Frommer's Portable Turks & Caicos (Paperback)

~ Alexis Lipsitz Flippin (Author)
Key Phrases: middle caicos, watersports operators, cruise center, Grace Bay, Grand Turk, Salt Cay (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Frommer's Portable Guides are for the short-term traveler who insists on value and doesn't want to pack a full-size guidebook. The Portables have the same commitment to accuracy and detail as the Frommer's Complete Guides, with the same broad demographic appeal, from budget to deluxe. Frommer's Portable Turks & Caicos, 1st Edition, includes complete information for some of the most popular islands in this region—Providenciales (Provo), Grand Turk, Salt Cay, and more—in one easy-to-carry guide. We currently publish a complete guide to Frommer's Caribbean that includes coverage of the Turks and Caicos islands. This new portable guide will be geared toward travelers visiting only this region and will feature more detailed information on the islands than is found in Frommer's Caribbean.

Learn about the best accommodations, from small boutique hotels to large all-inclusive resorts; the best restaurants for fresh fish; the best shops and galleries; the best bars, clubs, and casinos; the best beaches; the best spots for snorkeling and scuba diving—and much more.

• Download a free Turks and Caicos podcast on Frommers.com

From the Back Cover

Put the Best of Turks & Caicos in Your Pocket

• Insider tips on white-sand beaches, world-class scuba diving and snorkeling, sunset cruises, activities for kids, and more.
• Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip no matter what your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.
• The best hotels and restaurants in every price range, with candid reviews.

Frommer's. The best trips start here.

Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer.

And avoid tourist traps. At Frommer's, we use 150 outspoken travel experts around the world to help you make the right choices.

Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com

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Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 1 edition (November 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470048999
• ISBN-13: 978-0470048993
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #683,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The only mainstream pocket-sized choice, April 8, 2008

By	T. C. Peterson (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you look around, you'll discover that there aren't a lot of choices when it comes to travel books on Turks & Caicos. That reflects TCI's lingering status as "Turks and Who?"
Go into a bookstore, and you're more likely to find a book covering the entire Caribbean -- with perhaps 20 pages devoted to TCI. That means spending 20-plus bucks and toting around a lot of extra weight.
Lonely Planet offers a TCI diving book, which has more background information than you might expect, but it doesn't have a tremendous amount of the bed-and-butter stuff on hotels, restaurants, etc.
Amazon has some titles from little-known publishers. These may be perfectly good books. However, if you're like me, you're not inclined to spend money on what might be a crapshoot.
Frommer's Portable Turks & Caicos is a good, safe choice. It appears to have slightly more information than is located in Frommer's Caribbean book, and it's far easier to carry around (very nice when you're walking the beach).
This late 2006 edition is still mostly up to date, with one major exception: The Gecko shuttle service went out of business in February 2008, which means you're left only with rental cars or taxis. The book ought to point out that you really don't need a weekly rental on TCI -- a day or two at most works fine. This is one case where free pickup by tour operators makes a lot of sense.
Most of the hotels, restaurants and attractions touted by the book still exist, but there are some omissions. It doesn't list Grace Bay Rentals, the only truly affordable car choice on the island ($40 for a Corolla). It also could use some refreshing to account for the changing Grace Bay Beach oceanfront, which is getting filled up with timeshares and condos. Other quibbles: The book talks about the lack of rain, but doesn't adequately discuss the impact of wind. We stayed five days, and about half the time, the stiff breezes made water activities quite problematic. It's the equivalent of SoCal winter rain -- stay only a few days, and you may have lousy conditions the whole time.
The book is also bit lavish in its praise of TCI snorkeling. Cozumel/Yucatan ('04), Moorea/Bora Bora ('95) and Oahu's Haunama Bay ('86) were all superior. I also wish they'd been a bit more forthright about the relative lack of attractions on the SE side of the island. We went searching a small "kiddie" bay touted in the book, and it was a long wasted trip.
Also, a more detailed map might have been nice, but since we're dealing with a pocket edition, I can understand why that didn't happen. They might also want to point out that walking Grace Bay Road is a lot faster than walking the beach (though not remotely as beautiful)
Meanwhile, their restaurant recommendations were fairly spot-on (Hemingway's, for example, was a good choice).
Overall, if you're only going to TCI, then the only reason NOT to buy this book would be to wait for the update. Otherwise, it's only $10 or so. Compared to the total cost of the trip, that's peanuts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wealth of information!, March 8, 2007

By	Joni caperelli-knoll - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This small, travel-sized book contains everything you need to know, but wouldn't think to ask! Especially helpful were the restaurant reviews and the information on how to get around the island. A must-have if it is your first visit to Turks and Caicos.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Product, But Not Really Needed for a Cruise, August 7, 2009

By	Joseph C. Nold "joe kewl" (North Kingstown, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Frommer's Portable Turks & Caicos (Paperback)

I used the travel guide some, but for a cruise going to the island of Grand Turk this is not really needed as that island is small and you are mostly limited to the Cruise Terminal and the shore excursions from the cruise ship.