It's been a while since I've been on ScubaBoard. I've been busy diving and writing books. All of my books can be found on my website - www.RobNeto.com. You can order signed copies from the website. You can also order copies from Amazon, B&N, BAM, Target, Walmart, etc. My thrillers and adventure books are all available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
My first book is pretty well known, Sidemount Diving The Almost Comprehensive Guide. The 2nd edition was released in 2020 and it's been translated into Dutch, German, and Spanish. It's available on my website - www.sidemountbook.com - as well as Amazon, Apple Books, and Kobo.
I've also written and published a series that uses cave diving as a setting. They aren't just books about cave diving. They are stories about people who happen to dive in caves. They include suspense and drama. They include emotions and fears. They include friendships and romance.
They are thrillers set in the world of underwater caves. You don't have to be a cave diver to read this series. You do have to like suspense.
The 1st book in the series is Beyond the Grate. It was inspired by true events surrounding the disappearance of a fellow by the name of Ben McDaniel. Ben was diving at Vortex Spring in Ponce de Leon, Florida. One of the employees noticed they hadn't seen Ben in a couple of days, but his truck was parked on the property. I was one of the divers called to go into the cave, look for his body, and bring it out to his family. I searched the entire cave and didn't find Ben. My buddy and I made it into the fourth restriction only stopping because we couldn't fit any farther in. Several other divers searched the cave over the next few weeks. More than 14 years later we still don't know what happened to Ben.
For those of you that aren't familiar with Vortex Spring, there's a grate about 300 feet in from the opening that was placed there in 1991 after 13 divers died in the cave. The state of Florida threatened to shut the place down to diving. Doc Dockery was able to convince them not to by having a grate placed on the far end of the Piano Room to keep untrained divers out of the smaller, deeper section. There's a padlock on that grate and certified cave divers can sign a key out at the dive shop to go beyond it. Ben wasn't a certified cave diver. We found out later that Ben had been manipulating the grate and going beyond it. Some of us believe he died beyond the grate and his body was removed and disposed of to avoid bad publicity. My debut novel explores that possibility.
The 2nd book in the Beyond series is Into the Darkness Beyond. In this book, Joey, the main character, finds himself in a life or death situation more than 2000 feet inside Jackson Blue, the head spring at Merritt's Mill Pond in Marianna, Florida. He manages to get himself out of it (I won't tell you how) and almost gets out of the cave when another diver encounters him and accompanies him out of the cave to the surface. This other diver then takes credit for rescuing Joey, embellishing the truth quite a bit, even claiming Joey would have died if not for him. This leaves Joey having to deal with the deceit and his tarnished reputation. It doesn't stop there. Joey's girlfriend, Lindsey, who is also a cave diver, gets pulled into the drama.
The 3rd book in the Beyond series is Beyond Hope. This story was inspired by a dive I did in Aerolito with a good friend of mine. We became separated during the dive. I searched the cave for more than hour with no luck. During that time, all I could think about was what had happened to him and the possibility of finding him dead in a restriction. I thought about having to tell his fiancee and his mother. Even worse would be if I couldn't locate his body before having to tell them. I finally had to exit the cave due to being low on air. I called my wife to let her know what was going on. About 15 minutes after I surfaced, I saw my buddy's dive light coming from the opening. After we discussed the failure to follow the dive plan, I let him know my next book was going to be about that dive. I can't promise Beyond Hope ends on such a good note.
3 people. 3 hours. A race against time. A race to stay alive.
Lindsey, Joey, and Gary are diving in a cave beneath the jungle of Cozumel. Joey stops to check out a tunnel when Gary suddenly swims off. Lindsey tries to find Gary. When she comes back to the tunnel Joey was in, he's also gone.
Can she find them? Are they still alive? Will she make it out of the cave before she breathes the air in her tanks? Or are they Beyond Hope?
The 4th book in the Beyond series is Beyond the End of the Line. This story brings Joey and Lindsey back to the Florida underwater caves. Joey was bitten hard by the exploration bug in Mexico. After returning home to Florida, he made up his mind to focus his cave diving efforts on finding virgin passage in the Florida caves. His efforts paid off! Not only did Joey and Lindsey find virgin cave passage, but they found a whole new section beyond the end of the line of one of the most popular caves in North Florida. The problem was that another diver found their lead. This diver went to the new section and started leaving his own line everywhere. Joey tried to find out who was scooping his project, but there were too many possibilities. Read Beyond the End of the Line to find out how Joey and Lindsey deal with this injustice. This book is due for release in the early spring 2025.
There are 4 more books planned for this series beyond the first 4. (See what I did there?)
I also write an adventure series about my underwater cave exploration in Cozumel, Mexico. Yep, there are caves there. I've been exploring them since 2011. In fact, Cueva Quebrada, which only had 29,000 feet of lined, surveyed passage in it when I began to explore it, now has almost 90,000 feet of lined, surveyed passage. And I'm not done exploring it. The first book in the series is Beneath the Jungle of Cozumel: Connecting the Crowns. It's a true account about my first three years of visiting the island of Cozumel to explore the caves. This book tells the story of my search for a connection between 2 underwater caves, Dos Coronas and Cueva Quebrada (the Chankanaab National Park cave). It's not just about the caves. The story covers all aspects, including the travel, interactions between people on the trips, tragedies, and a fun little story about local entertainment. I have at least 2 more books planned for this series - The Hidden Passage and Shooting Stars. There will probably be more. Interesting detail - I traveled to Cozumel more than 20 times over 10 years before I did my first boat dive on the reef there. You can find more information on this book on my website - www.cozcaves.com. It will be available on audiobook January 2025. I plan on eventually having all of my thrillers and adventure books on audiobook, but it will take a while to get there.
I have another adventure series also due for release in the early spring 2025. This first book in this series is titled The Hidden Rivers of Florida: Discoveries. This book is a true account of my diving adventures in Florida. The first book in the series tells about the early years. I have at least 2 more books planned for this series as well. I don't have titles for them yet.
I also have some standalone novels planned, including a modern day western that incorporates diving into the story. The best way to stay updated on all of these is by subscribing to my monthly newsletter on my website - www.RobNeto.com. I only send one email out per month around the beginning of the month. No spam and I don't sell your info. You'l get special deals in the newsletters as well.
My first book is pretty well known, Sidemount Diving The Almost Comprehensive Guide. The 2nd edition was released in 2020 and it's been translated into Dutch, German, and Spanish. It's available on my website - www.sidemountbook.com - as well as Amazon, Apple Books, and Kobo.
I've also written and published a series that uses cave diving as a setting. They aren't just books about cave diving. They are stories about people who happen to dive in caves. They include suspense and drama. They include emotions and fears. They include friendships and romance.
They are thrillers set in the world of underwater caves. You don't have to be a cave diver to read this series. You do have to like suspense.
The 1st book in the series is Beyond the Grate. It was inspired by true events surrounding the disappearance of a fellow by the name of Ben McDaniel. Ben was diving at Vortex Spring in Ponce de Leon, Florida. One of the employees noticed they hadn't seen Ben in a couple of days, but his truck was parked on the property. I was one of the divers called to go into the cave, look for his body, and bring it out to his family. I searched the entire cave and didn't find Ben. My buddy and I made it into the fourth restriction only stopping because we couldn't fit any farther in. Several other divers searched the cave over the next few weeks. More than 14 years later we still don't know what happened to Ben.
For those of you that aren't familiar with Vortex Spring, there's a grate about 300 feet in from the opening that was placed there in 1991 after 13 divers died in the cave. The state of Florida threatened to shut the place down to diving. Doc Dockery was able to convince them not to by having a grate placed on the far end of the Piano Room to keep untrained divers out of the smaller, deeper section. There's a padlock on that grate and certified cave divers can sign a key out at the dive shop to go beyond it. Ben wasn't a certified cave diver. We found out later that Ben had been manipulating the grate and going beyond it. Some of us believe he died beyond the grate and his body was removed and disposed of to avoid bad publicity. My debut novel explores that possibility.
The 2nd book in the Beyond series is Into the Darkness Beyond. In this book, Joey, the main character, finds himself in a life or death situation more than 2000 feet inside Jackson Blue, the head spring at Merritt's Mill Pond in Marianna, Florida. He manages to get himself out of it (I won't tell you how) and almost gets out of the cave when another diver encounters him and accompanies him out of the cave to the surface. This other diver then takes credit for rescuing Joey, embellishing the truth quite a bit, even claiming Joey would have died if not for him. This leaves Joey having to deal with the deceit and his tarnished reputation. It doesn't stop there. Joey's girlfriend, Lindsey, who is also a cave diver, gets pulled into the drama.
The 3rd book in the Beyond series is Beyond Hope. This story was inspired by a dive I did in Aerolito with a good friend of mine. We became separated during the dive. I searched the cave for more than hour with no luck. During that time, all I could think about was what had happened to him and the possibility of finding him dead in a restriction. I thought about having to tell his fiancee and his mother. Even worse would be if I couldn't locate his body before having to tell them. I finally had to exit the cave due to being low on air. I called my wife to let her know what was going on. About 15 minutes after I surfaced, I saw my buddy's dive light coming from the opening. After we discussed the failure to follow the dive plan, I let him know my next book was going to be about that dive. I can't promise Beyond Hope ends on such a good note.
3 people. 3 hours. A race against time. A race to stay alive.
Lindsey, Joey, and Gary are diving in a cave beneath the jungle of Cozumel. Joey stops to check out a tunnel when Gary suddenly swims off. Lindsey tries to find Gary. When she comes back to the tunnel Joey was in, he's also gone.
Can she find them? Are they still alive? Will she make it out of the cave before she breathes the air in her tanks? Or are they Beyond Hope?
The 4th book in the Beyond series is Beyond the End of the Line. This story brings Joey and Lindsey back to the Florida underwater caves. Joey was bitten hard by the exploration bug in Mexico. After returning home to Florida, he made up his mind to focus his cave diving efforts on finding virgin passage in the Florida caves. His efforts paid off! Not only did Joey and Lindsey find virgin cave passage, but they found a whole new section beyond the end of the line of one of the most popular caves in North Florida. The problem was that another diver found their lead. This diver went to the new section and started leaving his own line everywhere. Joey tried to find out who was scooping his project, but there were too many possibilities. Read Beyond the End of the Line to find out how Joey and Lindsey deal with this injustice. This book is due for release in the early spring 2025.
There are 4 more books planned for this series beyond the first 4. (See what I did there?)
I also write an adventure series about my underwater cave exploration in Cozumel, Mexico. Yep, there are caves there. I've been exploring them since 2011. In fact, Cueva Quebrada, which only had 29,000 feet of lined, surveyed passage in it when I began to explore it, now has almost 90,000 feet of lined, surveyed passage. And I'm not done exploring it. The first book in the series is Beneath the Jungle of Cozumel: Connecting the Crowns. It's a true account about my first three years of visiting the island of Cozumel to explore the caves. This book tells the story of my search for a connection between 2 underwater caves, Dos Coronas and Cueva Quebrada (the Chankanaab National Park cave). It's not just about the caves. The story covers all aspects, including the travel, interactions between people on the trips, tragedies, and a fun little story about local entertainment. I have at least 2 more books planned for this series - The Hidden Passage and Shooting Stars. There will probably be more. Interesting detail - I traveled to Cozumel more than 20 times over 10 years before I did my first boat dive on the reef there. You can find more information on this book on my website - www.cozcaves.com. It will be available on audiobook January 2025. I plan on eventually having all of my thrillers and adventure books on audiobook, but it will take a while to get there.
I have another adventure series also due for release in the early spring 2025. This first book in this series is titled The Hidden Rivers of Florida: Discoveries. This book is a true account of my diving adventures in Florida. The first book in the series tells about the early years. I have at least 2 more books planned for this series as well. I don't have titles for them yet.
I also have some standalone novels planned, including a modern day western that incorporates diving into the story. The best way to stay updated on all of these is by subscribing to my monthly newsletter on my website - www.RobNeto.com. I only send one email out per month around the beginning of the month. No spam and I don't sell your info. You'l get special deals in the newsletters as well.
