Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114714 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-22
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

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.

  About the Author
  

  Clay Coleman (Baton Rouge, LA) has been scuba diving since 1973 and is a freelance undersea photojournalist for national magazines. His photos have appeared in Sport Diver, Scuba Diving, and Boating Life.

Customer Reviews

Certified Diver's Handbook
One of the most useful, informative publications I have ever seen on the subject of scuba diving. Coleman has packed a lot of extremely useful stuff into one place. This book is mandatory for all new divers and useful for divers of all experience levels.

very upset
the idiots who put this book together placed a segment of 35 pages in upside down and backwards.... who lets that kind of mistake pass thru quality control. there was no info on my invoice like a number to call or a place to email to complain and return the book. This book was under the description as "NEW." Very upset with Amazon lately.

Great review book for scuba diving basics.
The Certified Diver's Handbook is a wonderful reivew book for all divers, new and old school. This book provides a great reference for new divers to continue improving their diving habits. It's also a good review book for divers who do not have the opportunity to dive on a regular basis.