Reviews (6)

DON'T HESITATE!
This was not my first time using a Frommer's travel guide for the purpose of having the best time possible in an unknown place.I purchased the book a day before my Aruba trip, read it on the plane and actually kept it in our rental car for consistant reference.As far as I'm concerned - these travel books tell it like it is, good or bad. I can't imagine anyone giving this book less than 5 stars!Buy it!

A must!
We found Frommer's and Fodor's travel books to possess the best of information on Aruba. My husband Alan stated he didn't feel like a novice coming into this lovely tropical paradise thanks to these guides.
Great Reference Book
I purchased this book and have used it on two vacations to Aruba. I refered to it several times while I was there. Maps are very helpful, as are the restaurant reviews! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies    7. Windward Islands   

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Scuba & Snorkeling    3. Special Interest - Adventure    4. Swimming And Diving    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel Guides    8. Caribbean islands    9. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Aruba    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Subjects:  1. Aruba    2. Bonaire    3. Caribbean & West Indies    4. Guidebooks    5. Scuba & Snorkeling    6. Scuba diving    7. Skin diving    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Subjects:  1. Reference / Maps    2. Travel    3. Curacao    4. Maps    5. Maps, charts & atlases    6. Netherlands Antilles    7. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Central America    3. Special Interest - Adventure    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Netherlands Antilles    7. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (5)

Terrific Book!
Very pleased with the content of this book!There are extensive details about the location, underwater terrain and marine life of 58 of Bonaire's dive sites.There is also a section on lodging, restaurants, dive centers, grocery shopping... right down to where to get the best local ice cream!We're diving Bonaire in April and I've already chosen some of those must-dive sites!

Information is too old to be useful
This book was published in 1991.Unfortunately in November 1999, Hurricane Lenny inflicted a massive underwater storm surge on Bonaire that destroyed many of the dive & snorkel sites referenced in this book.Many sites have nothing to look at until 30' depth.I also found this book to be lacking in local color. Good review of dive sites
I bought this book before going to Bonaire in the summer of 2002.Our group of 4 used it extensively during our stay there and found it very useful in describing the different dive sites.The book does a very good job of describing how to find the shore diving sites, where to park, how to enter the water and what to expect in the water.There is a good map and good broad overviews of the island, the culture, marine life, hotels and resturants.I would definitely recommend this book to anyone planning to go to Bonaire. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bonaire    2. Guidebooks    3. Marine biology    4. Netherlands Antilles    5. Scuba & Snorkeling    6. Scuba diving    7. Skin diving    8. Sports    9. Sports & Recreation    10. Travel - Foreign    11. United States - Northeast - Middle Atlantic (General)    12. Winter Sports    13. Sports & Recreation / Water Sports    14. Swimming & diving   

Subjects:  1. Aruba    2. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (9)

Are You Serious?
I would bet a thousand chip at the casino that all of these perfect reviews were written by people who are affiliated with the guide and who stand to profit from it.Tell me I'm wrong.Look at the language in these reviews, it screams plant.

Comprehensive
The first comprehensive guide to the popular ABC islands, located just off the Venezuelan coast. Discover the quiet life of Bonaire, gamble away at Aruba's casino, hit the high-style designer clothing stores in Cura�ao, and relax on the glorious white beaches of all three! Here is the ultimate guide to discovering the high life and cool spots of the ABCs, written by authors who have sacrificed their vacations to research this book (poor things!). This Alive Guide focusses on shopping (snatch up some duty-free bargains), hotels (colorful local cuisine and fine dining alike) and restaurants, with special attention paid to the cream of the crop. Sightseeing, historical walking tours, wildlife discovery, and watersports are also covered. The activity-oriented Sunup to Sundown sections will fill your day with beaches, deep-sea fishing charters, diving excursions, moped rides and more, while After Dark tells you of the best Happy Hours, the liveliest clubs and the bars where things really hop! Handy A-Z sections for each island provide all the practical details - airline offices, banking hours and locations, emergency telephone numbers, shopping hours, tourist information booths.

Omits nothing
"Written in a highly readable style, this guide seems to have omitted nothing." Pittsburgh Post ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (2)

A must!
We found Fodor's and Frommer's travel books to possess the best of information on Aruba. My husband Alan stated he didn't feel like a novice coming into this lovely tropical paradise thanks to these guides.
Compact, Concise, and Helpful
This book is short and to the point of helpful information.My family has used it multiple times for vacations to Aruba and it has been helpful for each vacation.The information is accurate and concise in its description of the island. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Caribbean islands    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies   

Reviews (2)

Great book
Agree with the 1st review. Very well written and clear. Good photos and easy to read layout. A must have for anyone who wants to dive Curacao.

Well written, clear, and accurate
An accurate portrait of the dive sites, with clear descriptions for both the beginner and advanced diver. I highly recommend this book to anyone who plans to scuba dive Curacao. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Curaðcao    3. Curaðcao (Netherlands Antilles)    4. Guidebooks    5. Netherlands Antilles    6. Scuba & Snorkeling    7. Skin diving    8. Special Interest - Adventure    9. Travel    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Sub-aqua swimming   

Reviews (1)

Useful sailing information
During our sailing trip from Martinique to Venezuela we used this book especially because of the detailed and useful information about small harbours and beautyful beaches. I can recommend it very strongly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Reference - Cruise Guides    2. South America    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Sailing - Navigation    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Lesser Antilles    6. Navigation   

Reviews (1)

Colorless Guide
I did not like this guide.It gives little sense of the "spirit" of each island, seeming rather to be a list of "drive here, drive there" with occasional useful information, but little commentary on the sights.Personally, I prefer a guidebook that will tell me what is tourist-hokey and what is worth seeing.No websites listed in the accommodations section (which is pretty sketchy).Look up "sailing" and it just lists names and phone numbers of boats -- no indication of available tours, prices, comparative quality.Ditto with snorkeling, a list of places to snorkel, no info on where to rent gear or tour options.Frommer's Caribbean was a better resource. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Caribbean & West Indies    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Lesser Antilles    5. Netherlands Antilles    6. Places & peoples: general interest    7. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (1)

Great
Library Journal's review of this guide: "Combining encyclopedic coverage of destinations with loads of practical information and atlas-type maps, the series illuminates the wonders of nature but emphasizes the peculiarity of a place's people and their folklore." ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antilles, Lesser    2. Caribbean & West Indies    3. Caribbean Area    4. General    5. Guidebooks    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Caribbean Sea    9. Caribbean islands    10. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (2)

Ambushed by Derek Walcott...
Almost 40 years ago my friend and mentor, Count Taylor, told me about Derek Walcott (poet, writer, watercolorist) but I'd not read Walcott untiljust now...a serious mistake. A Challenging Read
This book may seem to be a bit slow at first, but as you get into it further, Walcott's words really start to affect you.His sense of awareness of American perceptions of the Caribbean are dead on, and heexposes them for what they are.Most importantly, he address poetry ingeneral, relating the poetry he writes to the poetry he sees around him. It is in many ways a fierce defense of the beauty and timelessness of bothpoetry, and the Caribbean. In just these short pages I found more food forthought and more things that have gotten me thinking than in many novels orother works I have read recently.Definitely worth it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acculturation    2. Civilization    3. Description and travel    4. Literary Criticism    5. Pluralism (Social sciences)    6. Port of Spain    7. Port of Spain (Trinidad and To    8. Trinidad and Tobago    9. West Indies   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Maps    3. Maps & Road Atlases    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign   

Subjects:  1. Maps, charts & atlases    2. Mexico    3. Netherlands Antilles    4. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (1)

Fodor's 2000 Pocket Aruba
This pocket book is only 90 pages long, and 28 pages or so are devoted tothe island of Curacao.Also, another 12 pages are a gambling primer; if Idon't gamble why would I care?Stick to the topic Fodor's; this is a bookon ARUBA!A lot of the information provided is generic to anyinternational trip and thus of little use.The book's actual informationthat is specific to Aruba is, however, useful to the first time traveller;I just wish there was more of it!You can probably read it in a couple ofhours, certainly on the long plane flight there! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. South America    2. Travel    3. Caribbean islands    4. Travel & holiday guides    5. Travel / Caribbean & West Indies