Scuba Diving Resources
Best Scuba Diving Novels for Your Surface Intervals
Because we cannot be underwater all the time — but we can always pretend to be!
Darcy Kieran is the author of the handbook “The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Scuba Diving: How to increase safety, save money & have more fun!” and three unique logbooks for divers, divemasters & instructors.
We can’t be scuba diving 24/7, but we can pretend we are! That’s where scuba diving novels come in handy — especially during these long and boring surface intervals at the office. And it is cheaper than therapy!
Here is my list of recommended scuba diving novels.
Wait! Before we start, here are my first two novels with, of course, a scuba diving twist: “Mystery of The Blue Dragon” & “Shadows on Ocean Drive.”
Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. It costs you nothing. It simply means that when you click on the link and purchase the item, I may receive a few pennies (depending on which country you are in) to help pay for my coffee, so I keep on writing! All opinions remain my own.
Scuba Diving Novels by Eric Douglas
Many of you will remember Eric as the former director of training & education at DAN. He deserves a section of his own as he is the most prolific scuba novel author we know of — starting with a 10-book series with underwater hero Mike Scott, in chronological order:
- Cayman Cowboys: Reefs Under Pressure
- Flooding Hollywood: Fanatics at the Dam
- Guardians’ Keep: Mystery below the Adriatic
- Wreck of the Huron: Cuban Secrets
- Heart of the Maya: Murder for the Gods
- Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage
- Oil and Water: Crash in Curacao
- The 3rd Key: Sharks in the Water
- Turks and Chaos: Hostile Waters
- Water Crisis: Day Zero
- NEW–December 2021: Held Hostage: Search for the Juncal
If you like the Mike Scott series of novels, you will also like Eric’s Lyin’ Fish and Tales from Withrow Key, short stories from the Florida Keys.
Other Captivating Scuba Diving Novels
We love Eric’s novels but once we are done with them, there are many other scuba diving novels to consider. It helps us remain immersed in the underwater world while being on land.
- Deep Water is about a dive gone wrong off the coast of Alabama. The first rule of scuba diving is not to ‘never hold your breath’, it’s: If you don’t feel right, don’t go down.
- The Last Dive: A Father and Son’s Fatal Descent into the Ocean’s Depth by Bernie Chowdhury is a non-fiction book but it reads as easily as a novel. It documents a fatal dive on a German U-Boat in 230 feet (70 m) of water off the coast of New Jersey.
- Something in The Water: A Novel made it to #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. It’s about a shocking underwater discovery during a honeymoon in paradise.
- Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria. This is another non-fiction book that reads like a novel. The author provides insights into a deep dive very few of us will ever be able to do — because of a lack of skills or lack of bravery!
- The Secret of Rosalita Flats. Here’s how the author, Tim W. Jackson, summarized it for me: “The Secret of Rosalita Flats follows a man trying to unload the football-shaped house he inherited while dodging the backwater Blacktip Island’s quirky collection of con artists, smugglers, and other ne’er-do-wells: an ornery housekeeper who refuses to be fired, a rum-soaked attorney with his own agenda, a chair-wielding resort manager who thinks he’s an avenging angel, and a self-styled psychic who may be able to see the future. There’s also the matter of sharks showing up every time he gets in the water. Cal has to figure out what his old man was mixed up in, fast, if he’s to sell the house and get off the crazy little rock alive.”
- Tropical Ice. Written by Undercurrent’s publisher Ben Davison (writing as KL Smith) and set in Belize, Tropical Ice kicks off with a hairy shark feeding dive, and leads into a tale of shark-finning, reef-raping, murder, and politics, on an industrial scale, with plenty of diving, including a threatening night dive.
- Grave Descend: An Early Thriller. Michael Crichton is the famous author behind Jurassic Park. He also writes under the name John Lange. ‘Grave Descent’ is about wreck diving in Caribbean water.
Besides Scuba Diving Novels…
If you want to take a break from novels but continue with captivating readings about the underwater world, here are two suggestions:
- Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do — by Wallace J. Nichols. Foreword by Céline Cousteau.
- NEW– November 2021: National Geographic Ocean: A Global Odyssey by Sylvia Earle. Just have a look! It’s stunning!
What else?
Your favorite scuba diving book or novel is not on this list? Let me know! I’m always looking for a good read. Use the comments below.
Otherwise, I can’t help but mention non-fiction books you may like from… Me!
- Handbook: Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving!
- The Best ADVANCED Scuba Diving Logbook & Checklists for certified scuba divers, divemasters & dive instructors!
- Handbook: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Scuba Diving: How to Increase Safety, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- The Best STARTER Scuba Diving Logbook & Checklists while getting your open water diver certification!
- Reference book: Scuba Diving Industry Market Reports & Statistics.
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