Diving in Southeast Asia—Book Review

I first started scuba diving, like so many new divers, on the island of Koh Tao in Thailand. I quickly became obsessed, and my desire to see ever prettier reefs and new species of undersea creatures took my travels into unexpected directions. (For instance, it motivated me to go to parts of Indonesia and the Philippines I might not have otherwise visited.)

But what I quickly noticed was that the diving information provided by regular travel guides, such as the Lonely Planet, is awfully generic. You just get a predictable list of species, or maybe some claim that the diving here is “world class”, but even barren reefs are showered in praise. I often got the sense that the author doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

You don’t get that sense when reading Diving in Southeast Asia, a detailed guide to diving sites in Malaysia, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. (Tuttle Publishing sent me a copy to review.)

Each area gets several pages of coverage, with…