Customer Reviews

Complete Wreck Diving: A Guide to Diving Wrecks

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My very first reaction on receiving this book was one of considerable disappointment. According to the brief biographies on the back cover, the two co-authors were set to compliment each other in providing an excellent product with Keatts being the oceanographic and historic expert and Skerry the National Geographic standard photographer. In addition, I personally regard books produced by Aqua Press as being amongst the world's best on the subject of scuba diving. Unfortunately, on this occasion, all three have fallen a long way short of the mark.

None of the photographs within the book are in colour, few are sharp. Furthermore, the reproduction of those pictures is of an inferior quality. The type set is large and the paper quality also poor. These are the standards of scuba diving books from over 40 years ago and are no longer acceptable. Not a very good start and anyone browsing this book in a bookstore is unlikely to purchase.

Had this book been about a specific collection of wrecks in a certain area or about artefacts taken from wrecks, I might have understood the purpose of the product. Instead, the book seeks to teach the reader about Wreck Diving and I took delivery in the expectation of learning something about that subject. I may have been an active wreck diver for well over 30 years, but all experience is relative and I am always willing to learn from others. In many instances throughout this work, the co-authors are reliant on poorly reproduced photographs to convey a message. If I were to summarise that message in one word it would have to be "obscure!"

Quite frankly, these authors have both the experience and the abilities to provide a much better product and I suggest they go back to the drawing board and start again.

NM

When I first leafed through this book, I mistakenly thought that it would be a dry read. I was wrong. This book provides a wealth of information: particularly on finding and identifying wrecks. It gave great insight into where to find information about wrecks; right down to the places and addresses where maritime archives are stored and how to perform research. Informative descriptions of equipment give the reader a good foothold of knowledge to start planning dives & searches.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in wreck diving, especially if you've dreamed of finding that virgin wreck site but didn't know where to start or what resources are available.

This is a well written overview of techniques and information on wreck diving:that being said, it will never replace a decently taught course from an organization such as NAUI, PADI, SSI, or BSAC. By all means, buy this book! It's a teriffic addition to any diver's library. It does *not* take the place of a wreck diver's certification course.

Complete Wreck Diving does a great service to those of us who are looking to dive deeper with each year. Step by step it takes you through preparations for your trip and gives you peace of mind enough to make a safe dive. I strongly suggest reading this before attempting a deep sea wreck dive. Very informative overall! I particularly enjoyed the photographs.

This is a fine book full of good information on how to safely enjoy diving on shipwrecks. The authors, wreck diving Professor Henry Keatts, world class photographer and Wreck Diver Brian Skerry (National Geographic, People, etc.) are the perfect duo to write such a work.

The book contains many fine pictures and illustrations acompanied by a wonderfully descriptive and informative text. This is a must have for the bookshelf of any aspiring or experienced wreck diver

It follows another books shape of covering everything from A to Z, preparation, boat trips, equip selection and configuration, planning, diving, bends, etc etc etc, doing a step by step way to share with you a great quantity of info about wreck diving. I wreck dive, i've read it, and i found it a good book.

This book is well written, and nicely organized. It contains considerable photos and diagrams to enhance the reading experience. Its contents are diverse, and yet detailed. It has no short commings in describing the origins of wrecks, and how to dive for wrecks. Hence, the book is a 5-star. This book is not the end-all books on wreck diving, but is a good read. Possibly, a second book could be suggested. Wreck Diving Two (for example.) Yet, this was well worth my time and money to get this book, and read it.

Although not complete from a technical diving aspect, this is a great primer on how to start a research project. There are ample examples of historical resources, of what to do if one finds a wreck, how to lay claim, etc. Overall alot of good information on wreck diving.

A good book. It answered several of my questions and answered questions that I didn't know to ask. NOT a substitute for training but a good addition. It actually increased my interest in wreck diving. Also an easy read and suggests many places to find wreck to dive on.

I was expecting to learn something about the subject of wreck diving. A book titled "Complete Wreck Diving" should be more than a general overview of the subject with little details or specifics. The author thought it was important to let his readers know at great detail that it would be important to learn how to read a chart to find a shipwreck. In a word Duh!

This book would have been better titled "Wreck Diving for Dummies" there is very little here that a diver contemplating wreck diving would not have thought about and there is very little information in this book on the subject.

While that may be a harsh review I did read the whole book and I enjoyed the last chapter on artifact restoration, it had real world solutions to real problems. A beginning wreck diver might want this book to at least learn what the questions are that would require some other book or books to answer.