I've always carried and used Jimmy Cornell's books aboard my boat ever since I bought my first copy of World Cruising Routes in the 1980's to help us plan as we began cruising on our sailboat. Together his books serve as sort of a master cruising guide to the world: World Cruising Routes tells you how to get to wherever you want to sail and World Cruising Destinations gives you the information you will need once you get there.
World Cruising Destinations is a beautiful book. The photos are gorgeous, and the layout makes it fun to just pick up the book and read ... about Croatia, Spain, Cuba, the Falklands, Antarctica, or any other of the 184 sailing destinations that the book covers. World Cruising Destinations gives you the WHOLE world through a boater's eye, and of course, not just any boater's eye, but with Jimmy Cornell's decades of experience. It includes for each destination such information as country profile, map, climate, facilities, formalities, cruising guides, charter operations -- and best of all, an understanding of where and how you cruise that area. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to sail or charter anywhere in the world, well now you can find out. World Cruising Destinations is indispensable if you are planning to sail to foreign countries aboard your own boat. But it is equally valuable if you are interesting in chartering in interesting areas of the world - Destinations will give you the information to charter in the most popular chartering areas, but also introduce you to appealing areas you would otherwise perhaps never know about.
I highly recommend World Cruising Destinations! And because it is both so useful and beautiful, it also would make a great gift for a boater.