Diving Southeast Asia: A Guide to the Best Dive Sites in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand (Periplus Action Guides)

By: David Espinosa   List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $14.02 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days   Go to Amazon

Book Description:

Product Details:

• Amazon Sales Rank: 713025
• Date Published: 2003-03-15
• Publisher: Periplus Editions
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Customer Reviews

Really enjoyed flipping through this

Picking this up was a spur of the moment decision and one I'm quite happy with. As only an occasional diver (pesky right eustacian tube) there isn't much chance I'll get to even a quarter of the sites listed here but by golly there are a lot. All sorts of mouth water bits of info are slung the readers way and if you want some inspiration for your next dive holiday then flicking through this book is certainly a great way to make your credit cards quake in fear.

As to specifics, the book is well set out, nicely presented with lots of lovely photos and has plenty of information for budding dive holiday takers. Of course in any work of this kind there is always going to be the issue of information becoming out of date and therefore you really shouldn't take every contact detail etc provided here as gospel, but for heavens sake you are going to do some checking of this sort of stuff before you go so it's unlikely to ruin your holiday.

There is a reference section included with contact details and further reading as the icing on the cake and really, the main reason I'm giving this only four stars is due to the inherent risk of obsolescence in such a work and also the fact that nation specific guides are now available for most of the countries mentioned in briefer format in this catch all work.

Lots of detailed info & resources. Sloppy editing.

This book is Pre -tsunami. & Pre-enviromental-ban for Sipadan

CONS:
1) This edition is basically the same as the 2nd edition. If you have #2 then you don't really need #3. Just call ahead and make sure the LDS info is correct.

2) Although some of the information may have been updated since the 2nd edition, sloppy editing ruins the book. Maps are not on the page indexed and are not on the page referred to in the paragraph. You'd really expect better editing and not just #2 regurgitated with add-on info.

3) Many of the contributors also have their own Dive Guide/Book published, so you may find some duplicate info.

4) Doesn't list all major dive shops in the area, (but it comes pretty close). Doesn't list dive shops on the smaller islands (not even reputable ones).

5) Publishing company extremely rude (Periplus Singapore) and unhelpful to the public when called at the number listed.

PROS:
1) Maps of the entire region are very helpful especially if you want to be sure whether you are diving island 3 or island 4a. & your dive guide doesn't know - unfortunately happens more than you think since everyone wants to do their divemaster/instructor training course here. Just show the boat captain the map and he'll tell you.

2) This book packs a lot of detailed info on each and every area and dive site. All you need is a Guide that knows where the fish are and how to get back to the boat.

3) This book often contains more pertinent and detailed info than many "single area" books out there.

4) All the contributors are highly respected and very well-known in their own areas and beyond. Most are regular contributors to dive magazines and have their own guides published. Some still take groups out despite owning their own dive shop, travel agency, internet cafe, Tshirt stand, satay and fruit juice stall.

5) Good quality photos and paper.

6) Nice map of the region inside the front cover.

Overall one of the better dive books out there. You will find this one really helpful for:
*Planning dive trips in S.E. Asia
*Knowing where you are
*What to look out for at a site/area
*Alternative dive resources for S.E. Asia (Lists of websites diving & otherwise).

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