DIVING THE WORLD IS DESCRIBED by publisher Footprint as 'a fusion of travel and sport for divers of every level'. The book includes descriptions of more than 200 dive sites at most of the main warmwater destinations.
Beth and Shaun Tierney say they selected the dives after asking hundreds of divers where they wanted to dive, so they make no apology for leaving out UK waters, or even some of the more obvious tropical sites.
Unlike many such guidebooks, however, the Footprint edition is very specific about the places it does cover - and this is its great strength.
Refreshingly, the Tierneys are happy to be blunt about the less attractive aspects of some areas. For example, they report that they 'have never been on a liveaboard in the Red Sea that we would recommend to our friends', and warn that some Maldives
resorts 'are mining coral and sand for use as building materials'. Burma, meanwhile, is flagged as having 'one of the worst human rights records in the world.'
Each destination is also given a general overview - as well as very useful information about what to see and do when you are above the water.
Specific diving centres are listed and each dive site is described in detail, including information on depth, visibility, currents and whether snorkelling is an option.
Each country section also has a good map showing where the dive sites are in relation to the other islands or coastal towns - something that is often, and annoyingly, left out of other guides. The Footprint Guide is a genuinely comprehensive and practical handbook for travelling divers.
Tim Ecott

(Footprint Handbooks, ISBN 1904777597). Softback, 352pp, £19.99