Technical Diving Books

technical-diving-books

Technical diving books

Given that technical diving is a much smaller market than traditional scuba diving, there are surprisingly a lot of technical diving books dedicated to different aspects of the sport. A lot of the older books have become pretty much obsolete as the sport has grown and evolved. I enjoy reading through them to see how the sport has advanced, but if that’s not your thing there are plenty of more contemporary books. A few older books remain relevant, such as those written by Sheck Exley.

 

Tech Diving Topics

There are many aspects to technical diving, and the choice of books reflects this. Below you’ll find over 50 of the best technical diving books published. Take your pick from physiology, decompression theory, different styles of diving, psychology and human factors, books about famous wrecks and famous stories, and books about prominent diving locations. There aren’t so many books about rebreathers, but then again, there aren’t so many rebreather divers.

 

Personal Favourites

Of all the technical diving books, my personal favourite is Phillip Finch’s Raising the Dead. I enjoyed the tone of it. It neither glorified nor criticised the project or the dive in question. It simply told the story and told it well. I still struggle to understand how Don Shirley survived that ascent; an astonishing survival story in and of itself. You have your favourite books too- if you’re indignant with rage because your favourite technical diving books are not listed, please let me know. Have a look here for more general scuba diving books too.

 

Click on the links below to jump to each category of books

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General technical diving books

Technically Speaking: Talks on Technical Diving Volume 1: Genesis and Exodus- Simon Pridmore

Prominent author of all things scuba-related, Simon Pridmore has turned his attention to technical diving books. Specifically in this case, the birth and evolution of technical diving. With help from some key people involved in the sport. He has managed to turn the story of how tech diving came to be, into a compelling story. Well worth a read.

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Technical Diving: An Introduction- Mark Powell

Very up to date account of what technical diving is, with a little bit of myth-busting thrown in. This is a great read for anyone potentially interested in starting technical diving.

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Technical Diving from the Bottom Up- Kevin Gurr

Kevin Gurr’s book was one of the most comprehensive technical diving books when it was first published, but the sport has moved on a lot since then. Reading it now is a fascinating window into how technical diving developed as a sport between the 1990s, and when the book was published in 2004.

 

Prominent ideas about how to dive with trimix and the most common equipment configurations are discussed. The foreword of the book is provided by Dr Richard Pyle and Tom Mount.

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The Technical Diving Handbook- Gary Gentile

Following on from Kevin Gurr’s book above, this book is even more of a window into tech diving history; it was written when technical diving was in it’s infancy, and was an invaluable guide when training in things like trimix were not as readily available as they are today. A lot of the technology that we take for granted today was very new back in the 90s, such as progrmmable dive computers.

 

Worth a read if you’re interested in the evolution of technical diving as a sport.

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Books about decompression theory and diving physiology

Deco for Divers: A Diver's Guide to Decompression Theory and Physiology (2nd Edition)- Mark Powell

If you teach technical diving, you need this book. Moreover, if you’re learning tech diving, you need this book. It’s the standard reference for anything relating to decompression theory and basic diving physiology.

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Scuba Physiological: Think You Know All About Scuba Medicine? Think again!- Simon Pridmore

Wouldn’t it be great if somebody decided to collaborate with the world’s leading decompression researchers to distil their research into plain English, and then write a book about it.. This book will make you think again about how you can reduce decompression stress. This volume absolutely needs to be on your bookshelf in the technical diving books section.

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Deep Into Deco Revised and Updated: The Diver's Decompression Textbook- Asser Salama

Another in-depth look at our current understanding of decompression theory. A little more current than Mark Powell’s book. Contains a lot of information about the algorithms, and up to date information about the use of oxygen to reduce post-dive no-fly time.

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Your Brain on Diving: New insights into the function of the human brain underwater- Klaus M. Stiefel

Dr. Klaus M. Stiefel is a biologist and technical diver who has collated the latest research about how the brain is impaired during diving. This includes information on narcosis, and apnea diving. Not one of the typical technical diving books, but insightful about aspects that most tech divers wouldn’t necessarily think about.

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Hyperbaric Medicine- Costantino Balestra (Editor), Jacek Kot (Editor).

A special edition published in Medicina, not specifically about diving. But very relevant for divers nonetheless. It was published in 2023, so it has a lot of up to date information on the benefits of hyperbaric medicine for patients.

Hyperbaric-Medicine

The Sports Diving Medical: The definitive guide to medical conditions relevant to diving- Charles Paul Azzopardi and John Parker. Foreward by Simon Mitchell

This is an updated 3rd edition and is considered the standard textbook on the fitness to diving assessment process. It’s an accessible read that outlines the risks involved in diving. Relevant pathologies of every bodily system is described, along with information on how to assess and mitigate the risks involved.

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Books about Rebreather Diving

Breakthrough: Revealing the Secrets of Rebreather Scrubber Canisters- John R. Clarke Ph.D.

Based on US Navy testing of rebreather scrubbers, this book examines how scrubbers work, what happens when they don’t work, and what parameters determine how effectively they remove carbon dioxide. It’s a must-read for all rebreather divers.

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The Basics of Rebreather Diving: Beyond SCUBA to Explore the Underwater World- Jill Heinerth

This book provides a history of rebreather diving, and outlines the technology in an accessible way, whether you are thinking of starting rebreather diving, or you already dive on one.

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Closed Circuit | Open Sourced: Logic for the Design, Assembly, and Operations of an Integrated Life System- Michael Lombardi

A seriously detailed look at all aspects of rebreather design and operation. Absolutely worth reading if you dive on a rebreather.

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Books about famous diving locations or stories

Raising the Dead: A True Story of Death and Survival- Phillip Finch

The story of Dave Shaw is both a cautionary tale, a fascinating insight into deep diving, and a compelling, sad story. I thought this book was brilliantly written, and couldn’t put it down even on the third reading. One of the best technical diving books in my opinion.

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Aquanaut: The Inside Story of the Thai Cave Rescue- Rick Stanton

The story of the Thai cave rescue, as written by one of the two men that found the group of boys. Much more diving oriented than the endless other books that tell the story of this epic rescue.

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Thirteen Lessons that Saved Thirteen Lives: The Thai Cave Rescue- John Volanthen

This account of the Thai cave rescue was used as the basis of Ron Howard’s film Thirteen Lives. The author John Volanthen, was the first diver to find the boys, and, along with his buddy Rick Stanton, was instrumental in rescuing them.

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Against All Odds- Craig Challen and Richard Harris

Another perspective of the Thai cave rescue, written two of the men involved. Dr Richard Harris was the doctor that sedated the boys before they were brought out of the cave. Craig Challen is an accomplished cave diver that cave dives regularly with Richard Harris back in Australia. Both were awarded Australian of the year in 2019 for their efforts.

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Shadow Divers- Robert Kurson

One of the classic technical diving books. Gripping account of John Chatterton and Richie Kohler’s successful attempt to identify a U-boat discovered off the coast of New Jersey. If this doesn’t make you want to dive wrecks, nothing will.

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Shadow Divers Exposed: The Real Saga of the U-869- Gary Gentile

An alternate version of the U-869 from the perspective of other people that were directly involved. The authors dispute some of the events and attrubutions that were outlined in Shadow Divers.

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Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Cave on Earth- James M. Tabor

The story of two cave divers attempts to explore two cave systems- Cheve Cave in southern Mexico, and Krubera in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. This is the story of American Bill Stone, and Ukrainian Alexander Klimchouk. Both men spent months underground, almost two miles deep, and had to deal with huge drops, high waterfalls, belly crawling in confined spaces, and complete darkness, all whilst being very far from any hope of rescue.

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The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent Into the Ocean's Depths- Bernie Chowdhury

A sad true story about the fatal dive of father and son Chris and Chrissy Rouse, who were trying to identify the same U-boat as depicted in Shadow divers. A sobering read for any diver.

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Setting the Hook: A Diver's Return to the Andrea Doria- Peter M. Hunt

Any book on the Andrea Doria is a magnet to a tech diver. Peter Hunt dived the Doria a lot in the 80s. This book documents his journey to dive it one last time, 20 years later. It includes some good background about the sinking.

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Fatal Depth: Deep Sea Diving, China Fever, And The Wreck Of The Andrea Doria- Joe Haberstroh

This book tells the story of three divers that lost their lives whilst diving the Andrea Doria in 1998 and 1999. All died on seperate dives whilst diving from a dive boat named the Seeker. The book asserts that one of the factors that led to their deaths was so called “China fever”- a strong urge to find and bring back mementoes from the wreck, such as intact plates and cups.

This may have led them to take risks that they shouldn’t have, such as entering deep inside the wreck into areas not previously scoped out. Combine this with narcosis from diving this wreck on air (at 70m), and it’s not surprising that things went south. One of the more gripping technical diving books.

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Where Divers Dare: The Hunt for the Last U-Boat- Randall Peffer

Less known about than other technical diving books such as shadow divers. This is the story of the U-550, the last unfound diveable wreck on the east coast of the United States. The wreck was discovered in 2012, and a group of divers did a series of dives in order to identify it and investigate it’s last moments before sinking.

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Between the Devil and the Deep: One Man's Battle to Beat the Bends- Mark Cowan and Martin Robson

In the winter of 2012, Martin Robson was part of an expedition to dive Blue Lake in southern Russia. The divers were attempting to discover a new cave system. During one of the dives, he felt symptoms of Decompression Sickness (DCS) when ascending to 21m.

Because of the remoteness of the location, he decided to stay down and undertake in-water recompression- a risky endeavour without specialist expertise and equipment.

The authors recount Martin’s experience of the dive, how it felt to have DCS, and how the situation played out. It’s all set within the context of the history of DCS and the current scientific understanding of what it is.

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Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever- Rachel Lance

The fascinating story of research into underwater reconnaissance, conducted by the Allies in World War 2. Leading up to D-day, the Allies realised that they needed better reconnaissance of the landing areas. A research project was conducted in London during the Blitz by a team of scientists.

Whilst bombs rained over London, the team worked out of makeshift labs, often experimenting on themselves. The outcome of these tests was often painful and potentially fatal.

The developments that came from the research allowed the Allies to use miniature submarines and breathing apparatus, which were instrumental in the planning of D-day.

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Books on incident analysis and human factors

Under Pressure: Diving Deeper with Human Factors- Gareth Lock MSc.

A great book about understanding and incorporating human factors into the practice of diving. Numerous case studies of diving incidents are analysed, in order to learn lessons on how you can learn from them to improve your own diving. A must-read for all divers and one of the essential technical diving books to own.

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Explore your scubapsyche- Dr Laura Walton.

Collection of essays on the psychology of diving. You can download the ebook on Laura’s Fit to Dive website. It outlines how psychology can help if you’re having difficulties with an aspect of your diving, or if something went wrong on a dive and you’re having trouble processing it.

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Diver Down: Real-World SCUBA Accidents and How to Avoid Them- Michael R. Ange

Not strictly in the technical diving books category, but there are lessons to be drawn from these real-life incidents for any diver. It’s well written and some of the incidents are trimix and cave dives.

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The six skills & other discussions: Creative Solutions for Technical Divers - Steve Lewis

Steve’s take on the most important elements of technical diving. It’s more focused on the more physical aspects of diving procedures, and goes into detail on subjects than most other books either skirt around or just leave out.

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Staying Alive: Applying Risk Management to Advanced Scuba Diving- Steve Lewis

Steve Lewis’s books are always a good read. This will get you thinking about risk, and offers solutions on how to manage it when undertaking more advanced tech dives.

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Technical diving books about deep diving

Deep Diving, Revised: An Advanced Guide to Physiology, Procedures and Systems- Brett Gilliam

A window into the craziness of deep air diving, which was commonly done before trimix was widely used. Some pretty hair-curling stories to chat about over a beer or two. One of the earliest technical diving books available.

technical diving books

A walk on the deep side- John Keen

The story of two British deep divers, Leigh Cunningham and Mark Andrews, as they attempt to break the scuba deep diving record.

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Deep Diving: The Technical Approach- Jeremy Asher

A comprehensive guide to deep technical diving. It gives an overview of the skills, equipment, and techniques required for deep diving. The book covers selecting and configuring equipment, gas management, dive planning, decompression procedures for deep diving, and rescue protocols and procedures.

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Books on gas blending and oxygen measurement

The Technical Guide to Gas Blending- Nicos Raftis

If you’re a seasoned gas blender, you probably already own this. If not, it’s a little old but the physics hasn’t changed. It includes some great information on how to set up your own gas blending system.

technical diving books

Oxygen Measurement for Divers- John S. Lamb

Not a technical diving book, yet also one of the best technical diving books. Invaluable for tech instructors, rebreather divers, and gas blenders. Very comprehensive and well written for what many consider a dry subject.

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Cave diving books

The Essentials of Cave Diving - Fourth Edition- Jill Heinerth

This is a really good overview of cave diving from someone who’s been involved in the sport for decades. It’s great reading for cave divers and those interested in taking it up.

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Caverns Measureless to Man- Sheck Exley

Any cave diver that hasn’t read this book should probably spend some time in a darkened room to contemplate their life choices.

technical diving books

Basic Cave Diving – A Blueprint for Survival- Sheck Exley

If you’ve heard of the five rules of cave diving, Sheck Exley was the diver who developed them out of observations from his own diving. Get the background from the horses mouth.

technical diving books

The Darkness Beckons: The History and Development of World Cave Diving- Martyn Farr

Probably the most comprehensive history of cave diving available. One of the must have technical diving books. It documents the antics of the famous pioneers, and outlines the evolution of the sport in different parts of the world.

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The Education of a Cave Diver- Guy Bryant

Guy Bryant recalls how it was do be a cave diver in the 1970s when there were no formal training courses. Training was informal, learning from others that were doing it. You made mistakes, hopefully you survived them and learned from them.

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Sidemount books

Sidemount Diving: An Almost Comprehensive Guide (2nd edition)- Rob Neto

One of the more comprehensive books on sidemount. There aren’t many out there. It covers the history of sidemount and what it takes to learn it properly. It also includes plenty of “how to” tips to help you get the most out of your own sidemount diving. Worth having in your collection of technical diving books.

technical diving books

Side Mount Profiles- Brian Kakuk and Jill Heinerth

If we ignore the fact that a lot of development has occured since this book was written in terms of better wings on the market, this book is still packed with information about sidemount diving procedures and techniques. Many of them are just as relevant now as they were then.

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Technical diving books about diving locations

Expedition Britannic: Diving Titanic's Sister Ship- Rick Ayrton

Expedition Britannic details a 2019 mission to dive the sister ship of the Titanic, located near the Island of Kea in Greece at over 100m depth. The book covers the planning and logistics of diving and photographing a wreck of this size and at these depths, and is set out dive-by-dive.

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Lake Erie Technical Wreck Diving Guide- Erik A Petkovic

A comprehensive guide to 19 challenging and rarely dived wrecks in lake Erie. It includes the stories behind their sinking, and descriptions of the depths, locations, and current condition of the wrecks. The wrecks in the great lakes are number one on my dive bucket list. This book just makes a trip need to happen.

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Scapa Flow: The Definitive Guide to Scapa Flow- Lawson Wood

This 3rd edition marks the 100 year anniversary of the scuttling of the famous German battle fleet. It provides all the information you will need to dive these iconic wrecks, including historical info and descriptions of each wreck.

Scapa Flow- The Definitive Guide to Scapa Flow

Into the Abyss: Diving to Adventure in the Liquid World- Rod MacDonald

This book documents the diving career of someone who explored a lot of the wrecks in the Pacific; Truk Lagoon, Palau, and the south China seas. It also takes you through some diving in Scotland; HMS Hampshire, and the Corryvreckan Whirlpool.

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World War II Wrecks of the Truk Lagoon: Dan E. Bailey

Pretty much everything there is to know about the wrecks of Truk Lagoon, and therefore essential to have in your collection of technical diving books. I found this book to be an invaluable source of information when I worked in Truk Lagoon. The wrecks have degraded since he wrote the wreck descriptions, but that in no way detracts from the richness of the book.

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Hailstorm over Truk Lagoon : operations against Truk by carrier Task Force 58, 17 and 18 February 1944, and the shipwrecks of World War II- Klaus Lindermann

Two people did all the research on the wrecks in Truk; Dan Bailey, and Klaus Lindermann. They were rivals in many ways. As with Dan’s book, the wreck descriptions are not as accurate as they continue to degrade. Everything I said about Dan’s book applies equally to Klaus’s. A must read.

technical diving books

Dive Truk Lagoon: The Japanese WWII Pacific Shipwrecks, 2nd edition- Rod MacDonald

Whilst not as detailed as Dan Bailey or Klaus Lindermann’s books, the one thing this book has going for it is an accurate description as to the current state of the wrecks. I found it really helpful when I worked in Truk. Great for reading up on a wreck just before diving it- handy on Kindle.

Dive Truk Lagoon- The Japanese WWII Pacific Shipwrecks, 2nd edition

Guide to Shipwreck Diving: North Carolina- Roderick M. Farb

An old book now (first published in 1989), but I don’t know of any other books that outline the wrecks of North Carolina. In case you didn’t know, there are many wrecks there. Maybe a good place to start for gain information, before looking for more up to date info once you know which wrecks you want to dive.

Guide to Shipwreck Diving- North Carolina

Biographies and diving history

Drawn to the Deep: The Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles- Julie Hauserman

This book is a celebration of the life of a real dive explorer, photographer & videographer, conservationist, and technical diving pioneer. That’s quite a resume, it’s not a surprise that he led a very interesting life. Read about it in-depth here.

Drawn to the Deep- The Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles

Suffer & Survive: The Extreme Life of Dr J.S. Haldane- Martin Goodman

John Scott Haldane was a fascinating character who led a full and extraordinary life. He is the father of decompression theory, developing the first dive tables in 1908. To do this he put goats and family members into a recompression chamber. He even sent himself and his son JBS Haldane to the bottom of the North Sea for 30 mins to prove that his tables worked on anyone. Different times indeed.

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Into the Planet: My life as a cave diver- Jill Heinerth

Jill Heinerth is a scientist, explorer, videographer and cave diver. She has led underwater archaeological projects, dived underneath icebergs in Antarctica, and discovered new underwater caves. This book recounts the highlights of a varied career in her own words.

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The Heroic Age of Diving: America's Underwater Pioneers and the Great Wrecks of Lake Erie- Jerry Kuntz

This is a history of the developments in underwater technology, as applied to commercial applications such as underwater salvage, civil engineering, and warfare. It highlights the pioneers of underwater invention and the brave divers that put such technologies into practice. Not strictly in the category of technical diving books, but worth a read nonetheless.

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