Clay Coleman

I've lived my entire life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I began my working career lawyering for a local bank. I'd had my fill of that after only a few years, so I went to work for a small advertising agency. I toiled there for nearly 20 years, during which time I married my favorite dive buddy (Sharon) and raised our two sons. As a sideline, I wrote my first article for Sport Diver Magazine in 1994, and I became a somewhat regular contributor for Sport Diver and other magazines for several years thereafter.

I began diving beneath the oil rigs of my native Louisiana while still an undergraduate student in 1973. Like many of my generation, my early years of diving were spent spearfishing. In fact, some of the dumber moments of my youth were documented in Humberto Fontova's book on Louisiana oil rig spearfishing, "The Helldiver's Rodeo". As I matured and began my travels throughout the Caribbean, I traded my speargun for a camera and became a student of the wonder and diversity of the underwater world. My book, "The Certified Diver's Handbook", is a compilation of things I wish someone had told me when I first started diving.

The act of scuba diving encompasses a wide range of related activities, and every diver takes their own personality, preferences, and interests with them underwater. The purpose of "The Certified Diver's Handbook" is not to teach enthusiasts how to dive like I do. Rather, my goal is to provide enthusiasts with a fundamental understanding of different aspects of diving in order to enable each diver to make educated decisions to maximize their individual enjoyment. It's just for fun, y'all, and the "best" divers in my book are the ones who are having the times of their lives by safely making the kinds of dives they personally want to make.