Book Review: Bahamas for Dummies, 4th Edition By Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince

I'll admit it, I'm a dummy... I know absolutely nothing about the Bahamas. I do know one thing though, I'm heading there this September. I know where I'm staying (hotel wise), but as far as anything else goes, I know nothing.
 
Due to the sad fact that I knew nothing about the Bahamas before booking my trip, I wanted to gather up every little detail I possibly could before I got there. So, I picked up a copy of Bahamas For Dummies, 4th Edition. I figured that this book would teach this dummy something.

The book covers more than one island in the Bahamas, but the only island I needed to focus on was the one I would be staying at, which is Grand Bahamas.

So I briefly read the intro, then skipped to the section that covered my particular island. Grand Bahamas.

Here I learned the basics of what nearly every travel book on Grand Bahamas already covered. Only Bahamas for Dummies layed out the content in a easier fashion, that actually made more sense to me.

The book also covered local customs, and other fun sections that no other travel book had. Such as the best places to for fishing, best places for golfing, snorkeling, diving, and more.

Like other Bahamas travel books I got hold of though, Bahamas for Dummies also did not feature an entire detailed map of the entire island, once again the main focus was only targeted at Freeport, totally cutting out the eastern half of the Grand Bahamas map. Out of the 4 books I have gotten on Grand Bahama's, they have all cut out half the map, which is frustrating, especially if you will be staying more East of the island.

With this major downfall (PLEASE INCLUDE A FULL MAP NEXT TIME!) Bahamas For Dummies was a fun read, although most of what was included was included in all other travel books, Bahamas For Dummies does it with some flair, some humor, and is easy for us dummies to understand. I would however of liked some photos included, as most travel books do include, Bahamas For Dummies does not.

Anyhow, Bahamas For Dummies also includes itty sticky tabs for you to place on certain pages for faster reference's later on. A few things that this book includes that others do not, was monthly calendar events that will be occurring on the islands. Best months to go, worst times to go, and the behavior of the locals.

As far as lugging this book along with you on vacation though, I'd have to say don't. Although the book contains some useful information, nearly all books covering the Bahamas feature similar content, so if you want, lug a smaller book with you. At 364 pages this one is far too big for one to even want to consider bringing with them on vacation.

I do however recommend that if you are going to the Bahamas that you pick up a copy at your local library. For those looking to purchase this book, I recommend you check it out on Amazon for a much lower price.