Chart kits for Western Carib?

[Panama Dave]

We are heading to Isla Mujeres and points South. We have electronic charts but I won't go without paper (real) charts.
Has anyone found a good source for Chart kits of the area?
Thanks,
Dave

[alaskadog]

There are no real chart kits such as the ones published by Maptech and others for much of the USA coastline, the Bahamas, etc. You will have to buy individual paper charts for the Western Caribbean/Central America area. An alternative (and what I did so I could have paper for the same area) to this pretty costly proposition is to get the products offered by Bellingham Chart Printers. They print pretty good quality black and white copies at a greatly reduced price over the official color charts. The 2/3 scale is a good working size and stores more handily than full size charts. The folks at Bellingham Chart Printers will work with you and actually bind the charts for you. I think there is a discount for ordering a great many charts. I also got charts for the northwestern Cuba coast in case I was forced out of necessity to make a Cuban landfall. They have a website at Bellingham Chart Printers Go to that site and you can get all the info you need to make an order. They also have a toll free number. You can save about 75% or so over the cost of the real deals.

[camaraderie]

Pavlidis is supposeed to be out this week with a brand new Western Caribe Cruising guide that will have lots of chartlets. See:
Island Hopping Home Page

[Panama Dave]

I have Bellingham sending me a sample chart. I was a bit concerned about the quality since they were black & white. I will also check out the Pavlidis site.
Thanks,
Dave