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Northwest Shore Dives
By Stephen Fischnaller

This book is pretty comprehensive.  It has 55 dive sites throughout Puget Sound, Hood Canal, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Rosario Strait and the San Juan Islands.  I have to admit, though, I was surprised to see that Redondo is not in the book.  Maybe that's because so many people do check-out dives there that it's not necessary in a guide book.

Northwest Boat Dives
By Dave Bliss

This is a great book if you have access to a boat.  (Maybe your favorite Dive Buddy?)  That was one of my pre-qualifiers for a dive buddy...he/she had to have access to a boat!  Just kidding.  There are quite a few dives that are only accessible by boat.  (KVI Tower, Maury Island Barges, et al.)  So if you don't have one yourself, take a charter occasionally.  If you'd like to know about a boat dive site before going, use this book.  It's great.

Marine Identification Resources

This is a link to a thread started by John Rawlings about books to use for identifying those cool critters we see while diving.  His list (and the additions from other divers) is very thorough.  Check it out!

PNW Scuba Suggested Fish Book List
 

PNW Scuba Suggested Invertebrate Book List

This is a great resource from PNWScuba.  (What a great site!)  These lists highlight suggested books to get into critter watching.  Details are provided about the pros and cons of each resource, so you don't have to purchase things "blindly." 

Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest
By Andy Lamb and Bernard Hanby

The subtitle of this book is "A Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds and Selected Fishes."  That pretty much says it all.  Over 1000 pictures.  This is an amazing resource, and I recommend it for any diver hitting the waters in and around Puget Sound. 

Whelks to Whales:  Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest
By Rick M. Harbo

A concise book with good pictures of many of the most common critters in our waters.  Short descriptions offer helpful ID tips, along with range and abundance information.  A fair amount of taxonomic information is also given, which is quite helpful.  Many of the common names given in this book are the standard names used for the REEF Surveys.

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Beneath the Canopy, Vol. 1
Slacktime Productions

This is an outstanding video of Sunrise Beach State Park and the Maury Island Barges.  It definitely shows the flavor of Puget Sound diving and will give you warm-water folks some understanding of why we put up with the cold water and poor vis.

The Journey:  Diving the Northwest
Veritas Productions

Another great video.  This shows some dives in Puget Sound, Deception Pass (a wicked current dive!), Strait of Juan de Fuca, and some wreck dives in Canada.  One of the wrecks they dive was sunk only six weeks before the shoot.  Very cool to see the detail of the warship that now serves a peaceful purpose.

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Northwest Dive News

A cool local magazine just for us in the Pacific Northwest.  Their slogan is:  We know diving cold.  Very appropriate.  Website

Dive Training Magazine

I absolutely love this magazine.  It is filled with informational articles about various aspects of diving.  It's not just filled with glowing stories of "destination diving" like some of the other magazines.  Their motto is:  Good divers are always learning.  Very true with this magazine.  Maybe I like it because I am a relative newbie...but it's a great learning tool.   Website

Advanced Diver Magazine

Contrary to the name, I would title this magazine the AVID Diver Magazine.  Even as a beginner, I've learned things.  The stories and photography are great.  The Northwest area is well represented by John Rawlings, aka Wolfeel.  (Here's a link to his photo gallery.)  If you get a chance, check out the website and grab a copy of the magazine.  The website has photographs and video by divers around the world.  Some of the videos are great!  (And I just submitted a photograph for their contest for April.  My photo is titled, "Looking down the barrel.")

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Northwest Diver

For us cold-water divers.  This is a great place to learn about the local dive sites, find a dive buddy, ask questions, and learn.  And a thread that was just started by John Rawlings from Advanced Diver Magazine:  Marine Identification Resources.  Check it out!  It's very thorough.  (Edit:  This note is obviously a little dated, as the thread started by John is quite old now...And NorthwestDiver has gone through some changes and isn't quite as active as it used to be. 

NWDiveClub

This is a very active forum for northwest divers.  There is a great critter sub-forum, and Jan Kocian posts his wonderful artwork there also.  This is a great resource for new and experienced divers alike.

Plan Your Dive

This is a relatively new website, but it is becoming a wonderful resource for divers that want to plan dives together.  There is also a great map with dive sites listed, and a critter identification area.  The creators of this website are constantly making improvements, so I'm sure there will be better stuff by the time I post this.

Pacific Northwest Scuba

This site, run by Janna and Nicolle, is a great resource for critter watchers.  They organize reef surveys and have great resources, tide tables, and lots of other cool stuff.  (If you're looking specifically for dive site reviews, use this link from within PNWScuba.  It has great information on lots of sites in the northwest.  For most of the sites, a driving map, dive site map, and site review are included.  This is another dive site resource I use a lot.  It contains only shore dives, though.)

New Diver

I found this site early on.  It has some basics, including a discussion of your gear, along with a "New Diver" forum.  I asked some questions on this forum early in my diving and learned a great deal from the people that participate.

Divers Alert Network (DAN)

An invaluable medical resource for divers.  I became a member as soon as my certification was complete.  DAN provides some travel insurance, etc. with their basic membership.  You can also purchase medical insurance to cover dive accidents.  They have lots of resources for medical issues.  I have e-mailed their medic quite a few times about various issues and gotten quick, detailed feedback about my question.

SeaOtter

I use this site to find information about critters.  It has great photographs of LOTS of different things.  It also has good dive site reviews.  My favorite is the "Virginia Mason" review for Central Puget Sound. 

Ken's Critters

Another site just full of information.  Based on the name, you could guess I use this for critter information.  It's a wonderful resource, with great pictures.

Michael Parker's Dive Site Reviews

This site is great for finding information about local dive sites.  It is very comprehensive, and includes sites beyond just Puget Sound.  Michael puts thought into his reviews, giving good information.  I use this site quite a bit to get information on dive sites.  Recently, this site seems to have disappeared.  Too bad, as it was a great site.  I hope it comes back!  (Update:  Laura James has brought the site back, and is working on improving it.)

REEF

The Reef Environmental Education Foundation site is great for finding information on critters all around the globe.  Databases for fish and inverts from different diving areas are a tool I use for critter ID quite a bit.

Puget Sound Depth Chargers

This is a dive club that meets on the first Wednesday of the month at the Milton Tavern.  Lots of friendly people here.  It is "run" out of the Underwater Sports in Federal Way.  The club organizes dives, etc.  As a new diver, it's been fun to meet other divers and expand my dive buddy list.  (Although I am lucky to have a good dive buddy.)

Emerald Sea Photography

This is a fun site to visit.  Scott Boyd has some great video from a six-gill sighting, some dive site reviews, and some photographs.  Good stuff here.

Washington Scuba Alliance

Scuba and conservation advocacy group.  From the website:  "In 1992, a group of dedicated Pacific Northwest Scuba divers formed Washington SCUBA Alliance to advocate for underwater parks. This mission has expanded to include promoting safe and legal access to the shoreline, serving as a representative of the dive community in Olympia, and the protection and enhancement of the underwater environment."  WSA and REEF are working together on invasive tunicate survey and removal projects, among others.  Check it out!  It is free to join!  Volunteer.  Take part in activities and projects sponsored by WSA.

Instructor

Comment

Tim Renz

I will admit my bias upfront about this.  Tim is one of my best friends.  And he was my original dive buddy.  When I got into diving, almost all of my first 140 dives were with Tim.  (I have since moved to Thailand, so I don't dive with Tim as much, but I still consider him my dive buddy and friend.)

Tim is a high school teacher, so he is a good teacher.  He's also a great diver with a passion for sharing with his students.  His motto is:  "TimRenz.com creating comfortable, confident, and enthusiastic divers."  And he does just that.  Tim also organizes yearly dive trips to some spectacular locations.  He's got Bonaire planned for 2009 and Lembeh planned for 2010.