The Complete Diving Guide: The Caribbean, Volume 3 (Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands) [Paperback]

Colleen Ryan (Author), Brian Savage (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1998

The Complete Diving Guides to scuba diving in the Eastern Caribbean, including descriptions of ALL dive sites, dive stores and operators. Island maps show the location of dive sites and stores. Dive sites are illustrated by underwater maps and photographs.

Volume 3 gives you everything you ever need to know about scuba diving on these fantastic Caribbean islands:Puerto Rico (including Mona, Desecheo, Vieques and Culebra), US Virgin Islands (St Thomas, St John and St Croix) and the British Virgin Islands (including Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke, Salt Island and HMS Rhone, Cooper Island, Peter Island and Norman Island)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"At last, the Eastern Caribbean has the dive guide it deserves. "

Volume I covers the Caribbean Islands from Dominica to Tobago. The first book of its kind for the area, The Complete Diving Guide - The Caribbean Volume 1 by Colleen Ryan and Brian Savage is meticulously researched and packed with useful information. The book describes over 240 dive sites and covers 50 extensively, and includes full-color underwater site plans.

All in all, the guide contains everything a diver needs to know to decide which island to dive and where to stay, which operators to dive with, which sites to visit, what to expect to see and even which camera lenses to use to capture on film what you actually see. " -- PADI Undersea Journal - First Quarter 1998

"The Complete Diving Guide - The Caribbean (Volume 1) is exactly what it professes to be. Intended to be the first in a series, it looks at the southern islands of the Eastern Caribbean. Each chapter starts with a short island introduction followed by a very specific description of the dive sites, operators and hotels.

The write-ups of the dive sites are full of interesting personal experiences. The rest of the chapter provides just the sort of information you need, such as which operators have english speaking dive guides and which recognise the depth limitations of BSAC rather than PADI.

Throughput the book's 390 information-packed pages are numerous interesting side panels. One describes the ships that sank in St. Pierre Harbour on Martinique when Mount Pelee erupted in 1902. The resulting dive sites sound so fascinating that I at once booked a trip to the island. Surely this is the acid test of a dive guide?" -- Diver Magazine, October 1998, Brendan O'Brien

"This book on the area is a must for visitors and tour group leaders" -- PADI Undersea Journal - Second Quarter 1998

From the Author

We are PADI dive instructors and combine our love of diving with sailing aboard our yacht Theta Volantis. We arrived in the Caribbean in 1994 anticipating a few years of sailing and diving the Eastern Caribbean Islands. We soon found that there were no detailed diving guides that would enable us to decide where we would find the type of diving we enjoy.

We wanted to know which islands had good visibility and sheltered sites suitable for underwater photography; which had the steep walls and fast drifts that would give us exciting diving; which had good wrecks; which islands should we take our novice friends to; and where would we find sites we could dive independently from our yacht?

Because we were able to sail from island to island on our yacht we were fortunate to be able to sample the diving everywhere. But we realised that someone planning a vacation would not have that opportunity and by then we had discovered how different the diving was on each of the islands and what a wide range of quality of service was offered by the dive operators. So, in the absence of a truly comprehensive and objective guide, we decided to write one.

The Complete Diving Guide Series is the result of 5 years researching the diving in the Eastern Caribbean. We spent months on each island instead of the normal one or two week vacation that most people have, so we were able to study the diving and the operators in depth. We did some great diving and gained a real insight into the diving business in this region. In the course of our research we met many diving vacationers and often, in the absence of good information, they had not made the best choice of island (or even the best location on that island) for their particular diving needs.

We have written the type of diving guide we wanted to be able buy and we hope that our readers can make better informed decisions about their choice of diving vacation in the Eastern Caribbean.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Cruising Guide Publications (March 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944428495
• ISBN-13: 978-0944428498
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Travel > Caribbean > Puerto Rico
  • #82 in Books > Travel > Caribbean > Virgin Islands

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very comprehensive guide to the Virgin Islands, July 31, 2000

By 

Bill Hunnisett (St Thomas, US Virgin Islands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Diving Guide: The Caribbean, Volume 3 (Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands) (Paperback)

I have been meaning to review this book for some time as it is one of the most thumbed books on our book shelf. My wife and I run a charter yacht in the Virgin Islands and many of our guests are keen divers. We bought The Complete Diving Guide for our own use initially but it has since become part of the yacht's library as our guests find it so useful and enjoyable to read. (as our copy is getting rather worn I'm pleased to say that many of them buy their own copy after having seen ours). It is rare to find a book that is so comprehensive and which presents a vast amount of information in such a readable manner. In particular we find the island and dive site maps useful along with the descriptions of the dives and the underwater route maps. I can direct our guests at the tyupe of dive that I think they would enjoy and they can read about it beforehand. They can also choose the dive store they would like to use. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone planning to do some diving in the Virgin Islands (it even covers the Spanish Virgin Islands).

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ultimate dive guide, July 26, 2000

By 

S J Pocock - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Diving Guide: The Caribbean, Volume 3 (Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands) (Paperback)

I'd definitely give this guide full marks. It's without doubt the most comprehensive of the guides I looked at for the area I was travelling to (the Virgin Islands). It had everything we could have wanted to know and it definitely meant we did some better diving than we'd have done without it. We particularly liked that it gave us information about the British and US Virgin Islands and as they are less than 5 miles apart it's simple to dive both areas. They have some really different types of diving and we'd have missed out on a lot without the guide. We bought the book before we went but we took it along with us and used it all the time. One of the things we enjoyed reading was the descriptions of the dives and the sections about the marine life. We've been diving for over 10 years and I've learnt more from this book than I have in my previous years of diving.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what it says on the cover., November 1, 2001

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Complete Diving Guide: The Caribbean, Volume 3 (Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands) (Paperback)

Once again we have an excellent and very useful publication aimed at amateur and professional diver alike. This is a true guide which concentrates on providing all the relevant and peripheral information that any Scuba Diver will want to know in respect of any of the Caribbean destinations covered. The maps and diagrams are particularly useful - and very easy to follow.

We live in an age where diving instructors and dive guides "have" to know what they are doing and it is interesting to see those professionals are using this book and not any of the glossy alternatives. Sadly, we also live in an age where many diving publications fall short. Too much false information - and even total lack of information is hidden behind excellent underwater photographs as publisher after publisher seeks to beguile, confuse and even mislead the potential buyer. Not so with this book!

My direct experience has been to find this series of books contain exactly the information divers require before during and even after their trip. Very well written, it includes all the general information on diving, facilities, climate, sea, regulations, boats, cruise liners, resorts, hotels, flora, fauna, shipwrecks, photography and safety. It then moves on to cover each of the target Caribbean countries which are the main subject of the book before concluding with a Glossary, Bibliography and Accident and Emergency Information.

We can all find pretty pictures on the internet - without even having to pay to see them. Information, however, especially reliable information, is much harder to find. If you are contemplating a trip to any of the countries featured in this book, you will find all - and I do mean "ALL" the information you require right here. That might be at the expense of some pretty pictures - but hey, once you get there, you can take those yourself.

In summary, once again we have "A Complete Guide" - which is exactly what it says on the cover.

NM