Many portable GPS navigation devices we’ve tested advertise having maps of Puerto Rico, in addition to the United States. But our budget doesn’t allow for travel to tropical climates to do real world testing (much to the disappointment of some testers, especially during the waning days of this northeast winter).

Vacations, however, are another story. A recent trip to Puerto Rico gave me the opportunity to take our own advice and slip a Garmin 255W test unit into my suitcase. Once we picked up our rental car, we put the Garmin to immediate use. It took a few moments for the 255W to figure out where it was, but satellite reception remained excellent wherever we went after that, even on a slow ferry to one of the smaller outlying islands. An interesting tidbit was that the ferry route was indicated on the screen, and identified, accurately enough, as “Ferry route.” Never mind that the unit indicated we were consistently very close to, but not actually on, the ferry route for the length of the crossing. Either the Garmin or the captain was wrong, but we made it anyway – at an indicated speed of 12 mph according to the 255W.

It proved very useful to have a navigation device in a place we’d never been, especially one with a lot of small roads, some of which were not all that well marked. The bulk of our trip was spent touring rural areas, and the smaller island of Vieques. We didn’t come across any roads the Garmin didn’t recognize, the maps proved accurate, and directions were faultless.

If it seems like a shoe is about to drop, that’s because it is. But it’s a small shoe, maybe even a beach sandal or flip-flop.

Our only disappointment was that the points of interest (POI) menu proved extremely limited compared to what you’d find in the States, especially outside urban areas. In the town where we stayed, our hotel wasn’t listed, and neither were all the others except one large resort. Local restaurants and stores were also absent from the menu, although we found plenty along the roads. The Garmin was ready, however, to route us to a McDonald’s 17 miles away – which was really too bad as far as finding an unusual place to eat.

But vacations are supposed to be an adventure, and we managed to find plenty of tasty eateries despite Garmin’s limited palate. At least the nav system helped keep us from getting lost during our exploring, and the all-important rental car return was listed in the POI menu.

--Jim Travers