Scuba Compendium

Only available in e-book form, this is the presentation in one volume of four books in Simon Pridmore's Scuba series: Scuba Fundamental, Scuba Confidential, Scuba Exceptional and Scuba Professional. In musical terms, Scuba Compendium is a re-mastering and repackaging of the original albums rather than a greatest hits or a Best of compilation. The books were written and published over a period of eight years and each book was designed for divers at a particular point in their diving life. Listed in the order they were written, the audience for Scuba Confidential was the general population of divers; Scuba Professional was for those thinking of making a career out of the sport; Scuba Fundamental was for non-divers and beginners and Scuba Exceptional was for more experienced divers. The idea was not to create a series. It just turned out that way. A number of topics merited inclusion for multiple groups of readers - rebreathers and surface safety for example - which meant that there was some unavoidable overlap between the individual books. In Scuba Compendium, the text and chapters have been cleaned up and streamlined to remove any unnecessary repetition and improve continuity. Apart from this, nothing is missing from the four original books and the only new material is an introductory chapter on the philosophy behind the Scuba series. So, if you already own all the books in the Scuba series, from a content point of view you have no need to buy this one. However, from a reference point of view, some readers may find it an advantage to have these four books in one volume where every word or phrase in the series is easily searchable on an e-reader. They are arranged here in the order in which they make sense as a series, following the path from beginner to diver to experienced diver to expert. Scuba Compendium covers the full gamut of the sport diving experience and is a resource that will accompany a scuba diver throughout their career in the sport, wherever it takes them, to be dipped back into from time to time whenever necessary. If you only own one or two books in the series, then you may find Scuba Compendium well worthwhile for another reason too. For instance, if you are not a beginner, you may think you don't need to read Scuba Fundamental, but many experienced divers have found it useful and entertaining. Also, Scuba Professional introduces a number of topics, such as real risk awareness and constructive paranoia, which are just as relevant for amateur divers as they are for professionals. Although the title makes it sound as if Scuba Professional is only for instructors, this is certainly not the case. And, of course, if you have not yet bought any of these four Scuba series books, then this is a great option to buy all of them together with just one click. "Scuba Fundamental is a great book! Simon Pridmore is to be congratulated for this insightful, interesting and honest introduction to scuba diving. He tells it as it is!" John Lippmann, Divers Alert Network "If PADI's Open-Water manual is the Bible of scuba diving, consider this the New Testament." David Espinosa, Editor in Chief, Sport Diver magazines "I so wish Scuba Exceptional had existed when I was in the early days of my diving life nearly 30 years ago!" Phil Short, explorer and pioneer "There is quite simply nothing like Scuba Professional. It is the ultimate backstage pass into the business of scuba." Jill Heinerth, explorer and filmmaker

Scuba Confidential is a unique book packed full of valuable tips and expert advice, giving you unprecedented access to the secrets of dive professionals and technical divers. With Scuba Confidential, you will learn how to master skills and techniques that will make you a more confident, capable and safe diver. It offers an informed, balanced view on some of scuba diving's most contentious issues like going solo, deep diving and rebreathers and includes a comprehensive analysis of how diving accidents happen and how to make sure you do not become a statistic. Scuba Confidential also gives you valuable insights on a vast range of topics such as what it is like to do a cave diving course, how to make sure you buy the right equipment, what to consider when choosing an instructor, things even the pros get wrong and where to find the best diving in the world. This is candid, no-nonsense practical advice from a professional who has been involved over the last three decades with virtually every aspect of the sport. Have you ever wondered? How to look as comfortable in the water as the professionals do? What it is like to dive inside shipwrecks? Which training courses are most worthwhile? If you would make a good technical diver? If you should be considering a rebreather? How you can improve your diving skills? How you can reduce your air consumption? Why diving accidents happen and how to prevent them? Whether you might sometimes actually be safer solo diving? How to dive deep safely? Or How muck diving can possibly be any fun? Scuba Confidential has the answers to these questions and many more.

Edited by the team that compiled the acclaimed online University of Michigan Internet Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resource Guides, this unique 3-volume reference organizes a virtual mall of over ten thousand resources into hundreds of subject groupings familiar to librarians, tells exactly how to find each resource, and provides a critical analysis of each.

Scuba Exceptional is the perfect sequel to Simon Pridmore's Scuba Confidential - An Insider's Guide to Becoming a Better Diver. It reflects the same philosophy of safe diving through the acquisition of knowledge and skills. The themes are new, there are some wonderful and extremely useful new cautionary tales and the focus this time is more on issues that face experienced divers. For example, there is more technical diving content but, as usual, Simon covers complex issues in his usual clear and easy-to-read style. In many cases, the concerns of technical divers reflect those of scuba divers at every level. After all, as he says, technical diving is on the same spectrum as conventional sport diving: it is just a different frequency. Scuba Exceptional also deals in detail with the psychological approach to scuba diving, broaching topics from new angles and borrowing techniques and procedures from other fields of human activity. While most of Scuba Exceptional focuses on the diver, it also takes a look at the wider picture and highlights a number of areas where scuba diving professionals and the “industry” as a whole are letting divers down. As always, Simon is realistic in his assessments. He may shine a little light on the dark side of the scuba diving world, but he does this in order to illuminate bad practice and encourage change, while offering solutions. He also provides insights on a wide range of topics. For instance, do you want to know... what makes someone a good diver? how to swim against a current without getting exhausted? how you can be out of air while you still have plenty to breathe? what the concept of failure points is? how to be a defensive diver? how preconditioning applies to scuba diving? how long you should really wait between diving and flying? when to call DAN (and when not to call)? how corals could possibly be animals when they look like rocks? how to avoid being left behind in the ocean? what’s happening in the world of rebreather diving? or what the perimeter of ignorance is? Scuba Exceptional has the answers to these questions and a lot more

If you do not yet scuba dive but are thinking of learning, then Scuba Fundamental - Start Diving the Right Way is for you. It takes you from the germ of the idea that you might like to try scuba diving up to the point where you have done around 20 dives. This is not your standard how-to scuba diving manual. It is very different. The purpose of Scuba Fundamental is not to teach you how to dive. A dive instructor will do that. But this book will make the learning process much easier. It will help you make the right choices and avoid the pitfalls that await new and uninformed divers coming into the sport.It will also set you well on the road to becoming a capable and competent lifelong diver. Scuba Fundamental tells you how to make sure you are prepared for a scuba diving course and what a good beginners course should entail. It tells you how to choose a good instructor, how to decide which operators to dive with after you have finished your course and what sort of dives you should be doing when you first start diving. You will learn the many ways in which diving will change your life and also acquire some extremely valuable advice on the etiquette involved in the sport. Throughout the book and especially in the chapter "It Happened to Me" you will be entertained, educated and encouraged by anecdotes from people who are now experienced divers but were once beginners too. There is also an entire section devoted to diving safety, much of which covers vitally important aspects of scuba diving that standard training manuals don't emphasise enough or even leave out completely. The book's message is: start scuba diving the right way and you will be relaxed and ready for the adventure. You will have more fun, make fewer mistakes and be confident in the fact that you are well informed, have made the best choices and have spent your money wisely. Scuba Fundamental is a unique, reliable and essential guide: one that you can trust completely and follow during this formative phase of your scuba diving life. "I wish I had had this book to read when I learned to dive. I remember being totally confused." Robin Yao, Executive Editor, EZDIVE magazine "This is the book divers should give to friends when they say they want to learn to scuba dive." Ian Thomas, Scuba Instructor Trainer

The first book in the world to compile definitive basic standards for hotels. Designed as an easy-reference guide with handy tips and instructions to help every hotelier improve and maintain high standards. This title draws on guest experience, industry knowledge and standards laid down by tourist boards and hotels across the world making it probably one of the most definitive and researched titles on hospitality standards. Covering everything from toilets to teapots, driveways to dining rooms, this book is a must have companion for any hotelier.