Caribbean for Dummies [Paperback]

Echo Montgomery Garrett (Author), Kevin Garrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2000 | Series: Dummies Travel

The perfect introduction to Caribbean island getaways.

This complete guide helps you decide which island to visit based on what you want to do, when you want to go, and how much you have to spend. Focusing on the islands that are best for first-time visitors--and that offer the biggest bang for the buck--Caribbean For Dummies offers the best of the best and includes

• Reviews of travel basics--from finding the very best deals to overcoming language barriers
• Analysis of the benefits of package deals--the easiest, cheapest way to get to the islands
• Coverage of Aruba, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, St. Martin/St. Maarten, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Your insider's guide to the best places and prices

Which island getaway is right for you? From Jamaica to Puerto Rico to Aruba, the Caribbean offers scores of intriguing destinations. But how do you choose the perfect island for you? Relax! This selective, easy-to-understand guide is all you need to plan a tropical dream vacation.

Discover:

• Down-to-earth trip-planning advice
• What you shouldn't miss?and what you can skip
• Concise, selective recommendations
• The best hotels and restaurants for every budget
• Dozens of detailed maps

Travel smart! www.dummies.com

• Get free updates on prices and attractions
• Book flights, hotels, and rental cars
• Share opinions with other travelers
• Browse exclusive, timely travel articles
• Register to win cool prizes

About the Author

About the Authors Being in the Caribbean as part of their job means that Echo and Kevin Garrett get absolutely no sympathy from their friends when they are on deadline — nor from their two young sons, for that matter. Recently, when Kevin was leaving to spend eight days photographing and writing about Jamaica, he told their sons he was going away on a business trip. The eldest, Caleb, arched an eyebrow and asked, "Does this business trip involve an island?" Indeed, the Garretts make the Caribbean their playground, having hiked, biked, snorkeled, dived, windsurfed, sailed, shopped, and dined their way through the islands over the past decade. Kevin is the author of Fielding's Caribbean. His articles have appeared in Affordable Caribbean, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Biztravel.com, Bridal Guide, Chicago Magazine, Coastal Living, Elegant Bride, Executive Getaways, Fantastic Flyer, Great Outdoor Recreational Pages, Investor's Business Daily, Islands, Second Home and The Self-Employed Professional. He and Echo updated/wrote chapters on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao for Rum & Reggae's Caribbean 2000. The duo also co-wrote chapters on Tennessee and Georgia for three Fodor's guide books. An award-winning photographer and member of the American Society of Media Photographers, Kevin's images (www.kevingarrett.com) have run in several of the above publications as well as Voyages: The Romance of Cruising (Tehabi Books), Hemispheres, Los Angeles, Management Review, Smart Money, Southern Accents, Travel Holiday, Travel & Leisure, Weight Watchers, and World Trade. Echo worked as an editor at McCall's and Venture before going freelance in 1988, racking up credits from the New York Times to Money, where she became a contributing writer covering travel. Her stories were frequently picked up by television media, and she was interviewed on Good Morning America about staying safe while you travel. Her first book, How to Make a Buck and Still Be a Decent Human Being, was published by HarperBusiness in 1992. Echo was a founding editor for an award-winning Web site, BizTravel.com, responsible for Executive Getaways; a contributing writer for "News For You," the best-read, front-page column in Investor's Business Daily; and a contributing writer covering hospitality and restaurants for The Atlanta Business Chronicle. She's now a regular contributor to Business Week's "Frontier" section. Her work has appeared in more than 50 national publications. One of their favorite recent assignments was following in James Bond's footsteps in the Caribbean for Coastal Living. They stayed at Goldeneye, Ian Fleming's Jamaica estate where he wrote all 14 James Bond novels. As part of the assignment, Kevin went diving with sharks accompanied by the folks who do the shark wrangling for the Bond flicks. When they are not living a James Bond fantasy, the Garretts live in Marietta, Georgia.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 524 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (September 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764561979
• ISBN-13: 978-0764561979
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,366,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Echo Montgomery Garrett, born in Nashville, Tennessee, into a music business family, has written or contributed to 10 non-fiction books ranging in subject matter from self-help to business biography to travel guides. She co-authored three books that have come out in the last year: Why Don't They Just Get a Job?: One Couple's Mission to End Poverty in their Community; My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change; and Career Mapping: Charting Your Course in the New World of Work. My Orange Duffel Bag, which was originally self-published, won seven national and international awards in 2011 for best nonfiction in the young adult and self-help categories and two were for best design. Crown Archetype/Random House purchased world-rights and will be re-launching the book in May 2012 with a first-printing of 50,000 along with the companion book My Road Map. My Orange Duffel Bag was the Book Selection for November 2010 for the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, the largest book club in the world with 518 chapters and 3,000 members. She is currently working on a groundbreaking book in the field of positive psychology with Chrismon Nofsinger and Stewart Donaldson. With Sam Bracken, co-author of My Orange Duffel Bag, Echo co-founded the Orange Duffel Bag Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit that does coaching and training with kids aging out of foster care, older youth in care and at-risk youth ages 12-24, based on the principles in My Orange Duffel Bag. Echo's work has appeared in more than 75 magazines, newspapers and websites including Parade, Delta Sky, Money, Business Week and Success. In the course of pursuing stories, she has bungee jumped with Richard Branson, hiked the toughest mountain in Montana with her oldest son, and completed two half marathons. The first in her family to attend college, Echo started her career as a writer after she moved from Chicken Road in Lebanon, Tennessee, to New York City, where she and her husband international award-winning professional photographer/writer Kevin Garrett lived for a decade. She was a contributing writer to Money Magazine and one of the founding editors of biztravel.com. She served as Editor in Chief of Atlanta Woman, but is currently concentrating on her career as an author.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What about the other 90% of the Caribbean?, April 15, 2004

By 

John Ashley (Swansea and Gower) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caribbean for Dummies, Second Edition (Paperback)

Oh dear, oh dear. This is the Caribbean from a Dummy. There is far more to it than this horribly limited selection of islands.

Aruba is in, but not Bonaire or Curacao. Nor St Maarten to round off the Netherlands and Dutch Antilles, plus its French half St Martin.

Grand Cayman yes - Cayman Brac and Little Cayman? These beauties are a short hop away for the discerning traveler.

Jamaica is in, but not Cuba.

Puerto Rico is there but not the Dominican Republic or the Spanish Virgin Islands. In better times Haiti can be an attractive destination.

BVI and USVI are there. No sign of Anguilla.

Further down the great chain of the East Caribbean islands all we see is Barbados (which is stuck out in the Atlantic anyway and does not count itself as East Caribbean). These islands are almost all popular holiday destinations for land or cruise travelers. St Kitts and Nevis (laid back), Antigua and Barbuda (365 beaches), the French islands Guadeloupe and Martinique (incomparable cooking and rum), Dominica (the only true rain forest in the Caribbean), St Lucia (spectacular), St Vincent and the Grenadines (sailing as good as BVI), Grenada (an under-appreciated gem with beaches every bit as good as Grand Cayman), Trinidad and Tobago (restful Tobago). No to mention a few islands like St Eustatius and Saba in the north, plus volcanic Montserrat for at least for a day trip from Antigua.

Anyone who relied on this book for a true view of the Caribbean really would be a Dummy. There is not one country in here that uses the East Caribbean dollar.

PS I live and work in the Caribbean. I have lived on four islands, visited thirty-six at the last count, and I am still delighted and amazed to find wonders round every corner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun in (or out of) the sun, April 12, 2001

By 

Marcia W. Scaggs "phillyhopeful" (Villanova, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caribbean for Dummies (Paperback)

The Garretts give readers a big dose of their "dummy" wit and wisdom about the Caribbean. Having traveled many times to the Caribbean, I found their candid commentary makes this book not only accurate and informative, but a fun read. I have shared the book with several friends and we all agree on this one. However, a word of warning - If you never desired to explore the Caribbean before, you will now.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars incomplete, July 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Caribbean for Dummies, Second Edition (Paperback)

The review says that the book includes information on St. Lucia and St. Maarten/St. Martin. It does not. It totally ignores most of the smaller islands of the Caribbean. I realize that they could not fit an in-depth analysis of all the Caribbean islands into one book, but to totally ignore the vast majority of islands makes this book incomplete and disappointing.