Customer Reviews

Dominica (Bradt Travel Guide)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dominica is a beautiful island and is much less "developed" than its neighbors. It is little-visited (except by cruise passengers, who stay for 4-5 hours), so it deserves a detailed, attractive, and up-to-date guide such as this.

I used this guide for a one-week trip to Dominica in March 2008. I stayed entirely in the Roseau Valley, in the villages of Wotten Waven and Laudat, so my comments are restricted to my use of the guide for that area.

The guide had two principal shortcomings as I saw it. Most problematic was its unanimously positive attitude toward every attraction, restaurant, and hotel included in the guide. The other were its maps, which I found insufficient.

The book also neglects to compare and contrast destinations for the different types of travellers likely to be reading the book (cruise passengers, wealthy tourists, and backpackers.) Trafalgar Falls are a massive tourist attraction, with hordes of tour buses and tourists clogging the short and unattractive trail to the falls (which, however, are quite beautiful.) The Middleham Falls are a *much* more pleasant destination- but if you are on a tour or are not an experienced hiker you won't get to them. I did not find this distinction noted in the book. Titou Gorge is similarly badly overcrowded and not very interesting, but is not noted as such.

The guide also read more as a promotional brochure for the island than as an honest review of the different accommodations, which actually varied widely in quality and interest. The book's hotel descriptions read like they were (and indeed in one case actually were, I heard) written by the hotel owners. This is not useful when attempting to distinguish between destinations as one plans a trip.

The book clearly is geared toward supporting the Dominican trail guide industry, suggesting guides for trails like the Middleham Falls (or even Trafalgar Falls) that most certainly do not need guides. (The only trail I found where a guide is helpful was the Boiling Lake trail- long, hard, and wet.) Information of interest to serious hikers was underdeveloped, as is the Dominican trail network itself.

Finally, the book's maps for the area I was in (Roseau Valley) were confusing. There were at least three maps for the region, which overlapped in inconsistent ways. I kept switching back and forth. The color map at the beginning of the book was attractive but nearly useless for navigation.

Here's a suggestion- the 1:50 000 Ordnance Survey map for Dominica is highly detailed and completely out of print. Why not adapt and update this map, and use it in the book? THAT would be a true service to travellers- and to Dominicans.

We managed to get this new travel guide just before our latest trip to Dominica. I devoured the book! It not only made me more excited about returning to Dominica, it confirmed what I knew and gave me a lot of information for further exploration.

We have travelled extensively and have a substantial library of travel guides. This is among the best. Hard to believe this is Mr. Crask's first effort. It is dead-on accurate and well laid out for finding information quickly. Having visited Dominica previously I understood what a challenge it would be to portray this unique location accurately. Well done!

I was born in Dominica and lived there until I was about 22 years old. Recently I went back to Dominica and wanted to rediscover the island; find some old haunts and discover new ones. Because I was planning to photograph Dominica in a way that represents what living and visiting there feels like, I wanted to find a guidebook. I had not lived there for some time, so I felt that I needed one.

This is the only guidebook about Dominica that I've ever read that gives any kind of representation of Dominica that rings true. There were descriptions of all the places that I was used to and additionally, to my surprise, there were all these places that I had never heard of. I went to see a few of them that I would never have found without the book. The descriptions of the places and how to get there were dead on.

I've enthusiastically recommended this book to expatriates who are planning on visiting Dominica with the idea of rediscovering our home and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is planning to visit Dominica. For the low cost of this book, the value and enjoyment of your trip will be immensely increased.

Unfortuntately I purchased my copy of "Dominica" after my trip. We were fortunate, however, to meet the author, Paul Crask, for some guided hiking. In reading the guidebook after the fact, I can say with certainty that the information presented is very detailed and accurate, and chock-full of useful information.

The book is well-organized, with the first few chapters devoted to general, background and practical information for travelers. The second part is organized geographically, which helps with trip planning.

We look forward to returning to Dominica, and this time we'll read the guidebook first!

This guide is a great introduction to Dominica.

Both the narrative and photography are rich and authoritative and provide a deeply attractive presentation of Dominica's heritage. This book also has a relaxed feel to it which drew me into the whole idea of visiting what is clearly a naturally beautiful island. I particularly want to experience the National Parks, rainforest, the many incredible water falls and the Boiling Lake.

The guide also gives a sense for the culture, music and food of Dominica. There doesn't seem to be a Starbucks but it's not that kind of place, if you want to enjoy a Bellos Cocoa Tea and like the sound of a Hurricane Rum cocktail then this place should get high on your list of destinations.

I've read several guides before my travels in the past but none have hit the spot like this, well done to the author. Read this guide and visit the island! I'm looking forward to it.

Actually the only real current guide I was able to find to Dominica. But it was great for our recent visit to this wonderful island. It was very accurate and useful describing hikes we took to Middleham Falls, Syndicate, Boiling Lake, Cabrits, Scotts Head and covering the towns of Portsmouth and Rosseau. It would improve with an index to the businesses, hotels and restaurants. Paul has done a good job---Rik

Having traveled extensively in the Caribbean over the years and invested heavily in Guide Books Mr Crasks book and the island of Dominica came as unexpected and hugely pleasant surprises. The book is stuffed with all the information needed and quickly gets across that the island is different from the rest of the other dirty, expensive run of the mill islands. We hiked on the island and Mr Crask correctly points out the challenges. He rates the hikes and gives accurate and necessary advice about the need for guides and the difficulty of some of the hikes.
I am British. Mr Crask is British. I think, perhaps, that is an advantage I have over American readers. He expresses his likes and dislikes with a British subtlety that is not always obvious, but his opinions came across loud and clear to me. And they were good opinions!
Let's hope Mr Crask extends his efforts to some of the other islands

This guide book is written well by a resident and contains info learned by someone who has spent much time on Dominica. When the conch-shell horn blows, the local fishers are signaling they have fresh catch for sale. What are the temperature variances like? Does Dominica have adult bars with live music? How big is the big city on the island? These are the kinds of questions this guide book can answer for you. This is very enjoyable reading. The author reviews all areas of the island and the natural sights found in them. Wonderful information that any visitor will be glad to have at hand. I look forward to reading it on the beach (again). Highly recommended reading for the traveler.

I found this book to have a lot of great details on the variety of hiking trails on the island. And this is really the reason I want to go to Dominica. However, the tone of the book sounds like a promotional guide without practically everything being negative. For example, I have heard from medical students that certain areas of Portsmouth are dangerous to be in at night. My biggest criticism is the lack of guidance he provides on places to stay and restaurants. There is no useful information, everything is good. Even Fodors and Frommers give you some negatives. I have to wonder that since he lives on the island, he is being very careful not to offend anyone. So aside from his descriptions on the trails, I did not feel I could trust this author.

Informative, step by step, you actually can visualize walking the streets as explained in detail. All areas of the island were clearly covered. This guide was just what I needed to learn about the country before visiting.