This article is a comprehensive review of the literature dealing with the transfer of carbon dioxide to water where no chemical reactions are taking place. It reviews the studies related to the absorption and desorption kinetics, mass-transfer rates, effect of the contactor geometry, effect of water salinity, and the effects of temperature and pressure on the process in conventional reactors or the more recently common membrane contactors. The available data show inconsistent trends and an abundance of system- and geometry-specific correlations/models to predict the mass-transfer performance, which may explain the inefficient design of most industrially available contactors. Furthermore, no agreement can be found in the literature on the effect of temperature and pressure of the system, as well as the presence of additives in the water, on the solubility of CO2.