OCEANS ENTERPRISES are publishers and distributors with a special interest in sport scuba diving and marine related books, established in 1982 under current management. As distributors, we have the largest range within our speciality in Australia, perhaps even in the world. The proprietor is Peter Stone, photographer, author, bibliophile, and publisher, who has had over thirty years diving experience, and is now the quintessential armchair diver. 

The nature of the book-sales side of the business requires it to remain personal so that customers always receive courteous attention and advice. If you are looking for a specific publication not listed, or would like advice on a particular title, please contact us. We may not know all the answers but we will always try and help. We are always interested in new publications, and may be able to assist in chasing up old, out-of-print books. A publisher's name is always handy. We also have a range of second-hand books and are always interested in buying second-hand marine and diving books and full collections. 

Oceans Enterprises are also publishers and produce a number of titles not all to do with diving. These are listed under the Oceans Enterprises Publications page. Note the Divers Logbook, claimed to be one of the most practical in the world, and the incredible Aqua Notes that allow you to write under water with an ordinary pencil. Lonestone Press, an imprint of Oceans Enterprises, produces the popular Jack Loney Wrecks On.... series of books. Sadly, Jack Loney passed away early 1995, but a few more titles are planned based on his manuscripts.

Our retail sales are predominantly mail order, as they have been since the early eighties. We are not a start-up internet company, but were one of the earliest to embrace the benefits of internet communication, with our website being established in 1997. Our mail order clients come from all parts of the globe, and include government departments, national libraries, and corporations. A large proportion of sales are to dive shops and the regular book trade.

WHERE ARE WE ?

Oceans Enterprises is based in the small rural town of Yarram about two and a half hours drive east of Melbourne through the Gippsland  country region of Victoria, south-east Australia. We do not operate a retail shop front; if passing through, you are welcome to browse, but best to give us a call first, particularly if you are making a special trip. We have a first class restaurant/coffee shop/wine bar on the ground floor of our building - the Federal Coffee Palace Restaurant. The book business mainly upstairs, with storeage downstairs. The proprietor owns the building - we mention this to emphasise your security in dealing financially with us. We have been here since 1990, and were previously in Melbourne.
 

Books and other material may be posted to anywhere in the world. We have valued clients throughout Australia, New Zealand, Vanutau, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, South-East Asia, Russia, China and Hong Kong, Macao, North and South America, England and Europe, and South Africa. 

For underwater books, scuba diving books, commercial diving book, wreck books, sport diving books, underwater photography books, dive travel books, technical diving books, hyperbaric books, fish books, marine science books, oceanography books, marine books.

WHO IS PETER STONE?
 

G'day!! My name is Peter Stone, and I used to be more active than this. As a photographer and travel writer, and part-owner of a dive travel agency I managed to dive most of the better locations in Australia, the Pacific and South-East Asia. But that was a few years back. I still travel but restrict most of my photography and writing to top-side subjects, and have become the quintessential arm-chair diver. Oceans Enterprises takes up most of my time now, both with the publishing and distribution of books. I generally have a writing project on the go. My major effort was a war history, Hostages to Freedom - The Fall of Rabaul, which commenced as a shipping and salvage book and grew into an historical document on World War 2. That was published in 1995 and received excellent reviews. It is now in its second edition. My Dive Australia, now in its fourth edition, has been in print since 1982.

I have a best-selling title on the world's largest most accessible shipwreck, the SS President Coolidge, wrecked in New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in October 1942. The Lady and the President has, I am pleased to say, also received excellent comment and is now in its third printing. This year I also edited and prepared a war history on one of our World War 2 heroes, Frank Holland. Called El Tigre, it covers operations in New Britain, Timor and Borneo. In 1996 I wrote and published a history of our local health service, Splendid Isolation, which was a commission assignment. Other publications have included Dive Australia, High and Dry, Australia's Island Shipwrecks (with Jack Loney), Rabaul's Forgotten Fleet (with Monica Foster), and a Pisces guide, Snorkelling and Diving Australia Southeast Coast and Tasmania. My underwater and topside photography is available through Pacific Stock, a photo library based in Hawaii. You can see some of my underwater stuff on my portfolio.

Back in 1990 I decided to leave Melbourne, my home town, and live in sunny Queensland. On the way however I found a delightful town, Yarram, in eastern Victoria and bought an old building built in 1896 as a hotel, called the Federal Coffee Palace. This was my home with wife Wendy, and office and display for Oceans Enterprises, until early 1999. Then a true miracle happened. My beautiful son Sam was born, so we bought and moved to a delightful rural property only ten minutes from Yarram. Now I commute to the office as so many people do. 

We have since constructed a  restaurant/wine bar/coffee shop in the Federal Coffee Palace, so I do not have far to go for a great cappuccino. I am active in town affairs, a member of Rotary International, and enjoy the tranquility of country life and the marvellous people. 
 

But enough of this rubbish. What you really want to know is, who is that wonderful fellow with me in the photograph. That is my beautiful Baxter, an L.B.T. (Loveable Bull Terrier), the most beautiful dog that I have had the pleasure of meeting. Those who have ever known a bully, and have treated them well, know only too well that they are a most remarkable dog. Baxter (named after a French movie based on a bull terrier), was a most delightful and happy animal to be with. He loved people, especially children, and was always full of life and a pleasure to be with. Sadly, this all ended in August 1996. We noticed he was sluggish for a while, and when he went to the vet, he never returned home. After five days of medication and an operation, he went into a coma and died of a rare blood disease. At least we had the pleasure of his company for five of the six years of his life. But we miss Baxter terribly.Would we ever have another bull terrier? Not for a long time. They say that once you have had a bully, you rarely have another one, simply because they each have a very special character. They simply cannot be replaced.  We now have another wonderful dog, Gracie, a boxer/kelpie (Australian cattle dog) cross, who is just as loveable.

 

• e-mail us at peter@oceans.com.au
• Mail: 303 Commercial Road, Yarram, Victoria 3971, Australia 
• Phone: International +(61 3) 5182 5108. Australia (03) 5182 5108
• Fax: International +(61 3) 5182 5823. Australia (03) 5182 5823