How do you like your scuba magazines?

A few days ago, I took my mom to the local Barnes and Noble bookstore here in Glastonbury, CT. While she was browsing to pick up a couple of recent novels, I headed over to the wall of magazines. As I made my way down the long rack of periodicals, I passed by the various sections that included current events, history, finance and money, travel, food, hobbies, until I came to the sports section. I wanted to see if I could find any magazines related to scuba diving. My quest was fruitless, and that got me to wonder why there were no periodicals for scuba diving at my local bookstore, given all the other sports magazines on the rack.

On the rack were a multitude of magazines related to the major professional sports leagues, but there were also several periodicals for other sporting activities. If you are into hunting or gun ownership, you could take your pick from quite a few. There were many magazines related to fishing. Runners and triathletes had several issues from which to pick. Boating, yachting, fishing, you name it there seemed like there was something for everyone, except scuba divers.

Digital okay but I prefer physical

As I reflected on that first question of why there weren’t any scuba diving magazines at my local bookstore, I thought about how much I enjoy getting a physical copy of a magazine. When I first started diving, I can remember going into the bookstore and picking up at least two magazines before I got my subscription. Those two magazines were Scuba Diving Magazine and Sport Diver Magazine. Along with these two periodicals, I cherished my subscription to Dive Training Magazine and looked forward to the next edition of Alert Diver from Divers Alert Network. When I became a PADI professional, I could not wait until I received my hard copy of The Undersea Journal. 

Today, as part of my PADI professional membership, I receive a digital version of Scuba Diving Magazine. They also delivered electronically the Undersea Journal these days. I completely get the reasons for this type of delivery. Printing, packaging and mailing out physical periodicals is an incredibly expensive endeavor. But for me I guess I am old school. I enjoy having the magazine to thumb through or read while I am eating breakfast or with that second or maybe third cup of coffee. It is just not the same on my iPAD. 

DAN has done something a little interesting regarding Alert Diver. If you want to get the physical magazine, you can enhance your membership by paying a little more, otherwise you will only get the digital version. I will definitely enhance my membership and look forward to the latest edition showing up in my mailbox.

Thankfully, the Historical Diving Society still prints The Journal of Diving History and sends to all members of the society. Another great breakfast companion or when I am sitting down with a cup of coffee. Just this week, the second quarter edition arrived. Leslie Leaney, Jon Council and team continue to do a fantastic job with the publication.

Unfortunately, right now anyway, Dive Training Magazine is on hiatus. They suspended publication right after the pandemic shutdown. I am not sure when or if it will be back. It was a fantastic publication and one that I hope will be revived.

There are several other scuba diving publications in the market from around the world. It is hard to keep track of everything that is available. It can also be costly to subscribe to many of them, especially if you are like me and desire a physical copy. Pick and choose, and that is what I intend to do. I will take an inventory of what I get, how I get it, and then decide which magazines I want to have delivered to my mailbox. Hopefully, physical delivery will be an option.

I would be interested in hearing what you think about the state of scuba diving magazines and periodicals. Please email me or leave a comment below.