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Dive - The Ultimate Guide: 60 of the World's Top Dive Locations by Monty Halls
Dive - The Ultimate Guide: 60 of the World's Top Dive Locations by Monty Halls
Monty Halls - known to readers as expedition leader of Full Circle Expeditions - has now produced Dive - The Ultimate Guide.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Halls describes the book as a 'labor [sic] of love' although, given that he is English and the book is published here, I don't understand why American spelling creeps in.
Â?Â?Â?Â? The scope of this book is huge - it even has a chart giving the relative volume and depths of the world's oceans. Comprehensive information on each destination's best diving season and the expected visibility are also provided. At the back of the book is a useful list of diving clubs and marine conservation organisations.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Most readers will be more interested in the choice of diving sites, which cover most of the usual suspects, with a few surprises thrown in.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Alongside the Red Sea (Thistlegorm, the Brothers, Sha'ab Rumi), he features Brazil's lesser-known Fernando de Noronha. In Australia he is not content to stick to the Barrier Reef but also features Ningaloo on the West Coast and the Neptune Islands to the south.
Â?Â?Â?Â? British sites include Scapa, Porthkerris and Lundy. Some choices veer towards 'odd', such as Lake Malawi, which I know Monty enjoys. I suspect few divers would go there just to dive.
Â?Â?Â?Â? There is probably not enough information on any one destination for the book to merit the 'ultimate' tag, but Halls has produced a very useful tool as a starting point for planning many trips. Like any guide that tries to span the globe, it will appeal to divers' aspirations rather than being a traveller's handbook.
Â?Â?Â?Â? The Ultimate Guide is heavily illustrated with work from many well-known photographers and the design is clean and appealing. This will make a very good gift for any diver with wanderlust.
Tim Ecott
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Dive - The Ultimate Guide: 60 of the World's Top Dive Locations by Monty Halls (Ultimate Sports, ISBN 0954519914). Hardback, 320pp, £20
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