australia and south pacific

I purchased this book as part of my preparation for a diving trip to Chuuk Lagoon. It contains many excellent colour photographs of wrecks, coral, artifacts and local inhabitants. I found the brief history that accompanies each of the wrecks featured especially interesting. Likewise the diagrams of some of the wrecks, along with their various inclinations on the lagoon floor is fascinating.

Invaluable for such a trip are the scale maps of the lagoon and islands which pinpoint the location of the wrecks and other major features/landmarks. Further, the book grades each of the featured sites using the Pisces Rating System for Dives & Divers and the Dive Site Icons, both of which I found gave an excellent feel for the dive.

Finally, the overview of the area given in the first few chapters is a nice touch. It contains a brief history of the area, information for travelling to Chuuk, items to bring, weather, food, shopping etc.

In this book, author Tim Rock, has improved greatly his previous work on Truk Lagoon in 1994. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone planning a trip to Chuuk, or, who simply wants to read about The Most Spectacular Wreck Diving in the World (In my opinion).