Only available in e-book form, this is the presentation in one volume of four books in Simon Pridmore’s Scuba series:
- Scuba Fundamental
- Scuba Confidential
- Scuba Exceptional
- Scuba Professional
In musical terms, Scuba Compendium is a re-mastering and repackaging of the original albums rather than a greatest hits or “best of” compilation.
The four books were written and published over a period of eight years and each was designed for divers at a particular point in their diving life. Listed in the order they were written, the audience for Scuba Confidential was the general population of divers; Scuba Professional was for those thinking of making a career out of the sport; Scuba Fundamental was for non-divers and beginners and Scuba Exceptional was for more experienced divers.
The initial idea was not to create a series. It just turned out that way.
Here in Scuba Compendium, the books have been arranged in the order in which they make sense as a series, following the path from beginner to diver to experienced diver to expert.
Scuba Compendium covers the full gamut of the sport diving experience and is a resource that will accompany a scuba diver throughout their diving life, wherever it takes them, to be read then dipped back into from time to time whenever necessary.
Originally, some topics – rebreathers and surface safety for example – were covered in more than one book. In Scuba Compendium, the content has been streamlined to remove any unnecessary overlap and improve continuity. Apart from this, nothing is missing from the original books.
If you don’t already own any of the Scuba series books, then this is an option to buy four of them together with just one click.
If you have already bought one or two of the series, then you may still find Scuba Compendium well worthwhile. For instance, if you are not a beginner, you may think you don’t need to read Scuba Fundamental, but many experienced divers have found it interesting and entertaining. Also, Scuba Professional introduces a number of topics, such as real risk awareness and constructive paranoia, which are just as relevant for amateur divers as they are for professionals. Although the title makes it sound as if Scuba Professional is only for instructors, this is certainly not the case.
And even if you already own all the Scuba books, you may still find it useful to add Scuba Compendium to your online library from a reference point of view, as having all four books together in one volume allows you to find a specific topic easily, using your e-reader’s search tool. You no longer have to remember which book a subject was mentioned in or search through them all for something you want to remind yourself of.
”Scuba Fundamental is a great book! Simon Pridmore is to be congratulated for this insightful, interesting and honest introduction to scuba diving. He tells it as it is!” John Lippmann, Divers Alert Network
“If PADI’s Open-Water manual is the Bible of scuba diving, consider this the New Testament.” David Espinosa, Editor in Chief, Sport Diver magazines
“I so wish Scuba Exceptional had existed when I was in the early days of my diving life nearly 30 years ago!” Phil Short, explorer and pioneer
“There is quite simply nothing like Scuba Professional. It is the ultimate backstage pass into the business of scuba.” Jill Heinerth, explorer and filmmaker
