Best diving mags?

[Kriterian]

I want to get a subscription to a few mags. Because of my location I only have access to 2 mags on the shelf. sport diver and scuba diving and want to get a feeling for what the better mags out there are.

Dive Training is my favorite, I always learn something and the articles are usually well done. You usually get a free trial subscription when you take an open water class, if not, go to: http://www.dtmag.com

My local dive shop gave me a free copy of Advanced Diver Magazine recently and boy was I impressed. Curt Bowen, the editor and owner, is a member here. The pages were super glossy and all the articles were well written and interesting, even for a beginner diver like me. I'll be subscribing as soon as I get paid again. Website = http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com

I also like reading DAN's free magazine, Alert Diver, but it's kind of light and small usually. Still, since I'm going to have the insurance any way, might as well read it. Website = http://www.dan.org

I'm sure you've already seen Scuba Diving (formerly Rodales), and you can usually find a good discount or completely free subscription online.

Undercurrent, already mentioned in the above posts, is another good one but it's an online magazine as opposed to a hard copy. It has a HUGE collection of travel reviews, so if you dive around the world it's well worth the tiny subscription amount. Website = http://www.undercurrent.org

Hope that helps, I'm sure I left a lot out.

 

[mossym]

another vote for dive training..excellent mag..

i actually like scuba diving, once you accpt it's advertiser driven it's actually pretty good. i think i'm in the minority on that one though

 

[Diversauras]

I would suggest Asian Diver and Wreck Diving. Both these have text to go alon with the title of the articles, unlike some of the other mags available.

 

[cagemaker]

I like Dive Training. Emphasis is on useful info, not adds.

My LDS receives a box of them every month and gives them out to current students for a few months after certification.

There is a promo on now for 6 months free. The LDS submits your name and address to the publisher in groups of 5 or 6 (class size?). After that it is about $22.00 a year.

Cagemaker

 

[_Bella_]

I'll give another vote for Australasia Scubadiver, though it may not appeal as much to an american reading audience. My second favorite print magazine is Fathoms. It's only a quarterly magazine, but it's refreshingly lacking in adverts and has some nice photography too!

 

[slipslop]

you are lucky, you get a choice. here in S. Africa there is only one local dive magazine called divestyle, it is excellent but only comes out every 2 months. we do get overseas magazines but they are expensive 70 - 90 bucks per magazine!

 

[boulderjohn]

Another Dive Training vote.

 

[mike_s]

Sport Diver is little more than a padi propaganda rag. Rodales is cool for equipment reviews but as stated too much advertising. Also Rodales seems to recycle the same old topics ie how to get most out of your tank etc...

Yes I agree that Sport Diver is PADI biased. But they still have some good articles in it. THey do however have many stories directed at you spending money on PADI stuff.

But.... I personally think that ScubaDiving magazine is just as biased ir not more, especially on gear reviews. Yes they do a good job on gear reviews, but they only heavily review the ones that advertise A LOT in their magazine. You never see them review an "off brand" for example. They are also biased on locations they write about. They seem to only write about the ones that are big advertiser locations, such as Cozumel and Grand Cayman, the bahamas, etc. Every time they write about a place, they've sold ad's to the local dive boat operators in that location that are on the same or opposite pages. I guess you can't blame them completely for this though as this is a trend in the publishing industry. All magazines do this sort of thing. It's how they sell ad's to companies, which is the main way the magazine makes money. BTW... they aren't Rodales anymore. Rodales sold it to another company sometime in the last year or so. So they dropped the name "Rodales" from the Rodales Scuba Diving magazine and now it's just Scuba Diving Magazine.


BTW.... add my vote for Dive Training Magazine. It's my favorite.

 

[_Bella_]

slipslop,

Some foreign magazines will ship around the world. Fathoms that I mentioned earlier is a US magazine but I have a subscription here in Europe. All of the Asian magazines will also ship to most countries.

 

[vladimir]

Undercurrent, already mentioned in the above posts, is another good one but it's an online magazine as opposed to a hard copy. It has a HUGE collection of travel reviews, so if you dive around the world it's well worth the tiny subscription amount. Website = http://www.undercurrent.org

Undercurrent is a regular paper newsletter as well. I think I've been getting it and its predecessor, In Depth, since the 80's.