Best Comprehensive Book on Diving

[sail2steam]

I recently completed the PADI e-learning coursework for the Open Water course. I found the information to be 25% content-specific and the remaining 75% was basically “Diving is fun!” Could I get some recommendations for a comprehensive book related to the topic of diving? For perspective, I could be unfairly comparing dive training to aviation training (private pilot) where the latter is 98% content-specific with a focus on the technical and practical aspects of the topic. I just don’t feel like I’ve learned very much from the PADI course material and as much as I hate to say it, I’ve learned so much more watching YouTube videos. The purpose of this post isn’t to bash PADI, because I haven’t yet completed the practical portion, but to say that I found the open water academic material to be… unfortunately anemic. I appreciate any input.

 

[34109411]

Well i suggest you scroll you tube and you will find interesting stuff. Do you understand how to use dive table ?

 

[sail2steam]

Well i suggest you scroll you tube and you will find interesting stuff. Do you understand how to use dive table ?

Yes, I’ve taught myself how to use the dive tables (from YouTube). The dive tables are only briefly mentioned in the PADI e-learning coursework, but their use isn’t specifically trained or tested. The emphasis is on trusting the dive computer.

 

[34109411]

Before trusting your dive computer make sure you do understand and use the dive table. There is so much to learn from dive table because they cover so many aspect of a dive. A dive computer is just a tool for reference if you don't understand how it work it's useless.

 

[rhwestfall]

You can purchase other agencies material from other shops for reading...

I have quite a collection of agencies that I have certification cards from over the many years I've been doing this. Back in the day, my first class used a non-agency text..... In the "common" group, I feel the NAUI material is (was?) great theory texts. There are also many other agencies as well as general SCUBA texts....

As usual, instruction is about the instructor and the student.... Both can make or break the experience. I hate the new world of "eLearning" on your own, then a [too short IMHO] period to quickly go over things....

Be hungry!

 

[BoltSnap]

The "best" textbook I have found for the recreational entry level course is the NAUI "Openwater Scuba Diver" textbook bar none. If you want something even more comprehensive at university level, then go for the NOAA textbook and even the US Navy manual (NOAA is best).

 

[BoltSnap]

As usual, instruction is about the instructor and the student.... Both can make or break the experience. I hate the new world of "eLearning" on your own, then a [too short IMHO] period to quickly go over things....

I couldn't agree with you more concerning the push "eLearning" to replace classroom live instructions. I have been using NAUI's eLearning system to augment classroom learning not to replace it. I require students to complete the eLearning before coming to class. I use classroom time, still at around 25 hours, to cover material in depth (as appropriate) and do more dive tables problems, etc. NAUI's eLearning course is very comprehensive and detailed (I wish it had more animations however). I have studied eLearning courses and textbooks from several other agencies and found NAUI's is best (for me and my style of teaching, dig deep).

 

[steinbil]

Beginning With the End in Mind - The Fundamentals of Recreational Diving was the first book I read about SCUBA. It is meant as course literature for GUE's Recreational Diver 1 program, but there is a lot of good practical information about diving and related theory. Some of the content about recommended gear and the GUE drills might not be relevant for you now, but if you at any point in the future want to progress to technical diving it will be quite relevant - and in any case it might be interesting to see other perspectives if you're curious.

So, with the caveat that the chapters on gear and GUE drills/standards will not be relevant for your PADI class, it might be an interesting read. I also took my OW certification with PADI, so I've been through their e-Learning, and it was very fluffy in comparison.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Well......definitely not "comprehensive".......but read it when I was 8 and that's what got me in the water and in the water is where all the real learning takes place..

 

[Doc]

+1 @NW Dive Dawg … go dive.