and look what you need, windows, mac or intalling directly on your sd card.

Safe travels

osmand + (the paid version that allows unlimited country downloads)
http://osmand.net/
works great in mexico and uses the phones gps unit.

must say my nexus 5 phone gps unit is spotty to lock and thus i also have this plan b solution...

i bring a garmin nuvi 200 and have the 2016.1 mexico maps which are a working alternative if osmand is no good.
detail is very solid.
the mexico .img file lives on it's own labled micro sd card.
when i get to the border i swap out the usa card with it's own .img file on it.
works well for my needs. planned routes are held in the internal memory of the unit either way.

i also have a 2011 bicimaps that worked for me back in the day.
i used it thru mapsource and transfered over the tiles from the us and mexico i needed and switched the basemaps in the unit thru the menu.

have not paid for another bicimaps since paying for osmand + on my phone and finding current garmin mexico .img files

that works well.
basicly takes the same OSM maps and then creates an .img file for you that is read by your garmin gps.

then use basecamp and it reads that .img file basemap and you can create routes/track/points on your computer and then you send that file back to your units internal memory or card for routing. if you have an old gps unit with a slow 1.1 usb port then transfer is very slow however.
using the old method with garmin basemaps on your computer and on your unit and mapsource is your best bet here.

my experience with the latest garmin mexico maps.
they tapped into Bicimaps experience and maps and have a much better product since.
anyone with a newer garmin unit should just pay for the latest mexico maps as the simpliest solution is grabbing osm maps is confusing.

you need to hang out in the is mexico safe thread dude and just read and absorb.
mexico will be a cultural shock to you the 1st time on a bike .

read these books front to back asap!
http://thepeoplesguidetomexico.com/
https://www.mexicomike.com/books/other_books.htm

Has anybody tried GPS Travel Maps http://www.gpstravelmaps.com/gps-maps/central-america/mexico.php It's $49.00 and says it's the greatest thing since peanut butter. I am riding from White Pigeon, MI to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala in a couple of weeks and would like a solution to my old Garmin Nuvi255W

You probably already have your solution at this point but I have used Garmin's Mexico maps chip in my zumo 660 and it has worked mostly well enough. Frequently I have had to use coordinates rather than addresses for some hotels because Garmin's database is apparently lacking in that area. My backup is maps.me which fills in the gaps but it's not a gps. Still it seems to work most everywhere. I'm in Guatemala now and the Garmin's fallen off the world so we'll see how it goes. Best of luck to you! Stromtom


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got interested and started searching. You can download PDFs of their state maps at: http://www.sct.gob.mx/planeacion/cartografia/mapa-por-estado.
If you look to the right, you see that they also have newer digital maps you can download, but they look to be the same thing as the slightly older maps but smaller in size.

They have an office in Mexicali. Unfortunatley, it's a 45 minute walk from the border so one can't just pop in to get one. I don't know what the border crossing is like in a vehicle so it might take about the same time to go in a car or I guess one could take a taxi. The address is: Ejército Nacional 780, Nueva, 21100 Mexicali, B.C., Mexico. The phone number is: +52 686 568 9236

Chad