California Ocean Life Guide

Great for new divers

Just got open water certified at Monterey, California and thought this would make our dives as a couple more interesting - and on our first independent dives after qualifying we saw a few of the species in the book at Breakwater! And even better, we visited Monterey Bay Aquarium after and that also connected with the book and our diving.

Great photos, good info

Just what I was looking for!

I am a new diver, and I was immediately taken by the fun of wildlife identification, but I have struggled to find a good resource for beginners. The books I found were either a collection of specific fish, or these encyclopedic tomes that were just too much, at least for now. These little books focus on the categories of fish and the main characteristics to look for. I found it super helpful to start by sorting my little fish friends into categories, and then if the specific fish I saw wasn't in the book, I had a MUCH easier time researching them further, because I was able to figure out what category of fish they were. Additionally, while I had a minor issue with the shipment of my first books, the mistake was taken care of immediately and cheerfully. I'll definitely be purchasing the rest of the series as I get to explore further!