SCUBA DIVING IS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE introduction to the sport, and nicely produced in typical Eyewitness Companions style.
At more than 300 pages, there is ample space for DIVER regulars Monty Halls and Miranda Krestovnikoff to explain everything from masks to wetsuits, torches and lift-bags and pretty much everything else a diver might need.
For anyone with a friend or child set to take up diving, this book provides a useful, comprehensive overview of the sport. It won't replace a PADI manual, or teach an experienced diver very much about what kind of kit they can buy, but it answers many of the simple questions new divers might be afraid to ask - like how to change a regulator hose.
The final third of the book, entitled 'Places to Dive', is the section I found most surprising. The Red Sea is represented by the Brothers, Dahab and the Thistlegorm, while Africa contains Gansbaai ('a rare chance to see the ultimate marine predator - the great white shark'), Aliwal Shoal, Sodwana Bay and Protea Banks. Elsewhere there is information on Iceland and Russia's White Sea.
These destinations smack of places the authors have visited on assignment rather than genuine options for the novice diver. Other dive spots described include many of the best areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as Lundy Island and Scapa Flow in the UK.
Although Halls and Krestovnikoff are the authors of this guide, the style is completely factual and workmanlike, leaving no clues as to which diver wrote the various sections.
Tim Ecott

(DK, ISBN 9781405312943). Softback, 344pp, £14.99