10 GREAT Christmas gift ideas for your favourite scuba divers AND our oceans

If you're searching for fun, awesome, cool, ocean-friendly Christmas gift ideas for your favourite people?

This may help.

Because people don’t need to be divers to care of our oceans.

1. Pimp ‘em up and protect the ocean with Project AWARE

It's a fact universally acknowledged that it's simply not possible to have “too many” t-shirts. And, especially for guys, “too many” hats. (Or is that just Dive Bus Mark..?)

An international registered non-profit organization and a global movement for ocean protection, powered by a community of adventurers (that would be you), proceeds from Project AWARE apparel sales help fund their important activities around the world.

Project AWARE's ever-expanding range of cool, ocean-related apparel, printed with low-waste ink, on 100% organic, made in a wind-powered factory, make for awesome, impactful gifts all year-round, “connecting our passion for ocean adventure with marine conservation”.

Here for MORE Project AWARE gift ideas
that support ocean protection.

2. Pimp ‘em up and protect the ocean with PADI Loves

Check out the latest "PADI Loves" range for more super cool, fun gifts that that give back by protecting what you love: the ocean.

Working closely with Project AWARE, according to PADI:

"'PADI LOVES' harnesses the enormous power each of us has to impact our Blue Planet. With every purchase we make, we’re voting for the world we want, directing entire industries toward sustainability.  
 
PADI loves these brands because they enable us to choose products that lessen our impact on the environment. They share our ocean ethos, creating eco-conscious products and developing sustainable practices we can all stand behind."

3. Help change the picture. 

If you, your dive buddies, friends and family really do have too many t-shirts and / or would like to give (or receive) a meaningful, impactful gift this Christmas, how about:

• donating to Project AWARE's ocean protection actions on their behalf, as your gift to them this year 
• asking your dive buddies, friends and family to donate to Project AWARE's ocean protection actions on your behalf, as their gift to you this year 

A non-profit organisation, Project AWARE spends 75% of donations on marine protection:

• 32% Shark & Ray Conservation
• 29% Marine Debris Solutions
• 14% Ocean Protection
• 25% Global Operations 

 

4. Give the gift of diving -
and turn your family and friends into something useful 😉

Gift a PADI eLearning course or a Discover Scuba Dive at your favourite dive shop, and you'll have a dive buddy for life.

How useful is that!

Whether you choose a local dive shop or one in an awesome year-round dive destination like Curacao (just sayin' 😉) choose a 100% AWARE dive center wherever possible.

100% AWARE dive centers make a donation to Project AWARE for every every PADI dive course certification that they issue. So you'll enabling your chosen dive center to give your family and friends an incredible, unforgettable experience and to take care of our oceans.

5. Ditch single-use plastic gifts. For EVER.

With an estimated 16 billion pounds of plastic entering the ocean each year, avoiding single-use plastic especially over the festive period makes a massive, positive difference to our oceans.

Yup, we know it can be hard to change habits or 'default' / automatic purchase decisions, because we've done it ourselves. But this one is super easy, low cost and massively, instantly, impactful.

Gift a re-usable metal water bottle to your buddies to take on each and every (dive) vacation.

Sure, it may cost a little more in the first place, but re-usable metal water bottles last forever, save money and massively reduce single-use plastic bottle consumption.

(And they can pimp it with stickers from each dive center and dive destination they visit for a fun, unique, cool and practical alternative to single use plastic bottles. And to show off their dive adventure destinations, just a little...)

6. Gift meaningfully

Not only are these awesome Fair Tradewinds holiday favorites the coolest socks ever, they also protect sharks, plant trees, fight breast cancer, give water, protect dogs, provide relief kits and give people a reason to talk about your feet, while keeping them warm and stylish.

Click here for more Fair Tradewinds Christmas gifts that give back. Gift certificates also available if there are just too many cool things to choose from!)

 

7. Remove a pound of trash from our oceans and coastlines with these awesome bracelets

Support 4Ocean’s mission to clean our ocean and coastlines, one pound at a time, by gifting these cool and highly meaningful bracelets this Christmas.

With an estimated 16 billion pounds of plastic entering the ocean each year, each bracelet sold goes towards funding their massive clean up operations. It's a great way to "end the plastic pollution crisis together."

8. TONS of great, funky and fun stuff,
made from recycled marine debris!

Check out these amazing products made with recycled ocean plastics / marine debris - there's something for everyone, from sunglasses to skateboards, and plenty more:

 

 

9. Gifts that give back

Every product in the Fair Trade Winds online store is lovingly handmade by folks working hard to create a better world for their families and children.

Help make that happen - check out this year's Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guide more:

10. Zero Waste, Plastic Free Christmas Decorations & Gifts

Have some fun: make and gift your OWN zero-waste gifts and decorations for your friends and family this Christmas.

You might be pleasantly surprised by your own creativity!

 Ho, Ho, Ho and happy ocean-friendly Christmas gift shopping!

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5 GREAT reasons to dive Curacao this Christmas and New Years

If you haven't decided where to spend your Christmas and / or New Years dive vacation yet? 

 

Here are a bunch of reasons why Curacao should be at the top of your list:

Reason #1: 

It'll be at least 85 degrees of sun, sun and more sun in Curacao. So you could be shoveling ice into your cocktail on the beach, instead of shoveling snow off of your driveway.

Reason #2:

At a balmy 80(ish) degrees, Curacao’s ocean temperature will be warmer than your air temperature back home.

Reason #3: 

:

Instead of freezing your butt off at home, you could be chilling out at one of Curacao's many, many beach-bars. 

After another day of fabulous shore diving. 

Before heading out for dinner in one of Curacao's many many awesome restaurants, like this one:

 

Reason #4:

This year's Curacao Christmas festivities begin on 16 November with the arrival of "Sinterklaas" and his band of "Black Piets", by boat, in downtown Willemstad:

 

They’ll be making surprise appearances all around the island, entertaining and collecting / handing out bucket loads of candy and speculaas cookies, before setting sail again on 6 December.

More fun Curacao Christmas events and festivities not to miss include:

• the lighting of the Christmas tree…
• Christmas Parade
• Christmas Village
  

Reason #5:

For a New Years Eve (or "Old Year's Eve" as the Dutch call it) you'll never forget, spend it in Curacao. 

It's a spectacular, erm, spectacle, with the island's night sky exploding spectacularly. For hours and hours and hours.

Conveniently for divers and dive instructors who can't manage to stay awake until midnight, celebrations begin at 5pm on 31 December, coinciding with midnight in Holland and beer o’clock at The Dive Bus.

While we chill out with a cold beer or 2, Curacao home and business owners set off gigantic chains of “pagaras”, to banish evil spirits and clear the way for good one (and deafen bystanders). Like the annual Pietermaai pagara, the biggest on the island:

 
 

Made from red, biodegradable paper, the exploding pagaras sound like rapid machine gunfire: deafeningly loud. We can hear the Pietermaai pagara from the dive center, 2 miles away.

Then, as soon dusk begins to fall, hotels, bars and restaurants up, down, across and around the island unleash their incredible firework displays to the skies.

The intensity, frequency and grandeur of the fireworks increase as midnight draws closer and there's absolutely NO possibility of missing or sleeping though the New Year without serious pharmaceutical assistance. Even residents of Bonaire can see and hear Curacao’s fireworks, too.

You can be certain there'll be no bad spirits still hanging around in Curacao by 1 January. Only the pagaras’ red ‘petals’ lining the streets until they dissolve - and maybe a few bad heads...

Reason #6:

Because diving in Curacao OFFICIALLY rocks.

That's why Curacao made it to the top 10 in several categories in the Scuba Diving magazine's 2020 Reader Choice Awards

AND

Both Curacao and The Dive Bus reached the final 25 in this year's DIVE Travel Awards  - for the 2nd year in a row!

TOP TIP:

If you're hoping or planning to be in Curacao for your Christmas and / or New Years dive vacation, book early! 

And if you're hoping or planning on diving with us at The Dive Bus - and especially on a DRIVE + DIVE Package - you might want to get in touch asap. Vehicle availability is always limited at this busy time of year and our opening hours / days change over the holidays... 

Here for info about flights to Curacao.    

Not quite in the festive planning mood yet?
This fun blast-from-the-past may help:

  

  

Wherever you spend Christmas and New Years,
we hope it's your best EVER
and hope to see you soon!  

#curacaochristmas #caribbeanchristmas #christmasdivevacation #thedivebus #divecuracao #divebuscuracao #@newyear #divevacation #rightnowincuracao #curacao #CHATA #PADI #driveanddive #seriouslyfundiving

5 Tips for Ocean-Friendly Holidays from Project AWARE

Follow these tips to keep your holiday season green – and blue!
Courtesy of our buddies at Project AWARE.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. 

Unfortunately, it's also the most wasteful.

And whether you’re jet-setting to visit friends and family afar, attending parties or exchanging gifts galore, you’re bound to encounter and generate a lot more trash these next few weeks, compared to the rest of the year.

25% more trash!

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, American household waste increases 25% between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day. During the same period, food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons add up to an additional 1 million tons of trash per week. 

Whilst that's a big problem for large countries with systems and processes and facilities in place, imagine how huge a problem it is for those small tropical islands which you love dive. Like Curacao, for example, where most household waste goes to landfill.

As divers know all too well, a lot of trash doesn't make its way into proper waste management systems. Instead, it's carried down storm drains, rivers and streams to our oceans, polluting marine environments and endangering wildlife. The Ugly Journey of our Trash, as Project AWARE calls it:



5 Tips for Ocean-Friendly Holidays

The holiday season provides a perfect opportunity to practice mindfulness and reduce our consumption and interaction with debris-related items. So check out these “ocean friendly” tips from Project AWARE to help keep your holiday celebrations debris-free and altogether more fun :)

1) Gift Mindfully

Instead of giving Uncle Stan another sweater to add to his sizeable collection this Christmas, you could gift him a meaningful experience or donate to causes that he, you, or his friends and family care about.

For more mindful Christmas gifts, check out our 10 Gifts for Divers blog post - perfect if you've left things to the last minute...

2) Minimize Gift Wrap Waste

Get creative and try alternative gift wrapping methods. Upcycle newspaper or colourful magazines, reuse ribbons, or try the Japanese Furoshiki technique with reusable fabric instead of disposable wrapping paper.

Or go completely zero-waste with your gift wrapping and use the old “hide it behind your back” method. It’s fun and completely trash-free, and could be highly entertaining, depending on just how much Uncle Stan has had to drink..!


3) Practice Ocean-Friendly Travel - be an Eco-tourist

Heading overseas for Christmas? Lucky you!

Research eco-conscious tourism providers and book your trip with eco-responsible vendors, like 100% AWARE Partners and PADI Green Star dive operators who focus on waste and energy reduction management.

Pack thoughtfully - take reusable items like a stainless steel water bottle, cloth napkin and bamboo eating utensils so you can say “No thanks” to single-use plastic items that may well end up in the ocean. Check out The Dive Bus Packing Pointers for more ways you can reduce your impact on vacation - besides ocean friendly sunscreen, of course.


4) Dive Against Debris

Make every dive you make this holiday season -  and year-round - count for conservation. Join in your local dive shop's Dive Against Debris clean ups, or if you're lucky enough to be diving overseas, check out 100% AWARE dive operators or PADI Green Star operators, or join in a monthly Project AWARE Adopt a Dive Site clean up.

(More info about The Dive Bus / Project AWARE Adopt a Dive Site here.)

Whenever you remove trash from a dive site, log and report it. With your help, Project AWARE and its army of dive shops and troops of divers who care about the ocean, are working to keep trash out of underwater environments for a clean, healthy ocean planet.


5) Share the True Meaning of the Season – Give Back


Share your love for the ocean with friends and family by inviting them to join you, in taking action for conservation on a land or ocean Clean Up event.


Or by making a donation to ocean protection with the latest super-cool, limited edition Project AWARE merchandise -  which Uncle Stan may even  prefer to that sweater...






If anything in this post has given you food for thought, or you'd prefer any of the above as your Christmas gifts, please share it!

For more holiday gift ideas for divers, check out on our earlier Blog post and facebook page for helpful gift ideas from our very own Dive Bus Santa ...

Happy Holidays from all of us
at The Dive Bus!

#curacaochristmas #caribbeanchristmas #christmasdivevacation #divebus #divecuracao #divebuscuracao #@newyeardivevacation #divepackagecuracao #scubagifts #divegifts #giftsfordivers #learntodive  #love #scubadive #duiken #tauchen #vacation #holiday #curacao #dutchcaribbean #caribbean #rightnowincuracao #padi  #travel #wanderlust #100%projectaware #PADIgreenstar #adventure #scubadivergiftideas #oceanfriendly #projectaware #journeyoftrash #adoptadivesite

10 great Christmas gift ideas for your favourite divers OR ...

... how to win friends, influence people and take care of our oceans,
this Holiday Season

1. Pimp your dive buddies, friends and family - and protect the ocean

Project AWARE® is an international registered non-profit organization and a global movement for ocean protection powered by a community of adventurers (that would be you as well as us). Connecting our passion for ocean adventure with the purpose of marine conservation.

And, since it's a fact universally acknowledged that it's simply not possible to have "too many" t-shirts, check out their awesome range, printed using low-waste ink technology on 100% organic cotton that's sustainably made in a wind-powered factory.

 2. Give the gift of diving - and turn your family and friends into something useful

Gift a PADI eLearning course or a Discover Scuba Dive at your favourite dive shop, and you'll have a dive buddy for life. How useful is that!

Whether you choose a local dive shop or one in an awesome year-round dive destination like Curacao, choose a 100% AWARE dive center wherever possible. They make a donation to Project AWARE for every every PADI dive course certification issued.

So you're taking care of the ocean, as well as your family and friends, with this awesome gift.

3. Change the picture...

If you, your dive buddies, friends and family actually do have too many t-shirts, or if you'd like to give or receive a meaningful gift:

• donate to Project AWARE's ocean protection actions on their behalf 

• ask them to donate to Project AWARE's ocean protection actions on your behalf, as their gift to you this year

A non-profit organisation, Project AWARE spends 75% of your donations on marine protection:

• 32% Shark & Ray Conservation

• 29% Marine Debris Solutions

• 14% Ocean Protection

• 25% Global Operations

4. Ditch the single-use plastic

Avoiding single-use plastic, particularly over the festive period, makes a massive difference to our oceans. With an estimated 16 billion pounds of plastic entering the ocean each year

And because diving makes you thirsty, ditching the single use plastic bottles of water by gifting re-usable metal water bottles from your local dive center, saves your friends and family money, too.

Or pick up this fun one online (bikini-clad model not included):

 

5. Give the coolest warmest gift EVER

Stay warm this Winter: treat your buddies AND yourself to a Curacao Winter Dive vacation with these limited time Dive into Winter Specials... including a great DRIVE and DIVE offer.../div>

 6. Pimp your dive buddy - with socks that protect sharks

Not only are these these awesome Fair Tradewinds holiday favorites the coolest socks ever, they protect sharks, plant trees, fight breast cancer, give water, protect dogs, provide relief kits, keep feet warm and stylish - and give people a reason to talk about your feet...

7. Remove a pound of trash from our oceans and coastlines with these awesome bracelets

Support 4Ocean’s mission to cleaning our ocean and coastlines, one pound at a time, by gifting these cool and highly meaningful bracelets this Christmas.

With an estimated 16 billion pounds of plastic entering the ocean each year, each bracelet sold goes towards funding their massive clean up operations. It's a great way to "end the plastic pollution crisis together."

  8.  A super-funky skateboard - made from recycled marine debris!

Meet "The Minnow" the first skateboard deck made from recycled marine debris! 25" long. Its 30% veggie oil wheels and premium marine grade hardware guarantee a quality ride, apparently - we'd be a bit more concerned about a quality fall.

The coolest part besides just how funky the Minnow looks, is that it prevents more than 30 square feet of harmful plastic fishnets entering our oceans  - and provides support to local Chilean fishing communities.

You've GOT to know someone who'd love one of these:

9. Really useful dive stuff ...

Keep an eye on The Dive Bus facebook and instagram channels for fun, ridiculousness and more Christmas gift inspiration - and our annual Team Christmas photo(s), as you wouldn't want to miss that, would you...?

#seriouslyfundiving

10. Still can't decide what to get for your buddy? Let them decide instead.

Whether you want to gift any of the above ideas or let your buddy decide on their own gift from you, the Dive Bus gift voucher is the way to go.

Drop us an email, Skype us, whatsapp us or swing by and tell us what you'd like, who it's for, the gift and your cr card info.

We'll make and send you a personalised e-gift-certificate for you to give or send to your favorite people. Job done. 👌

It's not too late to book your Curacao Christmas vacation and open your gifts in 80+C / 27+F temperatures. And it's easier than ever to get to Curacao, with major airlines offering even more flights.

If you're planning on diving with us at The Dive Bus this Christmas or New Years check out our Holiday opening schedule and get in touch. Hurry, hurry!

Ho, Ho, Ho and happy gift shopping :)

#curacaochristmas #caribbeanchristmas #christmasdivevacation #divebus #divecuracao #divebuscuracao #newyeardivevacation #divepackagecuracao #scubagifts #divegifts #giftsfordivers #learntodive #pegasusthruster #flythereef  #scuba #dive #duiken #tauchen #vacation #holiday #curacao #dutchcaribbean #caribbean #rightnowincuracao #padi #travel #wanderlust #adventure #diveequipment #scubadivergiftideas