HISTORY OF SPEARFISHING AND SCUBA DIVING IN AUSTRALIA (The First 80 Years 1917 to1997) The first ever book written about the history of spearfishing and scuba diving in Australia. It takes the diver back to 1917 when the first exponent of the sport Alex Wickham began spearing fish in Sydney Harbour. Year by year the chronicle section traces the happenings and writings of divers who started to record diving history through magazines and newspapers of the time. Some great stories appear in the chronicle and give some insight into the personalities who shaped spearfishing, scuba diving and the other underwater sports. 

Discover the pioneering days of spearfishing and then scuba diving, read about the sport's early spearmen and women and the founders of scuba diving in Australia. The chronicle takes you month by month from 1917 to 1997, through the good and bad times. It documents the discoveries, the tragedies, the undersea explorations and the instructor organisations, diving achievers and important events which together comprise the history of underwater diving in Australia. For some, it will bring back old memories, for others it will provide a readable and authoritative history of spearfishing and scuba diving in Australia.

For every diver, man or woman, it cannot fail to stir emotions as it recaptures exciting and historic events. At the end of the Second World War a Frenchman, Michel Calluaud brought plans of the Gagnan-Cousteau regulator to Australia and he built one of the first in the world here. Thrill to the story of a husband and wife who dived with a giant white pointer shark in South Australian waters for half an hour without being attacked. Share the experience of a woman diver who was swept out to sea off Erskine Island on the Barrier Reef. She survived in the water for three days and nights and finally came ashore on a deserted island where she nearly died of thirst.

As we push the boundary of seashores and venture further underwater we begin to discover many things that were once beyond our grasp and it is the aqualung that has enabled us to journey beyond the confinements of land. The History of Spearfishing and Scuba Diving not only deals with scuba diving but also, as the title suggests, with a wealth of information concerning spearfishing and related underwater activities. It is a hard covered book with 311 glossy pages and 250 black and white photos, some dating back to the 1920s.

Points of Interest: First man and woman to scuba dive in Australia (1951) - Australian spearfishing results 1953 to 1997 - important dates and events - stories of pioneer divers both spearfishermen and scuba divers - thrilling stories of survival at sea - tragic events, shark attacks, drownings - rarely scuba units through to technical diving - diving achievers and personalities - history of cave diving - instructor organisation - scuba magazines and much more. RRP: $43.95. Including GST.

Pricing: Postage. Overseas: Add $10.00 (AUS) per book. Australia: Postage included in price for HISTORY OF SPEARFISHING AND SCUBA DIVING IN AUSTRALIA (The First 80 Years). Western Australia postage extra. See scale below. 

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