Customer Reviews:
 Great Photos, but otherwise very disappointing. December 17, 2004
The title of any book is an indication of the content and "Top Dive Sites of the World" is a very big claim. Of course, any personal selection claiming "the best of" will always be subjective. My list will be different from yours and neither of us is either right or wrong - it is simply a matter of personal choice coupled with our own diving experiences.
This book is laid out in 7 general areas of the World; The Caribbean, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Indo Pacific and Pacific. Straight away, as we enter the Caribbean, we find two of the world's most outstanding dive destinations are not even mentioned in passing. Not only is Belize (home of the world's second largest Barrier Reef "and" the Great Blue Hole) not even mentioned, the country itself is not even shown on this publisher's map of the world. Next up, the "Atlantic Ocean" is reduced to Scapa Flow and the Canary Islands. The Mediterranean is confined to Sardinia alone - and once again countries such as Malta do not even appear on the map. Predictably, the Red Sea includes the Thistlegorm - but not the Rosalie Moller, which many divers regard as a much better shipwreck.
Of course I could go on about what is missing from the remainder of the book - but the point is made. Too many of the world's acknowledged "Top" dive sites and destinations are missing from this book to allow it's title of "Top Dive Sites of the World" to go unchallenged. "My favourite dives from around the World" would have been a more honest title.
My second criticism is content. The text is not well written and, for example, the section on Scapa Flow tells us nothing whatsoever about any specific shipwreck - and "shipwrecks" are the very reason why divers go there in the first place! It is just an overview of the Flow which takes up less than 2 pages of text. Elsewhere, such outstanding shipwrecks as Egypt's Thistlegorm (and a whole book has been written about that particular wreck!), is reduced to a few words.
In summary, a good book for pretty pictures but these tend to mask an otherwise disappointing book.
NM
|
