Customer Reviews

Frommer's Bahamas 2005 (Frommer's Complete Guides)

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

 

 

The main points I loved about the book is the way the writers get behind the usual spots that everyone sees in the Bahamas; for example, Atlantis, Nassau, Abacos, and really gets down to describing what I feel is best about the Bahamas; that rural, breezy Caribbean feel, and the friendliness of the natives. Their covering of the fishing, diving, and boating possibilities in all the islands is complete, especially about Eleuthera, my favorite Bahamian Out Island.

Having shot for 2 weeks in the Bahamas for my "The Best Caribbean Beaches" DVD, this book was my field guide to producing this event. The list of rental car companies on the outer islands (There's like 1 or 2) and Ferry companies were critical to organizing my adventure. Good maps, and descriptions of Beaches, were of great help. I also recommend Fodor's to add additional info that is missing from this book. If you want to see and hear what the Best Caribbean beaches feel like, check our our DVD after reading these books.

I can only assume that the people who rated this book positively did so before they travelled to the Bahamas. Here is the short and skinny version of my comments: 50% of the information I tried in the book was incorrect. The restaurants had changed, key tourist spots were closed, and hotels they said were amazing were absolute crap. Some of the places that were no longer open, like the Bird Watching Nature Reserve, had been closed for two years. SOme of the people at the hotel laughed when I showed them parts of the book.
The Bahamas have been hit by major tropical storms and hurricanes and have suffered due to this. Things close every month and if you want the latest and greatest information, call a hotel that you are considering staying at and get them to tell you what you can do if you stay there. This book was a waste of money.
I will post the same rating for the Fodor's book, so do not think this is simply a negative for Frommers. I will say that Frommer's was the worse of the two, but Fodor's only get's 2 stars to Frommer's 1.

If you get the online version of this book, be sure to download it carefully because you only get to download it once. Also, some of the activities (one of the hotel/casinos and many stores in the International Bazar were closed) in Freeport were unavailable when I got there due to Wilma and other recent hurricanes, something the Frommer's guide did not warn me of in the 2005 edition (the 2006 edition was not available when I purchased the online 2005 edition here). Also they did not tell me about "Smilin Pat Tours" (at smilingpat.com), and she is one of the best tour guides in Freeport, we saw Freeport from a "native's" perspective.