Best Books for Scuba Divers
- 100 Dives of a Lifetime
- Fifty places to dive before you die
- The complete diver
- Scuba confidential
- Reef life
- Reef fish identification tropical pacific
- Underwater photography master class
Your scuba diving book collection will hugely depend on what kind of scuba diver you are.
Maybe you are fascinated by the display of marine animals and beautiful corals, leaving your bookshelf being a display of fish identification books (Most of mine fit this category).
Lots of scuba divers want to travel the world and dive in all the best dive sites. If you are one of them, you will find yourself collecting Scuba diving guides about the best places to explore around the globe.
Scuba diving allows you to experience the magnificent underwater world.
Taking courses and going on fun dives, you will witness beautiful marine animals, fascinating wrecks and experience a wide range of conditions.
But what can make Scuba diving even more amazing?
Learning about it!
By improving your education in the underwater world, you can master the skills and knowledge it takes to be a great Scuba diver.
So which books should you own as a Scuba diver? The books discussed in this article include:
- 100 Dives of a Lifetime
- Fifty Places to Dive Before you Die
- The Complete Diver
- Scuba Confidential
- Reef Life
- Reef Fish Identification Tropical Pacific
- Underwater Photography Master Class
1. 100 Dives of a Lifetime: The World’s Ultimate Underwater Destinations
Filled with incredible pictures from National Geographic, this book is one of the top sellers in Scuba Diving. Diving tips from some of the top explorers are included, inspiring scuba divers from beginners to professionals.
What better way to plan your next Scuba diving trip than to flick through a book of incredible photos and descriptions?
This book is incredible as it has something for everyone. From beautiful reef dives to cold water and cave diving, it has it all.
2. Fifty Places to Dive Before you Die
Being a Scuba diver, you might have only dived in your favourite location, or you might want to travel the world and dive in the best spots!
This book is a must-have for those of you who want to experience it all.
Full of amazing underwater pictures, this book shows which dives sites around the world you must dive before you die, and why.
You might be stuck researching where to go on your next diving adventure, with too many plans or none at all. It is the perfect book to provide you with ideas for your next holiday, and even create a scuba diving bucket list!
Flicking through this book is a simple yet exciting way to browse some of the best dive sites around the globe!
Fifty Places to Dive Before you Die- Chris Santella
3. The Complete Diver
You can become a great Scuba diver just by diving a lot and experiencing a range of conditions.
However, to improve your diving skills and knowledge, it is important to understand the history and science behind diving.
Learn the science of diving and how it affects our bodies, to understand in more detail why we have limits and safety procedures. Becoming an expert on safety can ensure you are fully prepared for anything while diving, making you a competent diver and an excellent dive buddy.
The complete dive book is a must-have because it does not tell stories of diving, or tell you where you should dive and why. This book is a scuba diving guide, brushing up on your knowledge and allowing you to truly understand the sport.
The complete diver- Alex Brylske
4. Scuba Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Better Scuba Diver
Do you want to focus on improving your skills and techniques within diving?
Then this book is for you. It guides you through the important steps of becoming a scuba diver, such as improving your diving skills and becoming a professional diver.
One of the best things about this book is that it includes some Scuba diving accident analysis.
By working through how accidents occur, it provides guidance on how to avoid these occurrences, ensuring that you are not a victim. This trains the readers into becoming more aware while diving, decreasing the chances of an emergency.
Another great thing about this guide is that it discusses different diving specialities, helps you to purchase equipment and even consider if you would be right for the instructor course.
Scuba Confidential- Simon Pridmore
5. Reef Life: A Guide to Tropical Marine Life
This book is very popular among Scuba divers. It contains more than 1000 species of marine life with beautiful underwater pictures.
Coming back from a dive, it’s very fun to sit with your dive buddy and flick through this book. The pictures help you identify what you saw during the dive, and learn about the species.
This book is also a favourite of many instructors, to help teach their students about the marine life they’re seeing throughout their course.
There are 800 species to look at in this book, which can help you keep a lookout for new species on your next dive!
Reef life- Brandon Cole, Scott Michael
6. Reef Fish: Identification Tropical Pacific
If you’re into fish identification, this is another great book.
It helps you identify around 2,500 species, with pictures and matching descriptions.
This book is great because it provides the scientific names and identification points to make it easier to decide which species you saw.
Being very popular within the diving community, this book is passed around after a dive, to look at the pictures and learn more about marine life. Many divers have this book to help them with their fish identification.
Instructors also love to go through this book with their students after a dive to increase their knowledge and curiosity about the underwater world.
Photographers are also likely to own this book, to help them identify the subjects in their underwater photos!
Reef fish identification tropical pacific- G. Allen, R. Steene, P. Humann, N. Deloach
7. Underwater Photography Master Class
For those of you who are interested in underwater photography, this is an exceptional guide.
Reading this book, you will learn everything you need to know about being an underwater photographer.
It guides you through different types of cameras, lenses and housings. Photography techniques are discussed and explained. There is even a section explaining strobes and which positions work best in which scenarios.
Not only is this book packed with outstanding knowledge and guidance, but there are also breathtaking photos to match.
Another great thing about this book is that it provides before and after pictures using different strobe techniques and angles.
Underwater Photography Master Class- Alex Mustard
Don’t Forget Your Dive Insurance!
Before you go out on any dive trip or holiday, it is essential to make sure you have insurance that covers you if something goes wrong. Check out our dive insurance article for more information.
Or go straight to these dive insurance company websites:
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Final Thoughts
As mentioned before, your Scuba diving library will hugely depend on what you’re most interested in.
If you love your fish identification, you’ll find yourself purchasing marine biology-based books. Books about diving physics might be more appealing to you if you’re drawn in by the science of diving.
Whichever diving books appeal to you, you should fuel your passion and interests. Diving books don’t have to be purely educational, they can just serve the purpose of providing you with ideas for your next diving holiday.
However, it’s encouraged that you extend your education of diving beyond the basic courses, and reap the benefits of becoming a more confident and more knowledgable diver.
You won’t regret it!
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