Artifacts References
I find this sort of material to be much more interesting than the endless rehashing of coral reefs, glowingly useless gear reviews, and "buoyancy tips" that fill up the standard glossy diving magazines.
Historical
Conservation Manual – Donny L. Hamilton
The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea
Peter Kemp, 1988
Lots of interesting information and trivia.
The Perfect Storm
Sebastian Junger, 1997
You saw the movie. The book is better.
Nautical
Two Years Before the Mast
Richard Henry Dana Jr., 1869
Detailed and literate sailor's account of a voyage on a square-rigger around Cape Horn and back in the 1850's.
Moby Dick
Herman Melville, 1851
Really needs no introduction. If you thought it was awful in high school, give this one another try now. Its much better than you remember. The story may be fiction, but the technical details are quite accurate.
Fictional
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Jules Verne, 1870
Still fun to read, and infinitely better than any of the movie adaptations. Verne predicted scuba diving, submarines, and nuclear power in the 1860s!
Other
Schooners and Schooner Barges
Paul C Morris
Lower Cape Pub., 1984
Railroad Ferries of the Hudson
Raymond Baxter, Arthur Adams
Fordham University Press., 1999
For those days that you can't get out diving, here are all the references listed in the sections of this site gathered together. Armchair diving beats watching the idiot box.
Nowadays, it is easy to order books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBay, or in some cases, direct from the publisher. "eBooks" can be delivered instantly to your computer, phone, or tablet, and have become my preferred way of reading. Old out-of-print references can be found with an online search at any of the sites above and delivered to your door. All of these sites act as online clearinghouses for used-book sellers across the country, so it is easy to get almost anything.
More: Bookshelf ...
There is actually a wealth of books on the subject of diving the New Jersey / New York area. A great deal more information, including loran numbers and/or directions, much more detailed histories and descriptions, and historical photos, can be found in these references, and I highly recommend all of them. You can find these at your local dive shop, or order all of them directly from the links on this page.
Many out-of-print titles are still available from used book dealers and can be found by searching online.
Update 2020:
Unfortunately, most of these are out of print now, but you can search out used copies.
Latest
Undiminished Violence by Thomas G Clark |  |
Where Divers Dare The Hunt for the Last U-boat by Randall Peffer |  |
Hidden History of Maritime New Jersey by Steve Nagiewicz |  |
More: Dive Sites References ...
New Jersey
A Guide to Fishing & Diving New Jersey Reefs
NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife, 2008 edition
68 pages, illustrated, b&w, waterproof
Includes GPS numbers for all reef sites. This invaluable book has been out of print for years.
More: Artificial Reefs References ...
These books are indispensable for identifying the plants and animals found along the North Atlantic seashore. These should be available at any major bookstore.
A good project for rainy days and snowed-in weekends is to go through the plates ( illustrations ) in your field guides and highlight all the species that are found in your area. This will make the guides far more useful, and also give you a chance to become more familiar with the plants and animals you may encounter. Beats watching television.
Field Guides
Peterson's Field Guides - Atlantic Coast Fishes
Robins / Ray / Douglass
Houghton Mifflin, 1986
354 pages, illustrated, color
essential for NJ divers
More: Marine Biology References ...
The Essentials of Deeper Sport Diving
John Lippman
AquaQuest, 1992
320 pages, illustrated, b&w
This book is not about technical diving but covers many important aspects of decompression physiology and deep-diving techniques and equipment that any diver ought to know. I see it for 1 cent used on Amazon - get a copy !!!
US Navy Dive Manual
1999, updated 2001
Free Download: US Navy Dive Manual
More: Dive Gear References ...