Scuba

Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific

Diver Down

One diver, after a seemingly brief period below the surface, discovers that his gas supply has run perilously low. Another, paralyzed, bobs helplessly on the surface, and when a poorly trained divemaster attempts rescue, things go from bad to worse. Two other divers, fascinated by the bountiful undersea life of the Caribbean, fail to notice that a powerful current is sweeping them rapidly away from their unattended boat.

These are just a few of the true stories you’ll find in Diver Down, most of them involving diver error and resulting in serious injury or death. Each of these tales is accompanied by an in-depth analysis of what went wrong and how you can recognize, avoid, and respond to similar underwater calamities. This unique survival guide explores the gamut of diving situations, including cave and wreck diving, deep-water dives, river and drift diving, decompression sickness, and much more. It shows you how to prevent tragic mishaps through:

• Inspection and maintenance of primary and secondary diving gear
• Learning and following established safety protocols
• Confirming the training and credentials of diving professionals
• Practicing emergency responses under real-world conditions

The Unnatural History of the Sea

Oahu Trailblazer: Where to Hike, Snorkel, Surf from Honolulu to the North Shore (Trailblazer)

An all-in-one adventure guide for independent travelers, Trailblazer covers all of the island's well-known attractions, plus the hidden spots that most visitors miss.

Included are both nature's wonders and wild places, along with Oahu's wealth of museums, aquariums, historic sites, unique gift shops, outdoor markets, and developed parklands. A well-organized text and clear directions lead to ...

114 hikes and strolls: waterfalls, botanical gardens, ancient sites, ridgetops, stream valleys, rain forests, and miles of beach hikes, plus city strolls in Honolulu, Chinatown, Waikiki, the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, and Haleiwa on the North Shore.

37 snorkeling and swimming beaches, coves, and tide pools, including hike-to specials and islands reachable by swimming or kayaking from shore.

More than 100 surfing spots, for both long and short boards, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, windsurfing, and kite boarding. Find the best beginner's waves at Waikiki, White Plains, and Haleiwa or the famous breaks sought by pro surfers at Sandy Beach, Makaha, Sunset, Waimea Bay, and the Banzai Pipeline. Also listed are the best places to be a spectator.

OAHU TRAILBLAZER ALSO INCLUDES ...

Seven maps and more than 200 photographs.

A Trailblazer Kids section for family attractions, picnic spots, swimming beaches, and outings.

A Best Of section that helps you pick the right activity for the right day.

Handpicked resorts and rustic accommodations, and selected restaurants.

A Resource Links section with visitor information, public agencies, campgrounds, recreational outfitters, Hawaiiana shops, and galleries

Safety tips and strategies for visiting Oahu, including transportation, what to pack, and where to stay.

The Certified Diver's Handbook: The Complete Guide to Your Own Underwater Adventures

The real-world guide for divers who want to enjoy their sport to the fullest

More than half of the 1.5 million people who achieve scuba certification each year are stymied in their pursuit of the sport because they lack time and money to enjoy the exotic diving experiences they've read about, and don't want to be confined to group dives. The Certified Diver's Handbook is the only guide to help them create their own diving adventures on any budget, on any schedule, in waters local or distant, and without the restrictions of group demands. Thirty-year diving veteran and photojournalist Clay Coleman provides the insider's tips and how-to advice divers need to equip, plan, and execute their own diving expeditions. Divers will learn how to:

• Buy or rent the best SCUBA equipment at the best prices
• Plan dives to maximize enjoyment and safety
• Find great diving sites close to home
• Master underwater rescue procedures and shore- and night-diving techniques
• Explore wrecks, reefs, and underwater caves

Manual of Freediving: Underwater on a Single Breath (Freediving)

Is the first comprehensive manual that teaches how to hold the breath, stay underwater longer, and descend deeper into the blue. The book includes a history of freediving, and detailed drawings of underwater exercises, finning techniques and selected Yoga postures to enhance lung capacity. This book is highly recommended to Skin-divers, Scuba-Divers and Surfers. It teaches how to hold the breath longer under water.

Snorkel Kauai: guide to the beaches and snorkeling of Hawaii (2nd Edition)

Snorkel Kauai is the one and only guidebook exclusively devoted to snorkeling on Kauai. No other guide comes close to the level of snorkeling detail provided here. Take "Snorkel Kauai", along with a good general guidebook of your choice, and you'll have all the details you need for a great vacation! In this expanded and updated 2nd edition, Snorkel Kauai is even better, with full color maps, as well as beach and fish pictures. From a colorful cover to 41 accurate maps and details on 69 snorkeling sites, SK draws you into the fascinating underwater world that shouldn't be missed by anyone touring Kauai. As Dave Barry says: "When you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean--it's like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent." An award-winning book designer contributed a sophisticated, yet readable style to the cover and interior. The dramatic cover features a green sea turtle being cleaned by yellow tangs. Snorkel Kauai is the third in a series of guidebooks that provide more detailed snorkeling information than ever before available for each of the Hawaiian islands in an attractive, easy to carry package. "Snorkel Hawaii: The Big Island" (2nd edition), also available from Amazon.com, provides the same detailed coverage of Hawaii's biggest island. "Snorkel Maui and Lanai" is the second edition of this popular guide, revised and enlarged. Our website, snorkelguides.com, provides detailed updates when available and more.

The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths

Chris and Chrissy Rouse, an experienced father-and-son scuba diving team, hoped to achieve widespread recognition for their outstanding but controversial diving skills. Obsessed and ambitious, they sought to solve the secrets of a mysterious, undocumented World War II German U-boat that lay under 230 feet of water, only a half-day's mission from New York Harbor. In doing so, they paid the ultimate price in their quest for fame.

Bernie Chowdhury, himself an expert diver and a close friend of the Rouses', explores the thrill-seeking world of deep-sea diving, including its legendary figures, most celebrated triumphs, and gruesome tragedies. By examining the diver's psychology through the complex father-and-son dynamic, Chowdhury illuminates the extreme sport diver's push toward -- and sometimes beyond -- the limits of human endurance.

Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World

In Neutral Buoyancy, BBC journalist Tim Ecott recounts his ongoing adventures in the "liquid world" of scuba diving, from battling rip tides off the Dorset coast in southwest England to exploring the shark-rich waters of the Caribbean, musing along the way on the history and meaning of humanity's fascination with diving and reflecting on how his underwater experience has reshaped his life.

Four days after my mother's funeral I went scuba diving for the first time.... Surfacing from a dive ... I often think it strange that this mind-cleansing, emotionally charged experience is one that my mother never knew I had. It is something akin to the sense of regret I feel that she never met my daughter, born a few years after her passing. How odd that something so wonderful was not part of our shared experience.

Be warned: if you are already a diver, Neutral Buoyancy will heighten the sense that you are wasting far too much precious time on dry land. For the rest, even if your underwater ventures are largely confined to the bath, this book will have you contemplating a trip to your local swimming pool at the very least. Truly inspirational. --Alex Hankin, Amazon.co.uk

Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life: Florida Caribbean Bahamas

The latest of the excellent underwater field guides by Humann and company. It illustrates all the fishes, corals, invertebrates and plants you are most likely to encounter in less than 15 feet of water in the Caribbean. Humann's photographs are among the best we've seen for identification -- and its handy size makes it perfect to take along in the boat or to the beach.