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

Clay Coleman (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

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Book Description

April 22, 2004

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

Frequently Bought Together

The Certified Diver's Handbook: The Complete Guide to Your Own Underwater Adventures + Diver Down: Real-World SCUBA Accidents and How to Avoid Them + Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations
Price For All Three: $43.00

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  • In stock on February 1, 2012.
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  • Diver Down: Real-World SCUBA Accidents and How to Avoid Them $10.85

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  • Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations $16.47

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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Declare your diving independence

Now that you've got your diver’s certification, make the most of it! The Certified Diver's Handbook supplies all the advice and information you need to make diving an ongoing and rewarding part of your life. This definitive, real-world guide is packed with helpful facts and suggestions on everything from equipment, safety, and rescue procedures to techniques for shore diving, drift diving, night diving, and much more. You’ll learn how to take responsibility for your dive planning and your safety underwater. You’ll also find:

*Advice on renting or buying the best equipment at the best price
*Tips on using and maintaining masks, tanks, regulators, and exposure suits
*Techniques for underwater navigation in changing conditions
*Strategies for avoiding underwater injuries and illness
*The information you need to read wind, waves, currents, and weather
*Tips on great U.S. and international dive sites
*The fundamentals of underwater photography
*And much more

With The Certified Diver's Handbook, you can become an active, independent diver and make diving not just a special event, but a way of life.

"From masks to valve regulators, from rip tides to thermoclines, from fireworms to sharks—Clay overlooks nothing! You've never been through such a comprehensive course."—Humberto Fontova, author, The Helldivers' Rodeo: A Deadly, Extreme, Scuba-Diving, Spear Fishing Adventure Amid the Offshore Oil-Platforms in the Murky Waters of the Gulf of Mexico

"Finally a book written by a diver who loves the sport and manages to get his message across in an entertaining way."—Chuck Nicklin, cofounder of The Dive Locker, Emmy–award winning underwater cinematographer

"You won't find a more comprehensive, easy-to-read book about diving. This is a must-have for divers of all experience levels."—Bonnie J. Cardone, former editor of Skin Diver magazine, editor of The Fireside Diver: An Anthology of Underwater Adventure

Clay Coleman, shown here in the Caribbean with his wife and dive buddy Sharon Coleman, began diving, photographing, and spearfishing beneath the oil rigs off the coast of his native Louisiana in 1973. A member of the Louisiana State Bar since 1979, his first article appeared in Sport Diver magazine in 1994. His writing and photographs have been published in numerous diving, conservation, and boating magazines.

From the Back Cover

Declare your diving independence

Now that you've got your diver’s certification, make the most of it! The Certified Diver's Handbook supplies all the advice and information you need to make diving an ongoing and rewarding part of your life. This definitive, real-world guide is packed with helpful facts and suggestions on everything from equipment, safety, and rescue procedures to techniques for shore diving, drift diving, night diving, and much more. You’ll learn how to take responsibility for your dive planning and your safety underwater. You’ll also find:

  • Advice on renting or buying the best equipment at the best price
  • Tips on using and maintaining masks, tanks, regulators, and exposure suits
  • Techniques for underwater navigation in changing conditions
  • Strategies for avoiding underwater injuries and illness
  • The information you need to read wind, waves, currents, and weather
  • Tips on great U.S. and international dive sites
  • The fundamentals of underwater photography
  • And much more

    With The Certified Diver's Handbook, you can become an active, independent diver and make diving not just a special event, but a way of life.

    "From masks to valve regulators, from rip tides to thermoclines, from fireworms to sharks—Clay overlooks nothing! You've never been through such a comprehensive course."—Humberto Fontova, author, The Helldivers' Rodeo: A Deadly, Extreme, Scuba-Diving, Spear Fishing Adventure Amid the Offshore Oil-Platforms in the Murky Waters of the Gulf of Mexico

    "Finally a book written by a diver who loves the sport and manages to get his message across in an entertaining way."—Chuck Nicklin, cofounder of The Dive Locker, Emmy–award winning underwater cinematographer

    "You won't find a more comprehensive, easy-to-read book about diving. This is a must-have for divers of all experience levels."—Bonnie J. Cardone, former editor of Skin Diver magazine, editor of The Fireside Diver: An Anthology of Underwater Adventure

    Clay Coleman, shown here in the Caribbean with his wife and dive buddy Sharon Coleman, began diving, photographing, and spearfishing beneath the oil rigs off the coast of his native Louisiana in 1973. A member of the Louisiana State Bar since 1979, his first article appeared in Sport Diver magazine in 1994. His writing and photographs have been published in numerous diving, conservation, and boating magazines.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (April 22, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0071414606
  • ISBN-13: 978-0071414609
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've lived my entire life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I began my working career lawyering for a local bank. I'd had my fill of that after only a few years, so I went to work for a small advertising agency. I toiled there for nearly 20 years, during which time I married my favorite dive buddy (Sharon) and raised our two sons. As a sideline, I wrote my first article for Sport Diver Magazine in 1994, and I became a somewhat regular contributor for Sport Diver and other magazines for several years thereafter.

I began diving beneath the oil rigs of my native Louisiana while still an undergraduate student in 1973. Like many of my generation, my early years of diving were spent spearfishing. In fact, some of the dumber moments of my youth were documented in Humberto Fontova's book on Louisiana oil rig spearfishing, "The Helldiver's Rodeo". As I matured and began my travels throughout the Caribbean, I traded my speargun for a camera and became a student of the wonder and diversity of the underwater world. My book, "The Certified Diver's Handbook", is a compilation of things I wish someone had told me when I first started diving.

The act of scuba diving encompasses a wide range of related activities, and every diver takes their own personality, preferences, and interests with them underwater. The purpose of "The Certified Diver's Handbook" is not to teach enthusiasts how to dive like I do. Rather, my goal is to provide enthusiasts with a fundamental understanding of different aspects of diving in order to enable each diver to make educated decisions to maximize their individual enjoyment. It's just for fun, y'all, and the "best" divers in my book are the ones who are having the times of their lives by safely making the kinds of dives they personally want to make.

 

Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
 (22)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars certification class--the practical stuff, August 12, 2004
By 
This review is from: The Certified Diver's Handbook: The Complete Guide to Your Own Underwater Adventures (Paperback)
I have been a certified diver for over a year before I read this book. I had even purchased all my own gear in that amount of time. I wish that I had read this book immediately after my scuba class because I felt the information was valuable in selecting equipment as well as discussing dive trips. This is the stuff that they don't teach you in class. The author's style makes it an easy read for any diver. Plus, he is even willing to laugh at himself from time to time. I am going to have my son read it next.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What every new diver should know, December 8, 2004
By 
Lisa (Petersburg, VA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Certified Diver's Handbook: The Complete Guide to Your Own Underwater Adventures (Paperback)
This is a wonderful book for the newly certified diver, or for the older diver who has finished a refresher course. It covers a lot of the things that Open Water classes don't have time to cover in a lot of depth (no pun intended) but that are essential to safe, fun diving. The author discusses every topic of interest to the newly certified diver, from continuing education to selecting gear. The writing style is pleasant and easy to read. I would even recommend the book to those who are not yet certified, because it will give them a good overview of issues to consider as a new diver.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Read and learn to get the most out of your C-card, June 17, 2004
By 
Bob Welch (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Certified Diver's Handbook: The Complete Guide to Your Own Underwater Adventures (Paperback)
Learn to maximize those diving skills you were taught and truly make your diving adventures what they should be; safe and fun. Clay Coleman has put together his experience, skills, and plenty of helpful hints that go far beyond what you can ever learn in a dive course. Be ahead of the pack while developing your skills and planning your dive adventures. This book is a must for new divers as well as experienced divers.
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