Now that we have ticked off all the big holidays for 2018, it’s time to think about some Christmas presents for your loved ones. And since no one really enjoys the madness of Black Friday and overly decorated shopping malls in December, we have compiled a list for you, which allows you to do all your Christmas shopping from the comfort of your own sofa.
Our top tips for Christmas presents in 2018
1. Time
An all-time favourite of mine for any occasion is gifting someone my time. What has that to do with diving you may ask? Easy, spend some quality time with your special someone and do a diving course together!
Surely, one of the best moments at Christmas must be sitting under the Christmas tree and unwrapping your presents. When I give someone a voucher for spending some quality time together, I make an effort and create a little voucher for them. No worries, you don’t need to have advanced design skills as long as it comes from the heart.
If you are the non-diving ‘other half’ and aren’t quite sure which courses your partner might be interested in next, simply send your local dive centre an email and they will almost certainly help you out with an open voucher for a fixed amount of money. If you have both never dived before, then there’s no better way than to exploring the fascinating underwater world together during a PADI Discover Suba Diving program – who knows, maybe you’ll have a new hobby together soon?!
2. Equipment
Ok, ok, I agree this one is quite obvious – but in a sport that is so much dependent on high quality equipment, there’s always room for upgrades and improvements to the dive gear. You might have to do a little bit of research here, and I would definitely start by having a closer look into my buddy’s gear bag… You will get a good idea of which brands they prefer and which items might need replacement.
Again, to be on the safe side, you’d probably want to go with a voucher here. Unless you know exactly what your friend wants and what size they are, it might be a bit a shot in the dark. Personally, I would still try and keep it specific though – give someone a voucher for a new mask or a pair of fins and they will always think of you when they use their new piece of equipment.
3. Something to wear underneath your wetsuit
Most of you who read this blog post, will probably spend the holidays wrapped up in Christmas jumpers and knitted socks. Obviously, beachwear might not be the first thing you would think of when it comes to Christmas presents. However, diving usually happens in tropical locations like Koh Tao where it’s the right weather for shorts and flip flops all year around…
Speaking of flip flops, one of our favorite local brands Flipflop and Treacle has committed itself to not only protecting our little island home, but also the oceans that surround us. They are about to launch a collection where the fabrics are made from ghost fishing nets and marine debris which has been collected during dive site clean ups. As if that’s not awesome enough, they also donate 20% of their profits from this collection to save the sharks and protect our reefs. Oh, and as a final bonus, their swimwear is actually very pretty. You can look amazing while doing something to protect our oceans, which is always a win-win and therefore gets my thumbs on any Christmas wish list for 2018!
4. Personalized logbook
I know, I know. Many of you would have probably stopped to log your dives by now. But honestly, the standard logbook which you might have received with your PADI Open Water Diver course can be a little bit boring or you just don’t have enough space in your logbook to put down all the notes on the cool marine life that you have spotted during your last Liveaboard trip.
In fact, I do still log every single fun dive I do (and I’m actually getting close to my number 2000 now) and I seriously love flicking back through my old logbooks. To me it’s almost like a little diving diary and reminds me of great dives and lovely holidays I have taken in the past. Sure, there is an ever growing number of logbook apps available but with these digital solution you won’t have a chance to ‘collect’ actual dive centre stamps and they also can be a little bit impersonal as well.
You can find a huge variety of different types of logbooks online, but my absolute favorite must be the logbooks from Diveproof. You can individualize them (in case your buddy isn’t called Nick or doesn’t like yellow boxfish…) and to make things even more amazing these logbooks are completely waterproof – how cool is that?! And because it’s Christmas and that’s the time for giving, Diveproof will give you a 10% discount on any purchase if you use the discount code ‘masterdivers10’!!!
5. Give something back to the ocean
This one comes last, but definitely not least! The majority of all divers have a good feeling of how endangered our oceans are and how it becomes more and more important to protect what we love. Instead of giving a gift you are not 100% sure of, why not give something back to the ocean instead?
You could for example adopt your favorite marine animal such as a turtle or even a shark or make a general donation to a marine conservation organization such as PADI’s Project Aware for example. In fact, they have just recently compiled a list of six reasons why you should give back to the ocean – if you still need convincing.
