Product Description

For millions of Americans, diving offers the chance to get away from everyday life and enter a world of stunning natural beauty and fascinating complexity. And getting started is a breeze! Anyone can learn to dive safely and explore the world’s wondrous oceans – all it takes is a little training and basic equipment.

Scuba Diving & Snorkeling For Dummies presents all the fundamentals for anyone interested in getting dive certified or just looking for good snorkeling while on vacation. Written by PADI-Certified diver John Newman, this friendly guide covers everything you need to know to:

• Get certified
• Plan a great diving trip
• Save money on equipment
• Dive or snorkel safely

This user-friendly guide starts by helping you evaluate your underwater skills and walking you step by step through a typical certification program. Once you’re certified, it helps you pick a dive site, purchase and set up your equipment, and take care of any fears you might have. Then you’ll discover what to expect on your first dive – from which creatures are dangerous to how to protect fragile sea life. Scuba  Diving & Snorkeling For Dummies also covers these topics and more:

• Free diving
• Special breathing techniques
• Emergency procedures
• How to avoid the bends
• Handling dive anxiety
• The physics and chemistry of diving
• Staying healthy on dive trips
• Ocean ecosystems
• Rip tides and tidal waves
• Ten great dive destinations

In addition to beautiful full-color photography and all the information you need to plan a dive trip, the book also includes a handy appendix of dive organizations and publications, as well as a CD-ROM sampler from PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors). Whether you’re a novice diver or an old hand, Scuba Diving & Snorkeling For Dummies is perfect for anyone who wants to see the beauty of the ocean from a fish’s point of view.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #247739 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 376 pages

From the Back Cover
"… it inspires and instructs. I give it a top recommendation for anyone who's intrigued by our oceans' environments." — Jean-Michel Cousteau "No secret handshakes or eyebrow-raised buzz words to dazzle you; just solid info with some fun thrown in." — Gary P. Joyce, Editor, Sport Diver Magazine "If you've ever dreamed of diving into the world of undersea adventure, but weren't sure where to start, Scuba Diving & Snorkeling For Dummies^® is the book for you!" — John Cronin, CEO, PADI

Dive Right In with Valuable Offers from PADI, DACOR, and Sport Diver Magazine!

This friendly guide shows you how to dive right into snorkeling and scuba. Veteran diver John Newman leads you step-by-step through pre-dive fundamentals, explains what to expect when you're underwater, and describes options available to you after you get your feet wet. CD-ROM System Requirements: 486 or faster PC with Windows 3.1 or later; 4MB RAM; 256 color, 640x480 resolution display; Windows-compatible sound card; double-speed (2X) or faster CD-ROM drive; 25MB free hard drive space

Inside, Find In-Depth Advice on How to:

• Buy or rent the right equipment without going broke
• Get in the swim with masks, snorkels, fins, wetsuits, regulators, and tanks
• Understand what it takes to get certified — the quick and easy way
• Snorkel and dive safely — and stay cool in emergency situations
• Plan a trip to one of the twenty finest dive spots in the world
• Investigate advanced diving options — from photography to cave exploration

About the Author
About the Author John Newman, a PADI-Certified diver, was the Editor and Art Director of Dive Travel magazine for ten years. He travels and dives all over the world and contributes regularly to Sport Diver magazine. John is also an avid surfer, waveskier, and kayaker who has won five Phelan Literary Awards for his fiction.

Customer Reviews

A bit dated, but definitely not just for dummies
Whoever thought of the "for Dummies" concept ought to get an extra-special award. Sure, there are some who won't touch one of those books with their trademark yellow and black covers just because of the "for Dummies" designation, but they are wrong. The "for Dummies" books are anything but. I mean, they have "Calculus for Dummies"! And quite a few of the "for Dummies" books are on my bookshelf, though I do not necessarily consider myself one.

What you do get in every "for Dummies" book is a no-nonsense, friendly and sort of jovial piece of reading material that treats you like a friend. They all follow a formula, of course, but it is a good one as long as the somewhat silly graphics (paragraphs are usually marked as "dive talking," "save diving," "tip," "technical stuff," and so on; it gets old quickly) and the occasional rather forced attempts at being simple and friendly without talking down to the reader doesn't turn you off. If you can see beyond that, "Scuba Diving & Snorkling for Dummies" is a very useful introduction to diving that covers everything.

Make no mistake, this book is serious. Everything you need to know is there. But instead of presenting it in a lecturing tone or making things look as complicated as possible (all too many authors like to do that in an effort of coming across as true experts), this book tries to explain everything in simple, everyday language. And succeeds admirably.

It starts with an introduction to all diving equipment and how to use it. Then explains what you need and what to look out for. It then explains dive training and all the basics and more advanced matters it covers. It then goes into setting up your gear for real world diving, how to enter the water, navigate, and dive. Physics and physiology are explained, as well as all the potential problems and illnesses that can happen. All of the world's oceans are described, as well as waves, currents and general water behavior. The book also goes into what to find and expect underwater (and that includes a nicely done 14-page color photo section), how to behave, and what can be dangerous. It explains how to find trips, how to travel, and the different kinds of dives, as well as the major locations and what they offer and require. The book closes with recommendations and pages of links and resources.

As many "for Dummies" books, this one includes a CD. In this case one that contains the PADI "open water diving" lectures, but not all of them. You do get a taste of what it's like, but for now an incomplete one, and one that dates back to 1999 (the latest version of the PADI Open Water course includes a DVD with much more video). In my case, that only fueled my resolve to get the real thing!

If you're okay with the special "for Dummies" formula, this book discusses everything you need to know about diving. I do wish, though, that they'd update the book with a new CD. Even dummies like current stuff.

Good enough for me.
I'm not quite sure why this book got such terrible reviews...okay, so it's not extremely detailed, but what did you expect? It's for beginners, not advanced divers. I just got it as a refresher, plus it has some good information on dive sites. I recommend!

What a useless book!!!!
I found this book to be totally useless. I just tells you how to go to a dive shop and get certified. There is almost no useful instruction in the whole book. Just go get certified and you can skip the book. I expected info on using the dive tables or other specific info, however, I found it completely lacking anything you don't get in a basic open water class. I guess if you want to be told the kind of things you will learn in a dive class go ahead. This book does not compare with the other books in the "Dummies" Series. Don't waste your money.