Best Dives of the Caribbean

A "must have" reference for any Caribbean dive vacationer. I've got the first edition as well and have used it to choose many of our dive trips over the past 5 yrs. It's by no means a compressive guide, and it doesn't pretend to be one. The best feature of this guide is the brief overview of diving and snorkeling and the descriptions of top dive sites at the destination. I prefer to use active internet forums for current reviews of hotels and dive operators, but the listings in Best Dives does help me narrow down to just a few to consider.

love this book. My dive vacations are strickly to take underwater photos and being able to plan ahead makes my life so much easier. It gives me the airlines, the resorts with prices, when I can expect good weather. It's like having a personal travel planner. I would not plan a Caribbean dive trip without consulting this trustworthy book.

The new, 2006, third edition of Best Dives of the Caribbean is packed full of dive-vacation planning information. It tells what time of year to go, the most popular dive sites with details on what to expect, depths, average sea conditions-- I get seasick if it's rough and prefer diving where the sites are ten minutes or less by boat, or better yet accessible from the beach. Indeed, some of the other one-desination guides are more suitable for the coffee table, but they don't tell me anything about the dive resorts, the $$ cost. I would not consider planning a dive-vacation to the Caribbean without consulting this gem of a travel guide. The dive resort write ups are detailed and give rates and package deals. Any, the author gives an email for additional questions.

I thought this was one of the best books for the travelling diver that I have ever read. A recent trip to Aruba proved it. Recommendations are still right on the mark.

I have bought both editions of this book, mostly because the first edition got so dog-eared that I wanted a clean one for vacation last year. The book is a marvelous source of information for both the snorkeler and the diver. The authors divide the book into chapters on individual islands, starting out with a brief but interesting history of the island, a topographical description, relative location map, best time to go, weather, and proximity to other islands. They then rate the island's diving locations, awarding from 1 to 5 stars, and provide another larger map visually locating the sites. Each site is described in detail, with info on depth, sea life, currents, visibility, photo ops and difficulty level. As if that weren't enough, they include some (but not enough!) beautiful photos, and end each chapter with yet more info on dive operators (detailed), beaches, other activities, dining, accommodations (with rates, addresses and phone numbers), medical facilities, documentation requirements, currency, driving, local customs, departure taxes, etc. I've been exploring the Caribbean for almost a decade now; I take this compact book with me everywhere. My only complaint: I wish they covered more islands!