Good diving books

[Buoyant1]

Yeah, I enjoyed Mikes book as well....(and I'm not sucking up because his post is here either, I was going there anyway) Mike Orr and Eric Douglass have a book called Scuba Diving Safety that is a good read as well!

Clay Coleman wrote the Certified Divers Handbook,which has a lot of good and useful info.

Someone already mentioned Jill Heinerth and Bill Oigardens book, which has more information on cave diving that you can ever need (YET it doesn't teach you how to actually cave dive...which is probably a good thing!)

The often criticized, Gary Gentile has a few books that are pretty interesting The Primary Wreck Diving Guide, and the Advanced Wreck Divers handbook, that give you some good information on that topic. (he also has a Technical Divers Handbook or guide, but I hadn't purchased that one)

I have a few older books Deep Diving by Bret Gilliam, Complete Wreck Diving, by Henry Keats and Brian Skerry, and the Essentials of Deeper Sport Diving by John Lippman (which I believe has been just updated) That all contain some useful information.

I think that's all I have that isn't either a PADI manual or curriculum book other than the books that are good reads! (Shadow Divers, Last Dive, Caverns Measureless to Man, etc...)

 

[SeaSoulSelf]

Oh yay! now I've found more dive books to read.

Here's my current stash--

Diving Science - by Michael B. Strauss MD and Igor V. Aksenov, MD, PhD -- a little tough read for a lib arts major, but very informative

Diver Down by Michael Ange


The ones below are not specific to theory, but I enjoyed reading them as potential lessons learned:

The Last Dive by Bernie Chowdhury

Diving Into Darkness by Phillip Finch

The Dive, A Story of Love & Obsession by Pippin Ferreras and The Last Attempt by Carlos Serra (different views of the Audrey Mestre record freediving attempt)

Other stuff...

My Underwater Photo Journey by Cathy Church

Reef Fish/Creature/Coral collection and Reef Fish Behavior by Humann & DeLoach (not specific to theory, but the behavior book is interesting)

 

[Brian Sharpe]

I think the OP was looking for books on diving theory rather than novels.

BTW, Rhone Man repeats his request for a dedicated forum for book and media reviews.

You mean this one? Book and Media Reviews - ScubaBoard

 

[Atomic_Diver]

Ocean Glaidator - Mark Ellyatt, Caverns Measureless to man - Sheck Exley, The Last Dive A Father and Sons Fatal Decent - Bernie Chowedhurdy, The Cave Divers are some pretty neat books....

 

[humanbeing]

Another vote for "Shadow Divers." Amazing!

 

[fellowtraveler44]

I don't read fictional novels about scuba diving, since the nonfiction is intriguing enough. With hard core scuba diving, truth is stranger than fiction. So, here are my top recommendations for great reads in descending order:
The Last Dive by Bernie Chowdhury (you will be glued to this story)
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Deep Descent by Kevin McMurray
All of these are true stories of divers pushing the limits diving famous wrecks, and are hard to put down.
.
I am currently reading Caverns Measureless to Man by Sheck Exley. Another true story that is a little slow in the middle, but the first few chapters on his early days as a diver and learning by trial and error how to cave dive are incredible.

 

[WVMike]

Lots of good books to read thanks.

I got two good ones for Christmas, "NOAA Diving Manual", I reallly like it, agree with Doc on this one.

And, Mark Lonsdales, "United States Navy Diver", this is a great book, I could not put it down.

Amazon.com: United States Navy Diver (9781930536272): Mark V. Lonsdale: Books

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Another vote for
The New Science of Skin & Scuba Diving

If you want to know how basic scuba training used to be this was the standard back in the day.
I have the third edition from 1968.

 

[Meredith78]

Just wanted to add one of my faves, because it inspired me to try scuba diving again -- Underwater to Get Out of the Rain by Trevor Norton. It's an autobiography of a marine biologist, with lots of great anecdotes and suggestions for further reading. Also Sea Change by Sylvia Earle...because she's a legend in diving and an all-around fierce woman.

 

[mavilla]

After spending nights with the PADI Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving preparing for my DM course , I thought I was a bit fed up of too much theory... and then started The Rapture of the Deep: And Other Dive Stories You Probably Shouldn't Know (Michael Zinsley), it woke me up and couldn't stop reading, very funny and easy to read!