9780679003144

"Fodor's guides are always a pleasure."-The Chicago Tribune "Teeming with maps and loaded with addresses, phone numbers, and directions."-Newsday Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Updated each year and containing a full-color foldout Rand McNally map, a Fodor's Gold Guide is an essential tool for any kind of traveler. If you only have room for one guide, this is the guide for you. New for 2000!Full-color sections let you experience the Caribbean before you get there with region by region virtual tours and cross-referencing to the main text, Fodor's color sections are a great way to begin planning your trip. Let the world's smartest guide enrich your trip Full-color images evoke what makes each island unique - Local experts show you the special places - Frequent updating keeps you on track - Practical information gives you the tools to explore - Easy-to-use format puts it all at your fingertips Choose among many hotels and restaurants in all price categories Stay in grand plantation inns, mountain lodges, villas, bungalows, hotels and all-inclusives - Dine in West Indian cafes, candlelit aeries, expat hangouts, beach bars - Check out hundreds of detailed reviews and learn what's distinctive about each place Discover the unexpected, on and off the beaten path Savvy descriptions help you decide where to go and when - Take in the most irresistible beaches and all the water sports, plus golf, tennis and more - Explore great houses and sugar mills, pirate coves and caves, volcanoes and waterfalls - Find the best sources for rum and cigars, handmade lace, island art Go straight to the facts you need and find all that's new Useful maps and background information - Island-finder chart - How to get there and get around - When to go - What to pack - Costs, hours and tips by the thousands

Destination Caribbean	p. 5
Fodor's Choice	p. 28
Anguilla	p. 33
Antigua	p. 54
Aruba	p. 81
Barbados	p. 108
Bonaire	p. 143
British Virgin Islands	p. 167
Tortola	p. 171
Virgin Gorda	p. 187
Jost Van Dyke	p. 196
Peter Island	p. 198
Anegada	p. 199
Other British Virgin Islands	p. 201
Cayman Islands	p. 207
Grand Cayman	p. 208
Cayman Brac	p. 223
Little Cayman	p. 225
Curacao	p. 233
Dominica	p. 258
Dominican Republic	p. 283
Grenada	p. 321
Guadeloupe	p. 350
Jamaica	p. 380
Martinique	p. 420
Puerto Rico	p. 450
Saba	p. 490
St. Barthelemy	p. 504
St. Eustatius	p. 526
St. Kitts And Nevis	p. 538
St. Lucia	p. 573
St. Martin/St. Maarten	p. 605
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	p. 633
Trinidad and Tobago	p. 670
Turks and Caicos Islands	p. 702
United States Virgin Islands	p. 722
St. Thomas	p. 727
St. Croix	p. 756
St. John	p. 776
Background and Essentials	p. 802
Portraits of the Caribbean	p. 803
Island Finder Chart	p. 806
Smart Travel Tips A to Z	p. 808
Index	p. 830
About Our Writers	p. 846
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Destination Caribbean

Feel the soft sand beneath your feet on a perfect slip of a beach and you'll soon encounter all the wonderful Caribbean trappings that you may only dream about the rest of the year: a palm tree, a peak cloaked in rain forest, a fishing boat drifting on a multihued sea, a whiff of romance. Experience them again and again, and your heart is likely to skip a beat or two each time.

Antigua

Paradisiacal beaches, all lapped by deep blue water suggest that this island has never busied itself with anything more pressing than the pursuit of pleasure. But for much of the 18th and 19th centuries, English Harbour sheltered Britain's Caribbean fleet.  From here such seamen as Lord Horatio Nelson and soon-to-be-king William III routed pirates and fended off other European colonists. These days, pleasure yachts bob where galleons anchored, and once productive sugar mills litter the interior hills with romantic ruins.

Aruba

Aruba is the island of the trade winds. The winds filled the sails of schooners that brought the island's Dutch settlers, whose European-style houses, imbued with Caribbean pastels, still grace the waterfront in the capital city of Oranjestad. Winds are fiercer, even savage, on the north coast. Here, they churn up the surf and over time create weird formations, such as the Natural Bridge, one of the island's most famous landmarks. Of course, those breezes also keep you pleasantly cool instead of equatorially hot.

Barbados

In the center of this sunny sliver of land, densely planted sugarcane fields crowd the byways like a jungle. As you learn at the Mount Gay Rum Visitors Centre, it's the sweet sap inside each stalk that forms the rich, dark liquor for which the island is known. What pulls most vacationers this far south, though, is the warm Bajan hospitality, the British heritage, welcoming hotels and varied beaches. Most visitors experience Britain's legacy over tea, at dinnertime (when many a restaurant likes to see gentlemen in jackets and ladies in dresses), and on the playing field. Polo, soccer, horse racing, and rugby are national pastimes: See a cricket match at the Kensington Oval and you'll never forget it.

Cayman Islands

Its more than 500 banks make Grand Cayman the world's largest offshore finance hub, but it's the other offshore activities that put the Caymans on the map. In 1503 Christopher Columbus, observing seas teeming with turtles, endowed the islands with the Spanish name for the creatures, Las Tortugas. Pristine waters, breathtaking coral formations, and plentiful and exotic marine creatures (their well-being ensured by aggressive conservation efforts) beckon divers from around the world.  Windsurfers, golfers, diners, and shoppers join them, drawn by the islands' mellow civility.

Dominican Republic

Like the merengue seen on all the dance floors in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic is charismatic yet sensuous, pulsing with energy yet elegant. The charm of the people adds a special warmth: a gracious wave of greeting here, a hand-rolled cigar tapped with a flourish there, and the dazzling smiles just about everywhere will quickly beguile you. At El Conuco restaurant, your waiter might serve you a creation inspired by Nueva Cocina Dominicana and then, a minute later, break into rhythmic
drumming in time to background music. And all the while the scents of frangipani and hibiscus surround you.

Jamaica

Chances are you will never fully understand Jamaica in all its delightful complexity, but you will probably have a good time trying. In the resort town of Port Antonio you will be greeted with a smile, told where to find spicy jerk pork, and maybe directed to one of the town's watering holes. The potent fruit concoctions served in the local boites are laced with local rum and have eased the way to unlikely bonding among an eclectic lot of travelers -- among them J.P. Morgan and, later, Errol Flynn -- who once shipped in by banana boat. The swashbuckling actor found adventures worthy of his celluloid exploits on the nearby Rio Grande, where a boatman with a bamboo raft can still provide a ride on the wild side.

Puerto Rico

Mother Spain is always a presence here -- on a sun-dappled cobblestone street, in the shade of a colonial cathedral or fort. Yet multifaceted Puerto Rico pulses with New World energy. Coquis (frogs) chant vigorously as only Caribbean creatures can. The rhythms of the streets are of Afro-Latin salsa and bomba;the costumes and vejigantes (masks) you see in local festivals are bright and colorful.  And the U.S. flag flaps in the salty breezes wherever you go.

St. Barts

Chic travelers adore French-speaking St. Barts. But although they come at least partly to see and be seen, all put aside their cell phones long enough to enjoy the lovely beaches. After dark the pace picks up in island restaurants, where talented
chefs transform local ingredients into culinary marvels. The French connection doesn't stop there:  The harbor in tiny Gustavia even feels like the Riviera. Rent a minimoke, the open-sided beach buggy that's the local vehicle of choice, and explore the hilly roads squiggling to Corossol and Lorient before returning to bustling St. Jean Beach and the Eden Rock.

U.S. & British Virgin Islands

Stand in the right place on any Virgin Island and you'll spot other islands across the serene waters, seemingly just a swim away. The proximity explains in part the close ties of these 120 or so landfalls, despite the fact that some fly the Stars and Stripes and others the Union Jack. What the Virgins share is a volcanic topography that shelters a remarkable variety of creatures, and a history of domination by European masters, who ruled sugarcane plantations, worked by slaves, from gracious manor houses such as St. Croix's Whim Plantation, now a museum. Hundreds of
idyllic coves with splendid beaches scallop the islands' shorelines.

Other islands covered in Fodor's Caribbean 2000, but not in this excerpt:

Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Martin, Anguilla, St. Vincent, The Grenadines, Trinidad, tobago, Turks and Caicos.

Excerpted from Caribbean 2000: Expert Advice and Smart Choices, Updated Annually, with a Full-Size Map and Color Planning Section by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Fodor's Caribbean 2000

Fodor's Caribbean 2000

0679003142

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Excerpts