Scuba Books

I thoroughly enjoyed Dennis' book. Part of what amazed me was how often we crossed paths before we finally met. Dennis is hysterical in person and his collection of letters and short stories made me literally laugh until I cried. The book is easy to read - it won't give you nightmares or make you think too hard. Cap'n Dennis loves to laugh and he'll make you laugh with him.

Glad to be George and have my 15 minutes of fame? This is a work from a fresh point of view, living a life that is not "normal" in our country's eyes of house, wife, and two kids... not that there is anything wrong with that. Dennis has a quick wit and writes well enough to include all into this life he found at 42. The only flaw is that the negative parts of his experience are semi-glossed due to his positive and optamistic view of life. All in all a good read that will make you think...

Wyatt drops out to discover himself in the aquatic backdrops of America. His saga is more reminiscent of Steinbeck's Travels with Charly than the Hemingway story his title alludes to. His recounting is humorous and endearing, and the episodic style of his prose makes the book perfect for the occassional quick read when you need to buoy your spirits. Thoroughly enjoyable, upbeat, and quirky; a fresh take on the "tune in, turn on, and drop out" genre.

Christmas shopping is a particular challenge in my life. This book is a solution to this year's woes. It is light-hearted, funny, easy-to-read, and truly relaxing. It can be read in any order, front to back, back to front, or just totally at random. You can put it down and not be confused about characters or plots. Keep it in your car and read when caught in a traffic it jam. It will lighten your frantic load.

Hi i am 14 years old and i thought this book was awesome it shows how an average guy followed his dream and is doing what he wants to. it has inspired me to follow my dreams do to whateveri want to in life!! BUY THIS BOOK ITS THE BOMB!!

What a pleasure to finally read this classic book. I grew up loving Cousteau's television programs. Ultimately, I became a diver because of Cousteau.

This is adventure writing at its best. Cousteau was always a master storyteller. That was probably more instrumental to his success than his bravery, innovativeness, or his ability as a diver. This book is a collection of Cousteau's experiences with early scuba. He masterfully captures the awe, the fear, the struggles, and the sense of adventure of the first years of scuba.

I love adventure writing, but sometimes great adventurers are not great writers. Cousteau was both. If you have an interest in Cousteau or in scuba diving, this book is a must read.

As promised in the title, in this book Jacques Cousteau reveals a new world of unanticipated beauty, fittingly described in his charming, French-influenced English phraseology. C. Blickenstorfer has done a fine job explaining the contents of this book, particularly as it relates to divers or those interested in diving history. However, The Silent World, read as a frontier narrative, also has relevance for anyone interested in our current and historical treatment of the ocean.

Humans have interacted with the ocean for ages, but before divers like Cousteau it was a blind interaction, a grasp at resources based on guesses and historical results. Cousteau's underwater observations of trawl-net fishing make clear the change of ideology his "aqualung" opened to humans. Watching the net destroy grasses on the ocean floor, Cousteau reports "Man's method of undersea farming seemed to consist of blighting the acre while reaping a small part of the crop" (48). As opposed to a history of blind grabs at ocean creatures, Cousteau's aqualung gives him the capacity to see without touching, and his narrative provides a chance for our knowledge to begin catching up to our know-how.

Another epiphany facilitated by the aqualung is a completely new set of fears and a new evaluation of old "monsters." The killers of which Cousteau writes are nitrogen in his blood and clams with shells sharp enough to sever air pipes. On the contrary, the octopus, demonized by Victor Hugo as a monster who will suck out a man's innards, shows itself as harmless and shy. Cousteau concludes his chapter "Monsters We Have Met" with a jocularity that is persistent in the work: "If none have eaten us, it is perhaps because they have never read the instructions so generously provided in marine demonology" (222).

Cousteau's reinterpretation of the ocean brings readers to the fundamental questions of humans and their environment. How are we going to think of this new space? Should we sell it as new realty? Militarize it? Farm it? Should we simply Keep Out in a quest to guard some portion of the earth against ourselves? Those from my generation who have mythologized Cousteau as a heroic conservationist might struggle with Cousteau's narrative. This is not the work of a dolphin-hugger. Cousteau writes of his exploits kidnapping an endangered monk seal pup in his desire for an aquatic hunting dog (the seal almost dies and is given to a zoo) and bludgeoning most large sea creatures who get close enough. This includes wounding a captured porpoise to watch sharks eat it alive, an act which he justifies with "It was cruelty to an animal but we were involved in a serious study [. . .] and had to carry it out" (234).
In his conclusion, Cousteau asserts "Obviously man has to enter the sea. There is no choice in the matter. The human population is increasing so rapidly and land resources are being depleted at such a rate, that we must take sustenance from the great cornucopia" (266). Both those who would agree with this 1950s assumption and those who believe this "cornucopia" has been already overexploited can gain insight from this book as a well-written record of human reactions to the new world under the waves.

As a diver for long years, I remember the old b&w tv days, when we find happiness with Cousteau's documentary films. Now it's a mirracle to be able to purchase the whole collection in DVD format.

As great a read today as it must have been over 50 years ago. Being a modern day technical and recreational dive instructor I still find this book a fascinating read and would recommend it to all ages to divers and non divers alike.

What can be said about Jacques Cousteau and his groundbreaking book that hasn't been said a thousand times? He is undoubtedly the defining figure of modern scuba diving, his books, films, and documentaries known to millions or billions. Even the name of his ship, the Calypso, is known the world over. It's a small volume, this book, just 160 pages, yet it's absolutely mandatory reading for anyone interested in what Cousteau termed "the silent world" under the surface of the water that covers 71% of our planet. The Silent World is the bible of modern scuba diving.

Jacques Cousteau himself died in 1997 at the age of 87, but the legacy of his pioneering work with diving and diving physiology lives on. It is all well documented and disseminated worldwide, thanks to this French explorer's unique combination of instinctive understanding of the world under the surface and his equally unique knack of spellbinding the world with his words and images. A total master of public relations and getting the word out, Cousteau managed to grab attention and media coverage wherever he went. Critics went so far as suggesting his media talents exceeded his actual contributions to understanding the seas.

At first it's hard to figure out why this slim volume became such a success. It's not a textbook, it doesn't cover the history of diving or even much of Cousteau's own research, and it's not an adventure book. Though Cousteau was French, he wrote The Silent World in English as he had attended American schools in his youth, widely traveled the US, and, of course, extensively lectured in his enchanting French-accented English. Yet, The Silent World clearly reveals its author's non-English origin and decidedly "non-English" thinking. The writing, while precise, often suggests that Cousteau frequently described a word or concept that existed in his native French, but did not directly translate into English. As a result, the writing at times seems a bit flowery and, well, foreign, and you need to read a sentence or paragraph two or three times to figure out what it actually means. Cousteau's liberal use of metaphors, artistic nuances, poetic concepts and words that have since fallen out of currrent language only serve to make The Silent World even more unusual of a literary treat.

Anyone looking for technical explanations, precise history, a logical flow of events, or anything one might expect from a world-famous documentary maker and researcher will not find it in this book. The Silent World is a totally unique, very compressed tale flowing from Cousteau's mind. Read half a chapter and you know the man; he's a unique combination of inspired philosophical observer and gifted researcher with uncanny intuition. While others conducted their research methodically and ploddingly, Cousteau always just seemed to know what to expect, how to behave, and what to seek and avoid to make it all seem easy. He and his close associates and friends Phillipe Tailliez and Frederic Dumas used their "aqualung" to experient liberally in sort of a "Hmmm.... this is probably what will happen, let's go check it out!" approach.

Using this, Cousteau describes the difference between "helmet divers" and the newly liberated users of their "aqualung" -- what we now know as air tanks and regulators. The book casually touches on all the principles of diving physics and physiology, the stuff we learn in our PADI and NAUI classes. He describes sea life, how it reacts, where it lives, how it behaves, and what is dangerous and what is not. They see just how deep they can go. They check how colors change. What nitrogen does and why we need recompression chambers. He offers his views on treasure hunting (not worth it; if you find real treasure authorities and hordes of lawyers will soon apprehend it). He reports on atrocities he witnessed underwater, like the needless destruction of corals and cruel killing of fish. He debunks myths of sea monsters, seeks answers to geological phenomena such as the Fountain of Vaucluse near Avignon, one that almost cost him and Dumas their lives in a pioneering effort at extreme cave diving. He describes what fish do and how they react. And sea mammals and other sea critters. Sharks remain an enigma to Cousteau as his conclusion is that you simply cannot understand or predict them.

So The Silent World relates, in 14 fascinating self-contained chapters, pretty much everything we know about diving today, 60 years after Cousteau began researching as a "manfish," all the principles we know, and it's all neatly and attractively presented in tales that always mix research with adventure. Cousteau never preaches or lectures. He just explores, pushes, interprets, and reports. Maybe Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a showman as much as a researcher. If so, good for him as otherwise we may never have had the opportunity to learn from him and enjoy his remarkable insights. -- C. H. Blickenstorfer, scubadiverinfo.com

If snorkeling is your thing, this book will provide a complete guide as to equipment recommendations, locations, getting to the right location, safety issues, as well as many beautiful photos which identify a number of fish available when you snorkel. I have these authors' book on Maui snorkeling which is quite good. This one is even better and more complete. A must buy for the avid Hawaiian snorkeler!

This guide is indispensable for locating the best snorkeling sites in Kauai. The information on public parking as well as entering and exiting the water at the sites is very helpful. I just returned from a trip to Kauai, and this book was absolutely priceless in helping me choose the best snorkeling sites on the island. If you're a serious snorkeler, this is the book for you! Even if you're interested only in swimming beaches on Kauai, this book is great for getting directions to the beaches and info on public parking.

Snorkel Kaua'i has all of the great things we found in the Malinowskis' Snorkel Hawai'i, especially the snorkeling tips, site maps, and the very useful "Sites at a Glance" table. The table saved us a lot of time we put to better use by being in the water. The site descriptions and "how to" hints are written in a such a way that you feel sure the authors have experienced what they're describing. This book has something that the one on the Big Island doesn't -- the delightful color landscape and creature photos by Mel Malinowski and underwater shots by Jay Torborg. Besides being a valuable resource, it's a beautiful book.

Very fast transaction! What great pictures! The directions and locales seem clear, can't wait to use this guide!

Excellent guide. Gets you there, shows you where to go in, when not to go in, and what to look for. I've been to Kauai snorkeling at least 5 times, and this was the best ever, thanks to this guide. Highly recommended.

This is a useful book for some pre-dive trip planning. It gives basic information about the islands such as best time to go, language, etc. It also list places to stay and eat on each island. While that can be useful, I use more up to date information I find online.

However, the dive site information is very good and useful. It rates each dive site with stars, tells you what to expect to see, how deep each site is, etc. So when you get to your destination you will have an idea of what sites you want to dive.

This comes in especially handy when you go to places such as Cozumel when they ask you what sites you want to dive that day. With the info in this book, you'll know what you want to see.

I use it before I go on each of my dive trips and copy the relevant pages to bring with me so I can suggest some sites if noone else has a preference. I've found the descriptions to be accurate and agree with most of the ratings thus far.

As a general guide for hotels, etc., you can find better and more up to date info, but as a dive guide, it is more than worth the price.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift, and my fella has been carrying it around the house ever since. We are both impressed with the detail and accessibility of the information. I was surprised that Paradise Island (Nassau) is not highlighted, but there are definitely many other must-see locations in the Caribbean.

The new, 2006, third edition of Best Dives of the Caribbean is packed full of dive-vacation planning information. It tells what time of year to go, the most popular dive sites with details on what to expect, depths, average sea conditions-- I get seasick if it's rough and prefer diving where the sites are ten minutes or less by boat, or better yet accessible from the beach. Indeed, some of the other one-desination guides are more suitable for the coffee table, but they don't tell me anything about the dive resorts, the $$ cost. I would not consider planning a dive-vacation to the Caribbean without consulting this gem of a travel guide. The dive resort write ups are detailed and give rates and package deals. Any, the author gives an email for additional questions.

A "must have" reference for any Caribbean dive vacationer. I've got the first edition as well and have used it to choose many of our dive trips over the past 5 yrs. It's by no means a compressive guide, and it doesn't pretend to be one. The best feature of this guide is the brief overview of diving and snorkeling and the descriptions of top dive sites at the destination. I prefer to use active internet forums for current reviews of hotels and dive operators, but the listings in Best Dives does help me narrow down to just a few to consider.

love this book. My dive vacations are strickly to take underwater photos and being able to plan ahead makes my life so much easier. It gives me the airlines, the resorts with prices, when I can expect good weather. It's like having a personal travel planner. I would not plan a Caribbean dive trip without consulting this trustworthy book.

Writer Glynn Marsh Alam's Luanne Fogarty series takes place in the swampy area of northern Florida, a world few of us have experienced. She has a feel for the surroundings and is able to bring the atmosphere to life for the reader. Her stories are solid, the mystery sometimes secondary to the interesting people, motivations, and places.

Don't overlook Alam's relative obscurity as a mystery writer. These books are printed by a very small publisher so are not as widely marketed as they should be. Most mystery readers will find her books worth the read if they can find the books. There are so many less talented writers who receive more coverage. If you doubt my word--just try to find her books in your local library. My suggestion to Alam is to seek out a larger publisher--she deserves a wider audience.

This is a series that I will be faithful too. I like how the author doesn't put a lot of emphasize on Luanne social life and deals more with the story. The main character is great as are all of the secondary characters. I have to say reading these books makes me appreciate my A/C all the more....I can't wait to read the others and hope Ms Alam keeps putting them out.

Just finished "Deep Water Death" and enjoyed every page of it just as much as "Diving Deep and Deadly"! The new characters in "Deep Water Death" are just as intriguing to meet for the first time as the characters in the first of Glynn Alam's novels. And I have a hunch that we haven't seen the end of Nick Summers yet!

I have read this book as well as Dive Deep and Deadly by Ms Alam. I thoroughly enjoyed both books and found them to be page turners. My only complaint is the character is supposedly a cave diver, but Ms. Alam has obviously not researched the sport as her terminology is incorrect throughout the book and is quite bothersome it it's inaccuracies. Otherwise, it's a great read!

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Alam's first book, Dive Deep and Deadly, but Deep Water Death is even better! The plot of this second offering in the series is well developed and fresh and involves illegal midwifery. Once again, Ms. Alam has transported the reader deep into the bowels of the humid Florida swamps with beautiful writing and descriptions. As you read, you find yourself listening for the tell tale critter sounds and feel the closeness of the steamy air. Her main character, Luanne Fogarty, is smart, witty, competent and extremely likable, without the overbearing cockiness of some mystery heroines. I look forward to the next book in the series!

Diving: The World's Best SitesI gave this to my husband for a Christmas gift. He loved it. I don't dive but he loves it. He just got certified last year and this book gives him a lot of ideas on where to go for good diving. This book is only useful to someone who dives. Not for a vacation guide.

A really good book with great pictures. A source of inspiration if you're planning a diving trip. Obviously written by someone who really enjoys diving and knows what he's talking about. A lot of practical advice too. A must for divers!

i want to know what site for the best diving. because i just pass the diving license.

This is a good book for divers. It lists all the pertinent info about each site (i.e. water temp, sites to see, best time to visit, etc). I would definitely recommend buying this book. The pictures are awesome!

Read it cover to cover Christmas day-and over and over since

The Fragile Edge by Julia Whitty combines a science journalist's capacity for a precise and illuminating description of undersea flora and fauna encountered in remoter parts of the Polynesian archipelago and a passionate appreciation for its peculiarities and ecological complexities with a philosopher's detachment and bird's eye view of the reefs and the communities that abut them. Your reviewer is a certified divemaster, licensed boat captain and underwater photographer and I read a lot of this stuff. This one is unique in its sensitivity, attention to detail, and the writer's personality that comes through. I've given two copies of the books to other divers in my family.

I grew up in this world of tropical coral reefs and sharks and tiny bright fish but that was over fifty years ago. Tonight as I sat on the deck of my house overlooking a bay in Washington's temperate Puget Sound, I finished Julia's book and felt those long ago times flood back. And I felt joy and sadness. Joy for the memories of reef sharks suddenly appearing in the Northest pass of the Truk Lagoon; and me swimming free a hundred yards from our skiff. Joy for Moorish Idols escaping into coral forest. Joy for just being there. And sadness, for a world dying before our eyes. People, we've got too many people. When will we figure that out?

But oh my! Can this lady write. Thanks.

What a treat to enter the underwater worlds of the South Pacific with documentary filmaker Julia Whitty as your guide! The writing is absolutely gorgeous: "The humphead wrasse who the Tahitians call mara and the French call Napoleon is an imposing fish up to seven feet long and four hundred and twenty pounds, with an overhanging forehead, thick lips, and a blue body overlaid with squiggly patterns of green and yellow that look like the inside of a crcuit board." It is easy enough to get lost in the descriptions of life in the reef, up close and personal, but Whitty doesn't stop there. She brings in philosophy, Darwin, yoga, the history of the people on the islands she decribes, and Buddhism, as she observes life in the reefs, so that the reader feels she is not merely observing what's before her but contemplating it, trying to understand its mysteries. She makes the more humorous sides of this underwater world come alive, all the while getting her message across of the dire straights the worlds coral reefs are currently in. She has a vast knowledge of fish and reef life but makes it accessable, even providing a glossary at the back for the layperson so you come away with new knowledge about worlds you might otherwise never know. I loved this book!!!

Ten years ago I had the opportunity to snorkel with a marine biologist in East Africa. He was studying the bleaching of coral reefs and his worries about the future of marine life as he knew it was palpable. As a writer I had to ask myself, now that I know, what do I do? Thank you Julia Whitty for giving voice the growing awareness among scientists that the fragile balances life depends on are being pushed so sadly out of whack. The elegance of Whitty's prose and the beauty of her images do justice to the majesty of our lovely but put upon planet. She combines the dispassion of science with the passion of art in a way many writers aspire to but few accomplish to such good effect. Whitty gives us the facts with which to reason and the poetry to make us care deeply. This is a breakthrough book everyone should read.

"All day we have been observing the surgeonfish..." Julia Whitty begins, and from that first sentence onward, the reader of "The Fragile Edge" is one of the party. Whitty is there with you, chuckling good-naturedly at the antics of an undersea creature or (more likely) of those crazy humans topside. In one of my favorite moments, an account of how the funky old hotel with its peculiar charms has been taken over by new owners whose pampered guests pay $500/night to lounge by the infinity pool is interrupted just at the moment when you think she might succumb to sentimentality or some other curmudgeonly temptation by her confession that, "I like the pool, too." Similarly, Whitty clearly and firmly presents her environmental concerns without, so to speak, wallowing in them. Instead of putting the book aside because you're tired of hearing about how the end of the world is at hand, you're motivated to keep swimming along with a guide whose curiosity and expertise extend to the natural history of molecular plants and animals, as well as the more glamorous sharks and dolphins, from Western science to Eastern metaphysics, and from dissolving atolls and bleached corals to the raw fish marinated in coconut milk served at a Tuvaluan wedding reception. Finally it's her love of the coral reefs she has come to know over many years of diving and study, rather than her fear that global warming will destroy them, that Whitty is most eager to share.

We run charter yachts and take our guests snorkeling on reefs daily. I borrowed this book over 10 years ago, and still remember how incredibly interesting it was, not only for our own understanding of the ecosystem we enjoy so much, but also for the great information it gives us to share with our guests who are eager to learn about the beautiful reefs and the colorful fish they see. As another reviewer said, we can now go beyond just naming the fish we see and provide a broader explanation of their characteristics and behaviour. I'm thrilled to see the book back in print.

After I'd dived and snorkeled in the same spot more than a few times, I found myself wondering: what are those fish doing? Why are there such huge differences in what I see at 7AM from what I see at 5PM? Are those fish mating or fighting? While this book only begins to answer those questions--I'd love to see a newer edition with research since the early 90's--it does tell the careful observer what to look for, which adds greatly to the experience of diving and snorkeling. A caveat, however: if you don't already know the major fish families (such as parrotfish, surgeonfish, wrasses, butterflyfish, and so on), you'll find the book somewhat incomprehensible. I'd label this book as Step 2 in becoming a knowledgeable observer, with Step 1 as learning the fish families. (And for that, I'd get a regional guide for wherever you dive--the fish families are the same world-wide, although the species are not.) Note: while I criticize this book for being (slightly) out of date, that doesn't make the information useless--far from it.

New snorkelers are very movement sensitive. They are looking for things moving on the reef. The more colorful, the better.

After you get past this stage, you start asking questions. Why do some fish have a false "eyespot" and others do not? Why do some fish, well, swim like a fish, while others swim like a box of matches with wings? Why do parrrotfish spend so much time biting a nutrient-poor reef. Why not go after real prey?

These types of questions are answered in this book. Written from the perspectives of ecology and behavior (with the emphasis on behavioral ecology), the Wilsons put together a readable and accurate (to the standards of the literature in the mid 1980s) work on fish behavior. Fish are so much more deserving than simply lumping them into taxonomic groupings. This book helps you get to that next level, the "why" stage.

I agree with the previous reviewers--an invaluable, scholarly, and readable work that discusses such interesting but poorly understood subjects such as why tropical fish tend to be brightly colored, how schooling fish swim in close coordination, and whether anemones benefit from their relationship with anemone fish. It's a shame that tropical dive operations haven't made this required reading for their dive students.

This book is outstanding on so many levels... It has a basic intro to coral reef biology and to the fishes. It then goes on to discus the various aspect of fish life. Eating, breeding, various interactions are all covered. Look for the parts on schooling and social life of coral reef fishes. etc... The authors manage to bring a large body of scientific reference material together and make it accessible to anyone interested in coral reef fishes.

If you are a diver or snorkeler then you will enjoy this wealth of information that will go along way to describe the intricate behaviors in this most complicated of habitats. If you are a reef aquarium hobbyist the you will learn why fish act the way they do. If you are a professional then you will appreciate the way that this book brings in the journal literature. There are 19 pages of bibliography, and although it might be a bit dated many of the articles are classics.

Clearly and concisely written, covering physics as well as the basics in dive physiology. Excellent follow up the the basics taught in the open water classes. This book is a must read for all open water divers, after getting a few dives under your belt.

This book explains in detail what is only given a cursory review in most open water SCUBA classes. It thoroughly explains the physics, physiology and medical aspects of SCUBA in a detailed, but easy to understand way that any open water diver can understand.

While sitting on a dive boat in Turkey on the last day of my PADI Open Water Course, I was disturbed by several stories of experienced divers being "bent", "narked" and "dying" well within the recreational diving limits, many within 30 metres and often breathing air as opposed to "mixes". When I returned to Ireland I decided I needed to find out more about why such incidents occured (because I don't want to be a statistic!). I came across the online version of Lawrence Martin's book, and read it from cover to cover. And boy where my eyes opened! To put is simply, anyone who dives without really understanding the effects of breathing gases under pressure, may as well put on a blindfold and swim with the sharks. Lawrence's book is well written and easy to understand, and quite frankly, could save your life someday (probably, I joke not). Ignorance can kill, and I really do not want to place my life in the hands of an instructor or buddy ever again. This book is a MUST for every diver, particularily recreational divers. Ignore it at your peril!!

At 49, I finally began my dive certification classes and had many questions regarding the physiology and the effects of pressure on the body of moving in a liquid world. This book was an invaluable source of information and easy to read for the layperson without a medical background. From the early orgins of diving to modern scuba equipment, the medical aspects of pressure on your body, effects and prevention of squeezes, and information on decompression sickness is explained clearly and understandably for the reader. It also contains quizzes and interesting facts on diving. If you are a new diver or a seasoned one and if you can find this book, add it to your library. It is a wealth of information for the scuba diver.

My experience is that dive instructors, dive guides, dive shop owners, and all of the other dive professionals you trust your health to to some degree or another are generally clueless about the actual medical aspects of diving and dive medicine. Generally they have formed opinions which often are based on erronous data and frequently contradict one another. The only way to really understand the effects of diving on your body is from the writings of an expert with sufficient quantities of research behind him. There may be other books that do this, but this is the only one I've found so far. If you don't already own a good dive medicine guide, I would like to recommend this one to you. It is not for doctors or paramedics, it is for divers who want to know what is really going on inside their bodies and the proper response for when something goes wrong. Ever diver should have some good medical reference and should have all of the significant parts memorized, because if you cannot depend on yourself in a medical dive emergency, those jokers running the boat will kill you for sure.

The book is designed to offer a good list of places to scuba relying on the use of dive operators - it lists many. Its use for a couple who just wish to go alone (in a buddy system, of course) is limited, since the locations are not exactly defined. The book also offers a lot of advice as to many facets of diving in these areas. In general, it is an excellent book with the caveat of not giving exact coordinates nor reference points by which to find the specific spots.

This book is very thorough on the coverage that I was looking for. I recommend this book. Actually, I couldn't find any other books that covered Puerto Rico.

This is one of the most thorough and up to date dive travel books I've ever read. We used a lot of the information on diving and related material on our recent trip to P.R. and found it very helpfull and accurate.

Once again we have an excellent and very useful publication aimed at amateur and professional diver alike. This is a true guide which concentrates on providing all the relevant and peripheral information that any Scuba Diver will want to know in respect of any of the Caribbean destinations covered. The maps and diagrams are particularly useful - and very easy to follow.

We live in an age where diving instructors and dive guides "have" to know what they are doing and it is interesting to see those professionals are using this book and not any of the glossy alternatives. Sadly, we also live in an age where many diving publications fall short. Too much false information - and even total lack of information is hidden behind excellent underwater photographs as publisher after publisher seeks to beguile, confuse and even mislead the potential buyer. Not so with this book!

My direct experience has been to find this series of books contain exactly the information divers require before during and even after their trip. Very well written, it includes all the general information on diving, facilities, climate, sea, regulations, boats, cruise liners, resorts, hotels, flora, fauna, shipwrecks, photography and safety. It then moves on to cover each of the target Caribbean countries which are the main subject of the book before concluding with a Glossary, Bibliography and Accident and Emergency Information.

We can all find pretty pictures on the internet - without even having to pay to see them. Information, however, especially reliable information, is much harder to find. If you are contemplating a trip to any of the countries featured in this book, you will find all - and I do mean "ALL" the information you require right here. That might be at the expense of some pretty pictures - but hey, once you get there, you can take those yourself.

In summary, once again we have "A Complete Guide" - which is exactly what it says on the cover.

NM

I have been meaning to review this book for some time as it is one of the most thumbed books on our book shelf. My wife and I run a charter yacht in the Virgin Islands and many of our guests are keen divers. We bought The Complete Diving Guide for our own use initially but it has since become part of the yacht's library as our guests find it so useful and enjoyable to read. (as our copy is getting rather worn I'm pleased to say that many of them buy their own copy after having seen ours). It is rare to find a book that is so comprehensive and which presents a vast amount of information in such a readable manner. In particular we find the island and dive site maps useful along with the descriptions of the dives and the underwater route maps. I can direct our guests at the tyupe of dive that I think they would enjoy and they can read about it beforehand. They can also choose the dive store they would like to use. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone planning to do some diving in the Virgin Islands (it even covers the Spanish Virgin Islands).