Top Wreck Dives of the World

Many divers aspire to the technical skills needed to dive shipwrecks. This book is geared toward getting those divers to stop saying “someday” and enroll in a wreck diver specialty course. Editor Jack Jackson gathered a group of wreck diving enthusiasts, including notables like Bob Halstead and Scottish diving pioneer Lawson Hood, to write about their favorite wreck dives. They’re grouped by the regional waters they lie in, from the major graveyards of Truk and Scapa Flow to overlooked wrecks in New Zealand and South Africa.

Jackson, a British dive guide writer and editor who ran a Red Sea dive boat for 12 years, starts the book with a brief introduction to wreck-diving safety, navigation and photography. Not every wreck in the world is listed – Jackson has picked the most interesting specimens, from shallow wrecks turned into artificial reefs like the USS Spiegel Grove in the Florida Keys to history-rich boats like the Lusitania and the Andrea Doria. Each entry has a brief history of the ship’s background when it was above water, description of its current location, and tips of notable details to look out for.

One drawback of this book is its lack of photos – Truk Lagoon has dozens of wrecks to dive but only four photos are included in their writeups. Advanced wreck divers have read it all before - - and seen these sites personally - - but for aspiring wreck explorers who want to move from snorkeling far above wrecks to exploring them belowdecks, this book could be the kick in the pants you need. Hardcover, 12 x 11 inches, 160 pages, $60 list price. Purchase this book at a discounted rate on our website at Undercurrent., and proceeds from this -- and all our other dive book picks -- go to save the world’s coral reefs.