Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations [Hardcover]

Chris Santella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

The earth’s oceans hold many wondrous surprises—be they the small, colorful “critters” off the coast of Papua New Guinea, opportunistic red demon squids in the Sea of Cortes, or naval wrecks in the lagoon of Bikini Atoll. In Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die Chris Santella has invited diving experts from around the world to share some of their favorite destinations, so ardent divers can experience these underwater wonders for themselves—either on location in their SCUBA gear, or at home in their armchair.

 

The fifth in Santella’s bestselling “Fifty Places” series, the book takes divers from hot-spot destinations like Raja Ampat (off the coast of West Guinea) to old Caribbean favorites like Grand Cayman Isles. Readers will swim among whale sharks off Myanmar, befriend wolf eels off the coast of Maine, and marvel at the giant mola mola of Lembognan, Indonesia. These wonderful creatures—plus the brilliant coral reefs that often provide their backdrop—are captured in 40 gorgeous color photos from the world’s greatest underwater photographers. And for readers who want to travel to these breathtaking locales, Santella provides complete “If You Go” suggestions to help you plan your trip.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chris Santella is a freelance writer and marketing consultant based in Portland, Oregon. A regular contributor to the New York Times and Forbes.com, he has also contributed to the New Yorker, Travel & Leisure, Golf, American Lawyer, and Delta Sky. Santella is the author of four other titles in the “Fifty Places” series, as well as Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales (all STC). 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang; NULL edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158479710X
• ISBN-13: 978-1584797104
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Nature Travel > Adventure > Scuba
  • #9 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Scuba
  • #9 in Books > Travel > Reference & Tips > Guidebooks

More About the Author

Chris Santella is a freelance writer and marketing consultant whose work has appeared in the New York Times among other publications. He is also the author of Stewart, Tabori and ChangÂ’s Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die, Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die, and Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing of substance here..., January 2, 2009

By 

Beth A. Hutter "travelingbabe" (Redford, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations (Hardcover)

I bought this for my husband for Christmas. We're avid divers, and I thought it would a book that would inspire us to travel to different places to dive. I found nothing of substance here- not a lot of detail about either the places or pictures that would inspire someone to travel to these places. Save your money...

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun book for a cold day, January 13, 2009

By 

Dive Girl "trapezium4" (charlottesville, va) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it cover to cover within 2 days. It's a fast read. Each dive site gets about a 2 and 1/2 page description (some destinations get slightly more) with a dive expert giving a brief vignette on some of the highlights they have encountered at the site. The sites range from novice-friendly to much more complicated (for example, the first site listed is in Antarctica... not exactly luxury warm weather diving!!), but there is enough here to entertain divers of all levels.

If you are looking for an in depth analysis of a dive site, this probably isnt the right book for you. The descriptions are just too brief to use the book for that purpose. But if you're just looking for ideas... or if you have a particular large sea creature you are dying to sea (i.e. mola molas, humpbacks, various shark species), the book does a good job of pointing out places where you are more-likely to encounter them. It also hits on dive spots where the macro life is the highlight.

In response to one other's reviewers comments about not having a Red Sea or a Cuba destination, that comment is inaccurate. The Red Sea destination mentioned is Sha'ab Rumi, a location off the coast of Sudan. The author recommends a live aboard boat for this trip. For Cuba, the author recommends Jardines de la Reina, though he cautions US citizens who travel there that they do so at their own risk.

All in all, a fun book to read on a chilly winter day with a cup of coffee and a tired dog asleep at your feet (at least that's how I did it!).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars mostly advertising, no real images, March 17, 2011

By 

Constant Reader (Gloucester MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations (Hardcover)

This book consists of 50 "experts" writing 2-3 short pages on their favorite dive spots... there's no single expert or guiding hand in terms of picking the places, it's random. There's one photo per section and they seem to be stock images for the most part, mostly set above the water line... girl lying on beach, girl seen from above snorkelling, whale's tail as it dives etc. Some of the experts really ARE experts, like Stan Waterman, but many others are simply people who own dive shops and... surprise!... recommend their top spot as the place their dive shop services. There are even a few who are clearly simply flogging their dive safari/specialized trips. You're paying an awful lot for a book with no original images which basically consists of advertising.