Scuba Diving Books

I like this book because it is right on with the dives we went on. Very Accurate. They don't chum the blue hole anymore though, thank god.

This book has great information, but be aware that it doesn't even begin to cover 1/2 the Cayes in Belize. In fact it only mentioned one that we visited while sailing for 7 days. Use this guide as an accompaniment to other info.

The Passport dive guides are attractively laid out, with lots of maps and high quality, glossy printing. As an amateur underwater photographer, I particularly appreciate dive guidebooks with high quality underwater images that show the reader what to expect in terms of both marine life and scenery. Unfortunately, Jack Johnson has relied on his own underwater photographs for this volume, and they are some of the worst I have seen published anywhere. Several of Mr. Johnson's underwater photos are over-exposed and washed out (pp. 4, 31, 51, 56, 95), several are marred by backscatter (reflections from particles in the water -- pp. 117, 133, 156), and only a few of are well-composed and in sharp focus. It's hard to imagine a competent amateur underwater photographer spending even a week in Malaysia and having so little to show for it. While the images may not be as important to most readers as they are to me, it does raise questions regarding the care and effort that Mr. Jackson and his publisher put into this volume.

As for the text, it appears to be thorough and fairly well-written, so I would recommend this book for readers who are not interested in high quality underwater images.

Jack Jackson not only did a great job in this book describing the greatest dive sites of Malaysia, but he also clearly had a great time diving! I read his guide to ensure enjoying my dives, and I can highly recommend it any diver, of any level (Open water, advanced, or dive master).

Naturally the book is concentrated on the many great dives you could have in Malaysia (don't expect too much from Singapore, Malaysia has much nicer sites). Their are tips, descriptions of the area, species one might spot and ratings on the most famous dive sites of Malaysia. But there is also a quick reference on which hotels, PADI resorts, and general travel information (ie hospitals, decompression facilities, travel arrangements etc). I highly recomend this book to any diver planning a first trip to Malaysia!

What the book doesn't mention, is that Malaysia is also a shopping paradise for all those who want to buy diving equipment, prices are more than resonable and there are plenty of good brands, in the cities Penang and Kuala Lumpur

There aren't many books written about altitude diving. This book is a good reference source for understanding altitude diving.

Not a lot of books out there on diving at altitude, and this one is needed! Divers need to change their regimens for altitude diving and this book helps divers to do just that. For all divers who dive and train in mountainous and high plateau regions this book should be studied and understood. Changes must be accounted for in dive tables, weight, exertion, air consumption and more. I recommend this book for all divers who may encounter any of these situations at any time.

Lots of good general information but I found it required more depth in many areas.

this book saves the student from the hype and promo that the PADI books now have, and is actually a very good basic text for open water. Jeppesen, the original publisher, publishes all the texts that airplane pilots use and carry in those black bags, called 'jep kits'.

This book stays on the boat so we won't forget it. The GPS coordinates are a great idea and make the sites so easy to find. The author's input on how to dive each site safely has also been of great value. We have also appreciated the inclusion of some of the 'difficult to reach' shore dives and often frequent some of these sites that we used to avoid like the plague!

I will give two pieces of advice to the author of 60 boat dives. 1. Don't tell me about shore dives in a book called boat dives and 2. There are a lot more than 60 dives in Puget sound. Diving for 5 years in the sound 500+ boat dives has told me that this book should be renamed and expanded to 202 boat dives in Puget sound then it might be worth the price tag.

But it is a good start. With a lot of good information in a reasonabley easy to read format.

The book covers diving areas well for beginner's. There is some specific guidance for women regarding equipment but more in depth coverage in this area would have been helpful. The weight of the tank can be a large issue for middle aged women who are not in the best shape.

However, the book does hit on some good points for women.

At the beginning, Scuba diving is full of mysteries. The equipment, the physiology, the underwater world all seem complicated. This book sorts out what beginners need to know--especially women who approach new sports differently than men. I'd recommend this for any woman starting to dive.

Yes. I read this whole thing in the last week or so.

The U.S. Navy Diving Manual is probably the most complete single reference on diving based on the most extensive research and experience in the world. Its five volumes discuss mixed-gas and oxygen rebreathers, no-decompression diving, open-circuit SCUBA ("conventional" SCUBA), surface-supplied air and mixed-gas (nitrox and heliox) diving, the diving environment, Navy dive procedures, physics, physiology and recompression chamber operation.

Unfortunately, the recreational diver, or even the tech diver, may not find much in here that they can apply to their own diving that they don't already know from the materials from their certification classes. An open water diver will already have no-compression tables, and a tech diver will already already have decompression tables from air and mixed gas. Also, the recreational SCUBA diver may be disappointed to find that the Navy (in my inference anyway, from reading this) eschews OC SCUBA in favor of surface-supplied except when surface-supplied is impractical. You may also bog down reading the sections on Navy procedure. (If recreational divers used these protocols, the number of crew and number of divers on a party dive boat would be reversed!)

A recreational diver looking for more information on recreational OC SCUBA beyond the superficial coverage of open water class materials might be better served by the PADI Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving.

However, the USN Diving Manual covers things that you won't see elsewhere, such as safe operating distances from SONAR and explosives!

I recommend this reference if you are like me - just curious about diving, how the military does it, and/or wants to have a complete reference library on diving.

The 1999 Version USN Diving Manual discusses topics with the same thoroughness as the NOAA Diving Manual, when both cover the same topic. However, elements related to Navy or military diving, surface supplied air, and hardhat diving are of academic value to most SCUBA divers. Often looked for and thus should be mentioned, both Manuals cover thoroughly diving medicine: USN chamber decompression, dangerous marine animals, and emergent care procedures. However, NOAA's emphasis on SCUBA and many items with some relevance to sport divers, such as survey methods or search and recovery techniques, put it ahead of the USN Manual, on a relevance per dollar basis. One item of note, the USN Manual seems to have omitted the long term 02 exposure tables ... this maybe problematic as nitrox increases in popularity.

The USN Diving Manual is written in an easier to read format compared to the NOAA Diving Manual, and is excellent as a pocket synopsis [ the waterproof USN Diving Handbook.] It can be read quickly, but is also very procedural: do item 1-2-3-4-5. NOAA is more conceptual. However, given its cost [free as a pdf download from the US Navy or Army public websites] the USN Diving Manual has elements for civilian divers and is less wordy per topic that the verbose NOAA manual, to make it an excellent part of a Diving library.

This was a different kind of guide book in a good way. It gave a nice history of the area and gave information to not only the usual tourist places but "off the beaten track" activities that we actually did in Belize.....and had a great time. Would give this one to any friend going to the area.

This is a great coffee table book. The Photo quality is excellent. The content about the locations leaves a little to be desired, but with the photo quality that is a minor squabble. If you are looking for insight into these diving locations, this book may not be for you. But if you want to see some of the best photogreaphs from one the world's foremost underwater photographer, you will get what you want and then some.

This is a great, specializated guide with the best diving and snorkeling tours in the impressive Australian reef. Information about the best agencies, tours' schedules, instructors and amateurs courses and different submarines kinds that habitate the colorful coral world. An indispensable book for this magnific adventure.