Diving Cozumel, 2nd Edition

I like guide books and picked this and picked this one for a trip to Mexico. Broken down very well by dive site location an general overview (depth, skill level) together with a description of the dive sites in terms of formations and marine life. It is a very good overall guide that you can skim during a plane flight to see what you might be interested in going to and pretty accurate based on the places I have been to.

Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Diving Cozumel by diving expert and underwater photographer Steve Rosenberg is a gorgeous, descriptive, and illustrated tour of the drift driving seen in the exceptionally clear waters of the Mexican island of Cozumel. Covering 33 of the best shore and boat dive sites in intricate detail, along with basic information on where to stay, dine, and shop, and a chapter devoted to the Mayan ruins on the nearby Yucatan Peninsula, Diving Cozumel is a handy and practical guide. The stunning color photographs also allow armchair travelers a virtual tour of some of the most amazing seascapes to be found.

So what makes a good dive guide? Certainly those cheap books which are heavy on photos but short on information leave much to be desired. Then there are those which cover the diving - and nothing else, and once again they leave the potential visitor with an awful lot of questions. Some publishers need to learn that there is so much more to a diving guide than just information on diving and plenty of pretty underwater pictures to pad out the content. Firstly, there is all the information the visitor needs to know long before departure; Seasons, weather, currency, climate, dining, accommodation, entry & exit requirements (and charges.), driving, shopping, and time difference - and all that before we come to whetting the appetite on what may be found underwater. Aqua Quest set the highest standards and demand all contributing authors maintain those standards at all times. I am, therefore, not surprised to find yet another excellent guide book from their stable - and yet another which contains just the right amount of detail on all those points which need to be covered. The book itself measures 10" x 7" containing 120 pages of exactly what we require from a first class guide book for scuba divers. It is well laid out and easy to follow beginning with an introduction to the Island of Cozumel itself which is both informative and interesting to read. This is followed by chapters which cover all the aforementioned information before getting down to the subject of Diving. Here Rosenberg very skilfully sets the scene for anyone contemplating a scuba diving visit with paragraphs on shore, cavern and boat diving in addition to coverage of those less frequented sites. Rounded off with all the additional information such as marine life, emergency and useful numbers etc, this book certainly does not leave the potential visitor looking for more information. In short, once again the combination of Rosenberg and Aqua Quest have combined to produce an excellent product. NM

I have been diving for over 30 years and my wife had never done scuba until she got "hooked" in Cozumel a little over a year ago. She certified and I recertified over the last year and did a bit of local diving here in the Carolinas and in Florida. We decided to go back to Cozumel this last year and started to look around for the best reference book on the subject. We decidedly are most happy to report that this book has to be the best of its kind out there. There was not one time that it led us down the wrong path. I won't comment on our accommodations because they were wonderful and quiet, and we would like to keep them that way.

Unlike the poorly-written, insubstantial dive guides published under the Pisces name, the Aqua Quest dive guides are generally thorough and well written. Diving Cozumel by Steve Rosenberg is no exception. A dive guide without good photographs is useless, and Rosenberg's photography is worth the price of the book. Like the other Aqua Quest guides, this book includes a helpful chapter on Cozumel hotels, restaurants, and sites that will save you from having to buy a separate guidebook for above water. All the well-known dive sites are covered, and I found the descriptions to be accurate