Love it or Hate it.

 

When you write a book there is always going to be criticism, negative and positive. I found my book falls into the “Love it or Hate it” category. And this is fine by me. I wrote my book for myself, for my fellow dive instructors and my family. It’s raw and opinionated but it is also honest. Here a a few reviews from both sides of the spectrum.

Colin reviewed Does This Island Go To The Bottom?: The Adventures of a SCUBA Instructor in the Caribbean

 Amazing Book!!! November 18, 2013

This book was a fantastic roller coaster ride. At first it seems dull and boring but you will soon learn that you will go on the adventures Eric did. Amazing book! I feel truly connected with the people that are written about in the book!

Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.com

cil reviewed Does This Island Go To The Bottom?: The Adventures of a SCUBA Instructor in the Caribbean

1 of 3 people found the following helpful

 Terrible July 12, 2013

Vulgar language, over and over. I could not even make it a 1/4 of the way through very disappointed!
Kindle should rate nasty books like this as… NASTY

MR JAMIE PUTLAND reviewed Does This Island Go To The Bottom?: The Adventures of a SCUBA Instructor in the Caribbean

 Thoroughly entertaining read 6 August 2013

Purchased this book due to being an instructor myself and wanted to read the stories from another mouth, can relate to everything written and loved the way Eric told it all.

Would recommend this book to anyone interested in diving or just for a laugh at the way the diving community live their adventurous lives.

Hope I now get the chance to experience being on the Caribbean paradise teaching too 🙂

Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.com

. Rushton “simonru” reviewed Does This Island Go To The Bottom?: The Adventures of a SCUBA Instructor in the Caribbean

 Sour 12 November 2013

A really sad read about someone who seems to have complete disdain for his dive students. Sorry, as a fellow Instructor I thought I would get some insights, amusing stories but didn’t get any of that.

Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.com

lAdam Helberg reviewed Does This Island Go To The Bottom?: The Adventures of a SCUBA Instructor in the Caribbean

 Enjoyable adventures of a scuba instructor. November 9, 2013

As a scuba diver myself I enjoyed reading this book of real life adventure. It’s about a guy from Southern California bored with his job who becomes a scuba instructor in the Caribbean, finds a compass to his life and returns to the US. The reality and technical accuracy helped make this a good read.

Now for the instructor that gave it a 1 star, he has obviously little experience working in a resort environment. If you read my book carefully you’ll see that I do in fact hold great compassion and respect for my dive students. Criticism is good, both negative and positive. I see so many self published books that have nothing but 5 star reviews. This sends up a red flag for me. I’m more apt to read a 3 star book knowing that someone has given it an honest review.

I will soon be in the process of expanding my book “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?” I have stories that I left out and details I think are important to add. But one thing is for sure, it will still be a roller coster ride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43NeBiPEzqk

Columbia, the Last Certification Dive

Excerpt taken from “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?”

 

“We were in the midst of thick mangroves somewhere in Columbia with two shady looking characters manning the boat. Cartagena is where the cruise ship docked and that’s all I knew. Pretty Boy and I had our students on their last certification dive. As I looked at their faces, I could tell they were thinking the same as I was. It was an endless, slow tour of navigating the narrow channels, then out to open ocean then back into the mangroves.

There was no way in hell that there is any diving around here. No possible way.

Finally, the cut throat Colombian crewmen killed the two outboard motors and tossed out the anchor. I was relieved to see that there was no body tied to the line.”

Reviews:

Excellent Read

“This is by far my favorite book within the realm of “diving books”. I have read it over and over.” – Amazon

Great Entertaining Read!,

This review is from: Does This Island Go To The Bottom?: The Adventures of a SCUBA Instructor in the Caribbean (Kindle Edition)

“I actually laughed out loud many times when reading this book. It is a great read and thanks to Eric, I had a few sleepless nights because I did not want to go to bed, I wanted to continue reading it. What I admired about the writing of this book is the raw factor you get from it. Eric does not hold back in language or opinions, but you don’t find yourself offended at all. You can tell that this is Eric’s passion and I could visualize every part he wrote about because it is written very well. I honestly could even feel the warmth of the sun when reading this and I live in Northern WI! You will not get bored. If you are like me and have never been to the islands, never been scuba diving…or even if you have, this is a must read!!” – Amazon

 

“I read this book almost in its entirety and it is not for the faint of heart. Disturbing on so many levels. A rather sobering view on the scuba industry and dive ‘professionals’ narrated by the author.” – ScubaBoard.com

 

“Phew! I’ve just finished reading this whirlwind ride through a Californian diving instructor’s real-life experiences in the Caribbean of the 1990s, and still don’t know quite what to make of it . . .” – Divernet.com

Review in “Diver Magazine”

Here is an honest review of my book “Does This Island go to the Bottom?” by the editor of the UK’s 1 selling dive magazine, Diver Magazine and its online format Divernet.com. I am honored and grateful for the editor to take the time to review my book and feature it in the magazine. It’s an awesome feeling to know that something you worked so hard at is selling over seas!

Thank you Diver Magazine.

Divernet | Scuba Diving | Scuba News | Scuba Gear | Underwater Photography

Click link below to go strait to article.

http://www.divernet.com/other_diving_topics/reviews/1938171/does_this_island_go_to_the_bottom_by_eric_h_pasley.html

Excerpt from “A Terrible Sting, Carnival and 3 Cases of Beer, Maybe 4”

Taken from one of my favorite chapters of  “Dose This Island Go All The Way To The Bottom?”

Aruba Carnival, 1998. Festive costumes. Feathers of multicolored patterns fanned out like peacock tails from dancing dark skined Aruban girls. Huge trucks with steel drum bands pounding out Caribbean music like wild chimpanzees. Flat bed trucks with stacks of amplifiers, floats and flowers. Crowds of people lining the streets grooving to the electric static assault on the ears. Hot wind blowing through the divi divi trees down by the beach. Shouts of joy and celebration roared through the crowd. And out of blood shot eyes irritated by booze, green smoke and wine I watched it all and wondered how much more my body could take.

I really don’t know how I got to where I was or how the day began; only bursts of flashbacks came to me that I could piece together like a broken jigsaw puzzle. Funny what we do to ourselves in the name of a good time: How we pollute our bodies with happy poison to the point where our minds are in a bending wonderland of chaos.

.

A review from a diver on ScubaBoard: Does This Island Go To The Bottom?

If you’re a diver than you know about ScubaBoard.com. A social media site for divers that covers all things related to SCUBA. Here is a fellow divers review of my book “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?”

“I just finished the book on a flight back from FL to the frozen north of MN. It was a nice quick read with very good imagery. I could picture all the places and sites that Eric described in the book.

I always enjoy hero to zero escapades of the “been there, done that” divers you run into on dive boats. Eric also points out how instructors and DMs get a kick out of the new divers awe of being underwater for the first time.

Overall a solid book and good money spent.”

And here’s another . . . this one’s great!

“I read this book almost in its entirety and it is not for the faint of heart. Disturbing on so many levels. A rather sobering view on the scuba industry and dive ‘professionals’ narrated by the author.”

Audio Review from ScubaRadio.com, 2 Fins Up!

The host of ScubaRadio.com, Greg “The Divemaster,” sent me an email saying that he had finished my book. He told me that he really liked it a lot. So much so, that he decided to do a follow up review of my book, “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?” on his radio show. This was a bit of a surprise to me for the reason that ScubaRadio.com adheres to strict safety standards set forth by the scuba agency and promotes the positive aspect of the sport of scuba diving. My book on the other hand, at times, is the total opposite. Like a maverick on the open ocean. It was the reality of the business at that time.

Here is Greg’s review. Skip to 29:50.

 

Revised and edited publication out!

Does This Island Go To The Bottom?

The revised and edited copy is out!

Check out the website below for the first 3 chapters. The eBook is now only $2.99. If you have an iPad, Nook or Kindle it will be available through Amazon and all other major book distributers in approx. 2 weeks. I will post an update when this happens.

Get the eBook today! It’s a comical fast read. Here’s what 2 people had to say after reading the 1st draft:

“Loved the book! Great to relive those oh so memorable moments with those lovable cruise ship DSD’s!! This is a book I will read many times! Excellent!”

–Albert Sawatzky

“This book was nonstop laughter. I wasn’t able to put it down until I finished it. Loved it.”

–DeeAnn Spoden

http://www.fastpencil.com/publications/5087-Does-This-Island-Go-To-The-Bottom

Or click on “Buy Book” to the right

Star Gerren, Aruba

During my last few mouths working in Aruba for Pelican Adventures, I had the opportunity to watch the sinking of the Star Gerren. I was watching from one of our dive boats with my scuba gear ready. It’s not every day you get to dive a ship right after it’s sunk for an artificial reef.

Two ships with water cannons flooded the Gerren. It seemed to take forever, like the ship didn’t want to go down. Until finally it started to list to one side and suddenly the ocean swallowed her up.

I quickly donned my gear, knowing full well I wasn’t going to see much of the ship due to the explosion of sand that clouded around it when she hit the ocean floor. But what the hell, I was one of the first divers to dive her.  It was eerie hearing her steal creek and buckle underwater as she settled into her resting place.

The next day I dove on her again. This time the vis had cleared to 70 feet and she was an awesome sight to see. The marine life wasted no time making the Gerren their home. Schools of fish swam in military formation in and all around the wreck. It was a great dive.

Unfortunately, she was only sunk in 45 feet of water. And in a short time huge residual swells from hurricanes in the eastern Caribbean  reduced her from the beautiful fully intact ship she was, to the  twisted , broken up metal she now is.

This picture was taken the day after she sank.