Exploring Hawaii's Underwater World: A Guide for Snorkelers and Divers

Kevin M Feaver: Recently went diving of the coast of Hawaii, this book helped me find the names of a lot of the fish I saw during those dives.

United States on Nov 22, 2023

Archie Burch: Beautiful photos and organization make it easy to identify the fish I see while snorkeling.

United States on Oct 10, 2023

RKA1994: Bought this for my girlfriend who was just scuba certified. She loves it

United States on May 12, 2023

Heidi H.: I bought this book because I was going scuba diving off Oahu. This is a great comprehensive overview of many species, including endemic ones! I love the organization of the book, the bright colors, the dive/snorkel guide, the species descriptions, and the fact that they included the Hawaiian names as well. This makes my 4th book from John P. Hoover, and probably not my last.

United States on Aug 31, 2022

Wally H.: Excellent

Canada on Aug 20, 2018

Pop Bop: If you are going to snorkel in Hawaii and you want to be able to identify the fish you see this book is basically all you will need. There is a brief intro highlighting some top snorkeling locations on each island, and then the remainder of the book is devoted to identification. The book is neither dry nor rambling; it's gets down to the business of identifying, describing, and admiring without delay. That said, the tone is congenial and personable and descriptions have an amiable conversational feel.

A word of caution, though. Unlike many of the birder and similar books I've seen this book is not set up to lead the reader to an identification by process of elimination. You don't start with size, then shape, then color, then distinguishing features, (or a similar scheme), on your way to an identification. Rather, the book is set up with a chapter on each genus, with a variety of species addressed in each chapter. So, we start with "Angelfishes", and then identify the Bandit, Fisher's, Flame, Potter's, and Masked Angelfish. After that we move to Barracudas, Bigeyes, Blennies, and so on.

What that means is that for any particular fish that you see or photograph you...

United States on May 05, 2017

Jozsef & Christina: Good for referencing when you snorkel.

Canada on Apr 12, 2015

Anita Hades: Have a look at this book before your first snorkel and enjoy it even more. It is fun to know what you are looking at and how many different species you really did see.

Canada on Aug 22, 2013