Hey SD fans, welcome back, and for those here for the first time, my name’s Mark, I am the
editor-in-chief of the Scuba Diver media brand, and welcome to the Scuba Diver YouTube Channel.
It has been a strange old year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but here at Scuba Diver, we
are trying to get into the festive spirit. Don’t think much of my Santa beard, but it’s early days.
Dexter here can be a bit of a Humbug, but we are working on him.
This is the perfect time to be dropping some rather obvious hints
to your friends and relatives as to what you’d like to find under your tree on Christmas Day,
or perhaps you are struggling to come up with some ideas of what to get your resident dive fanatic.
To give you all some inspiration, we’ve collated a list of some ideal diving-related stocking
stuffers, from wallet-friendly items to proper flash-the-cash showstoppers.
Apres-divewear always goes down a storm, and just in time for the cold weather,
British style icons Fourth Element have released their Winter Lifestyle range.
This includes long and short-sleeve T-shirts, polo shirts, sweaters and hoodies for him and her,
so something for all budgets. If you really want to warm the cockles of their heart,
check out the Arctic hoodie, which takes being cosy to a whole new level.
Fourth Element have always been very pro-active when it comes to the environment – just look at
their vast and ever-growing OceanPositive range, which is made from recycled ghost fishing nets.
Now the diver in your life can do their part to help keep our oceans clean with a Fourth Element
Ocean Debris bag. This small mesh bag tucks neatly away to be stored in a BCD pocket or
clipped on a D-ring when not being used, and can be used to collect any rubbish seen on a dive.
Another wallet-friendly gift idea is a dive essential. That could be a cutting tool,
such as a BCD knife or a Trilobite-style cutter, or a delayed surface marker buoy and spool. As
I said in my dive essentials video, these are core items for any diver, and will certainly be
appreciated if they ever find themselves in an emergency situation while diving.
Staying on the safety theme, splash the cash and you could get them their very own EPIRB,
an emergency position indicating radio beacon which can direct rescuers to a lost diver.
No one wants to be floating around adrift in the ocean,
and these can pinpoint a diver’s location to within a metre or so.
Want to show you care about them, but also about the environment? How about
some Stream2Sea sunscreen, which is eco-friendly, being non-greasy, water-resistant and reef-safe.
They also do shampoo, conditioner and other beauty products.
There is nothing worse than the smell of damp neoprene, so treat the diver in your life
to a dive box, or a set of drybags, to store their kit in and prevent water seeping into
the carpet of their dive vehicle on the way home after a day of diving.
Team it up with a set of waterproof seat covers and you’ve got all their bases covered.
Divers love nothing more than reading about their favourite sport when they can’t actually be doing
it, and there are a whole host of books that have been released in time for Christmas, including
Close Calls, in which a who’s who of tech-diving legends talk about their diving near-misses;
Diving the Thistlegorm, which could well be the ultimate guide to this world-renowned Egyptian
shipwreck; and The World Beneath, a peek into the world of weird-and-wonderful marine critters.
Want them to be able to showcase they are a diver when they are not actually diving?
A wristwatch dive computer such as the Garmin Descent MK2i, the Suunto D5
or the Shearwater Teric, marks them out as a diver to their fellow underwater enthusiasts.
Or how about some diving or marine jewellery from the likes of Reef Jewellery, or Dive Silver.
Dolphin ear rings, a manta ray pendant and a dive flag ring
will leave no one in any doubt where their heart lays.
Give them some lift by treating them to a brand-new BCD,
be that an en-vogue backplate-and-wing, like those from Halcyon, Dive-Rite or xDeep,
or a more-traditional jacket style set-up, like those from Atomic Aquatics, Aqua Lung or Scubapro.
Or let them breathe easy through a new regulator system – there are a whole host of new regs on the
market, including the Apeks MTX-RC, the Aqua Lung Legend range, and the Scubapro D-420.
Money no object? Why not take advantage of some of the sterling deals being bandied
around by dive specialist tour operators for those truly once-in-a-lifetime destinations,
such as the Galapagos, Truk Lagoon, Cocos Island and so on? With risk-free bookings being taken
up to several years in advance, you can be sure that COVID-19 won’t be able to mess up
that dream dive vacation – and it gives you time to save up the funds if needs be!
Or why not give them a boost and get them a scooter? I have to say, tearing around on a
diver propulsion vehicle is some of the most fun you can have underwater, and it doesn’t matter if
you are a relatively novice recreational diver or a hardened techie, strapping yourself to one
of these and hitting that trigger is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Prices can vary wildly,
but expect to spend several thousand on a scooter that will sate the ‘need for speed’.
Still not sure what to get the diver in your life? Why not support your local dive centre
by getting a gift voucher from them, and then in the New Year, that special diver
can go shopping to their heart’s content for exactly what they want to go in their kit bag?
Why not use Christmas as the perfect excuse to get family and friends into scuba diving in the
first place! Your local dive centre will be able to do a gift certificate for a trydive session,
so introduce that special person to the wonderful world of diving.
If they are just tentatively starting out, get them a mask and snorkel,
so they can take their first fin steps and see below the surface. If you need
some inspiration on masks, check out our recent video that showcased our Top 5 masks for 2020.
Of course, the perfect stocking filler for any diver is a subscription to one of our magazines,
and we’ve got some fantastic seasonal offers on at the moment
on Scuba Diver UK, Scuba Diver Australia and New Zealand, and Scuba Diver Destinations.
As always, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel,
and ring that bell so you get notification for all our new videos.
Remember, if you are going diving in the coming days, enjoy - and stay safe. Happy holidays!