Customer Reviews

Rum & Reggae's Caribbean 2000

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At last! Mr. Runge has updated his Caribbean guide and it is better than ever. He includes more locations, more activities, more places to stay, and more ratings. His opinions are sharper, his descriptions are more detailed, his guidance is right on the money. This book is NOT for your average vacationer, this is for the sophisticated traveler who's looking for something out of the ordinary. Like YOU!

Well, Mr. Runge has finally come out with an encore to his classic book on the Caribbean, and he has outdone himself. He has once again given us all the best kept secret places in the Caribbean, and not a moment to soon. I was afraid he was down there permanently this time after a six year information drought between editions and it was killin' me!. So all I can ask now, is that he quickly pack up and give us more of the same quality for some other destinations such as Mexico, Hawaii, or perhaps a south Pacific island guide. I just hope he can maintain this extraordinary level of "insider's" scuttlebutt as he expands his travel territory. This is far and away the best book on what to do and where to go in the Caribbean that has ever been put together, and I believe I own all of them (over 50 Caribbean vacation guidebooks in my library, and I would throw them all out to keep this one). A masterpiece.

This is not a travel guide like ones with beautiful color pictures of the beach and only nice reviews. There is not a single color photo in this book. I traveled to few of the islands mentioned and mostly agree with author. As with any other opinion some people will agree and some will not.

This is a very good book to read before making reservation for your vacation. It gives brief tour of many islands so you can decide which one you like to go this time. It will guide you to popular and some not so popular places. Most of the book is for low budget travelers, so $200 a day hotel is classified as "wicked pricey". Covers all the important places you should consider visiting but it is not very detailed about each island.

When you decide which island you like for the next trip take some island specific book and do more thorough research about it. Please don't spend all your time in all-inclusive resort eating mountains of steak and potatoes and drinking Bud. There is so much to see and enjoy there.

The reader from Maracaibo's comments could not be further from my own experience at Playa El Agua. I absolutely loved the natives! Although correct in stating that is not the most beautiful beach,(which Runge does state in the book), I found that the fun-loving Venezuelans, mostly hipsters from Caracas, made it a blast. What a time I had partying, I felt like I knew these people from birth.

What I really love about Rum & Reggae is it's opinionated style. Runge is so edgy, so right on, so now, he tells it like it is while making the whole book entertaining and enlightening. I wish more travel books were written for people who avoid the predictable. For anyone looking for a Caribbean experience that defies ordinary, buy this book, it will take you on a trip you will never forget!

Never will you find this sort of quality in other travel guides. Mr. Runge's books have become my travel bibles!

Don't waste your money! The island descriptions are brief, highly subjective and inaccurate. As an example, the author lists Playa El Agua on Margarita Island, Venezuela as a choice for the Ten Best Beaches in the Caribbean. Anyone who has visited this beach will find a typical Venezuelan beach: trash everywhere and people looking for money (both legally and illegally) all along the beach. The author also advises that a good excursion from Margarita Island would be to visit Caracas, Venezuela: ranked as the 6th most dangerous place in the world!

The author seems to have a preconceived attitude toward many of the islands in his book and this is evident in the descriptions that he provides the reader. As an example the author has a "climates chart" which lists the friendliness of an island. Near the bottom of the list are the twin islands of Nevis and St. Kitts, home to some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.

This book is written in a manner that tries to set itself apart from the other Caribbean travel guides such as Fielding's and Fodor's. The biased tone of the book makes this guide stand out, that is for certain. But beware, this book can be misleading and possibly dangerous if the advice contained inside is followed by a would-be Caribbean traveler.