Red Sea Guidebooks

Hello,

I've booked a week of liveaboard diving in the southern Egyptian Red Sea for June. Can anyone recommend a guide book or two on the coral and fish life that I can pick up? One I found on Amazon is the "Coral Reef Guide Red Sea" but suggestions by the good folks here at wetpixel are preferred. Its my first trip to the Red Sea.

Thank you,

paquito

Hi paquito,

I'm reading Dive the Red Sea, The Ultimate Dive guide. We are planning on a trip next year and I'm trying to educate myself as well. The book covers all the dive sites in great detail. Dr. Mustard is a contributor so you know it's full of great photos of the dive sites and fish life.

Rand

I picked up Coral Reef Guide Red Sea: The Definitive Guide to Over 1200 Species of Underwater Life by by Ewald Lieske and Robert Myers recently. It's a really good field guide for identification. It's very comprehensive but doesn't have anything about the dive sites, if that's what you're looking for.

PM if you have more questins. I'll be there mid-September and can't wait! Have fun!

Thanks Everyone!

I'm concentrating more on the aquatic life becuase the liveaboard will be dictating the dive sites and hopefully educating me more about those while aboard. I'm using the fish book as a reference for looking up stuff, etc. Thanks again for you help, I very much appreciate it! I'll check them both out...

cheers!

paquito

I also have "Coral Reef Guide Red Sea" and also think it's very good. It has much more than just "fish" - coral, nudibranches & echinoderms are covered as well.

Jon

One of the classic Red Sea id-books is Red Sea Reef Guide by Helmut Debelius. The Lieske/Myers-book reccomended earlier is also a good choice.

/christian

Thanks Christian!

The Lieske and Myers book arrived and I really like it.

I remember seeing the Debelius book long ago but could not remember it so it had slipped my mind....

Alas is the way of growing older.

We're psyched up for our trip, we can't wait!!!

As always, I sincerely appreciate the help and suggestions.

paquito

It's not a fish guide, and it's historical rather than contemporary, but Eric Hanauer's Red Sea guide still has some of the best descriptions of the Egyptian Red Sea, and is well worth a look.

You may think me weird, but the Red Sea is part of the Indo-Pacific ocean realm, and the Ferrari's Malaysian reef guide, "A diver's guide to Reef Life" would actually do rather well for most things, as well as being one of the best modern guides to marine life.

Every Egyptian live-aboard that I have been a guest on has had a selection of guidebooks, so the unique Red Sea species can be identified in the lounge after your dives (if you're not fiddling with cameras, that is).

Tim