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

Offshore Inspiration at The Dive Bus, Curacao:

How Mark and Suzy Pinnell transformed a simple idea into one big business plan.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE BY TARA BRADLEY CONNELL
Published in Underseas Journal, Q4 2018

Discovering a beautiful Curaçao shore dive site, marred by trash and fishing line, was the motivation for Mark and Suzy Pinnell to open The Dive Bus, the island’s first 100% AWARE Dive Center.

When PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and PADIAmbassaDiver™ Mark Pinnell and his wife, Suzy, discovered how incredible the shore diving was in Curaçao, they didn’t realize their life was about to change. At the beach one day, they noticed a drop-off close to shore and decided to check it out. They discovered a beautiful dive site with a vast variety of life - but filled with trash and fishing line.

“Curaçao was mostly about boat diving then,” says Mark. “After exploring more amazing shore dive sites around the island, we decided to do something about changing that.”

In 2005, The Dive Bus Curaçao opened as a tiny dive shop on the beach by the drop-off that inspired their idea. These days, the dive shop is a PADI Five Star Dive Resort and has expanded to include a second Dive Bus and a Dive Bus truck. Their shore diving plan has proven so successful that other local businesses have followed suit. In this year's Scuba Diving magazine’s Readers Choice Awards, divers voted Curaçao as the second best shore diving destination in the Caribbean and Atlantic region.

“Divers liked the really simple Dive Bus philosophy: no crowds, no boats, no fuss, no bother, no worries, just seriously fun shore diving,” Mark says. “This differentiated us from the beginning, and we quickly established a niche and reputation.”

Their personal attention also extends to their PADI dive course teaching styles, where classes are small, with a maximum of four students per instructor.

And when it comes to using the dive facility, the Pinnells have an open-door policy.

“We try to make it as fun, easy and convenient for our divers as possible,” adds Suzy. “Almost everything is on an honor system, including the Beer Board! And they love the convenience of the drive-up tank and gear room, rinse tanks and drying racks.”

The team builds the daily dive schedule around their divers’ experience, preferences and skill levels. Just like the PADI dive course classes, their guided dives have low diver-to-pro ratios.

“With bigger groups, you’re usually looking out for the divers, which makes it more challenging to find and point out cool marine life spots as well,” Mark says. “We’re able to do both, safely, without potentially damaging what the divers are there to see.”

Curaçao’s first 100% AWARE and Green Star Dive Center, conservation is also part of The Dive Bus model. In addition to making weights from recycled fishing line lead, the shop offers divers Eco-Friendly Packing Pointers before leaving home to reduce their impact on the island and has recycle bins on site.

“We’ve increasingly focused on sustainability elements over the years,” says Suzy. “What’s great is how many divers choose to dive with us because of that, and how many are happy to join in and do the same.”

From putting Curaçao shore diving on the map, to implementing increasingly more conservation efforts, the Pinnells have taken a simple idea and created something that will benefit divers, and the island, for years to come.

“My top tip for happy divers and happy instructors is to focus on making safety and quality, fun,” Mark says. “Because our instructors are excited and enthusiastic, our divers probably will be, too.”

 

 

#divecuracao #seriouslyfundiving #thedivebus #PADI #Ambassadiver #100%AWARE

5 GREAT reasons to spend this Christmas diving in Curacao

Why Christmas and New Years in Curacao ROCKS

If you haven't decided where to spend your Christmas and New Years vacation yet, this may help:

1. It'll be at least 85 degrees of sunshine, so you can be shoveling ice into your cocktail on the beach, instead of shoveling snow off  your driveway.
   
   
2. While your nearest and dearest will be freezing their butts off back home, you'll chill out in 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 awesome restaurants...
   
   
3. With ocean temperatures around a balmy 82 degrees or so - possibly warmer than the air temperature back home - you may not even need to dive in a wetsuit...
   
   
4. The Caribbean festive-feeling is hard to beat - and Curacao's, in particular. This year's Curacao festivities begin on 17 November with the arrival of "Sinterklaas" by boat, with surprise appearances of him and his band of "Black Piets" all around the island, until he sets sail again on 6 December (lots of fun, bring plenty of candy...)
    
5. And if you can't make it to Curacao for Christmas, you have to experience New Years Eve here (or "Old Year's Eve" as the Dutch call it). It's a spectacular, erm, spectacle, as the island's night sky explodes in, well, spectacular style. For hours.
   
   For sure, there will be no bad spirits left in Curacao by 1 January 2019 - just maybe a few bad heads...

If you're thinking about or planning on, joining us for this amazing time of year, booking in advance is strongly recommended!

We only take small groups of divers per Dive Bus Crew member and there are changes to our regular schedule during this Holiday period:

Check out the Christmas and New Years schedule and availability on facebook, here.

And if you're not quite in the festive planning mood just yet, maybe this will help:

 (Or not!)

Happy planning, ho ho ho ;)

 

#curacaochristmas #caribbeanchristmas #christmasdivevacation #divebus #divecuracao #divebuscuracao #newyeardivevacation <#CHATA #PADI#rightnowincuracao #curacao

3 reasons to escape the cold and Dive into Winter in Curacao...

If you'd love to escape the cold this Winter
and vacation in the warmth of the Caribbean sun,
exploring and discovering beautiful underwater Curacao -
without spending too much money?

The new Dive Bus 'Dive into Winter' Specials may be just what you're looking for.  

And with heaps of direct flights to Curacao from a bunch of major airports, it’s now easier than ever to spend your Winter dive vacation in the warmth of the Caribbean sun, exploring and discovering beautiful underwater Curacao. And it's a great, fun opportunity to turn the kids into something useful, too!

Warm up your Winter
with these Curacao Dive into Winter specials:

DRIVE + DIVE Indie Dive Adventure Package:

FREE DAY!

5 days vehicle rental + 

5 days of independent shore diving adventures
for the price of 4

With more Curacao shore diving sites than you and your dive buddies could dive in a month, the new Dive Bus DRIVE and DIVE Packages are a great way to give it a really good try, at least.

And you'll get to discover and explore plenty of topside Curacao on your dive adventures, too.

The special Dive Bus DRIVE + DIVE into Winter Package includes:

• 5 days independent diving for the price of 4 days
• 5 days SUV rental
• 1t guided “get wet again” dive + Curacao orientation on day 1
• A whole lot of fun! 

Equipment Rental Special:

FREE DAY!

5 days rental for price of 4

+ FREE rental when you make the equipment your own

There’s nothing worse than diving in equipment that doesn’t fit you and a wetsuit that smells like … yeah.

You won't be dealing with that at The Dive Bus. This is not your typical dive shop rental equipment - it even gets mentioned in our Trip Advisor reviews! Check it out here.

Special Dive Bus Dive into Winter offer:

• 5 days rental for price of 4
• Like it? Buy it and your rental is FREE!

*** NEW - EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE AT  THE DIVE BUS, CURACAO: ***

PADI AWARE
Advanced Open Water Diver course Special:

FREE Specialty certification + metal straw
(while stocks last!)

We've tailored the regular PADI Advanced Open Water course into this special Dive Bus version, because, whether we like it or not, it’s a sad fact that divers can contribute to reef damage. 

Accidentally or unknowingly, it’s still damage that an ‘Oh crap!’ can’t fix. And nobody wants to be that diver.

Enthusiastically supported by our buddies at Project AWARE and PADI ("An amazing initiative!"), The Dive Bus PADI AWARE Advanced Open Water Diver course is perfect for families or friends wanting to get more from every dive, by improving their dive skills and confidence while discovering simple ways to take care of our reefs and oceans, every day. 

And ... it's a LOT of fun!

And ... it's a LOT of fun!

Special Dive Bus Dive into Winter offer: 

• FREE reusable stainless steel straw, courtesy of the good folks at 4Ocean (while stocks last!)
  
• FREE Dive Against Debris Specialty diver certification
• Min 4 divers on the same course

The Small Print!

• Click the MORE INFO buttons above for restrictions and black out dates for these Dive Bus Dive into Winter in Curacao offers
• Limited availability - it's high season, so get on it quick to avoid disappointment!

 

Don't miss out!

There's always HEAPS going on at The Dive Bus - stay up to date with everything via The Dive Bus social media channels:

#diveintowinter #divecuracao #thedivebus #christmasincuracao #curacaochristmas #caribbeanchristmas #christmasdivevacation #divebus #divecuracao #divebuscuracao #newyeardivevacation #CHATA #PADI #rightnowincuracao #curacao

New, fun sustainability initiatives launch in time for AWARE Week 2018

Fun, simple ways to protect our ocean planet at The Dive Bus, Curacao:

AWARE Week: 15 - 23 Sept 2018

Project AWARE has teamed up with long-time partner PADI and dive professionals around the world for the first ever AWARE Week.

From 15 - 23 September 2018, Project AWARE and PADI dive centers - including The Dive Bus, Curacao - are organizing ocean conservation activities and actions to encourage and enable more divers to take care of our underwater world.

Specific areas of focus include tackling ocean pollution and creating awareness for vulnerable shark and ray species, by empowering local communities to take positive actions for the protection of fragile aquatic environments, fins on and fins off.

While these issues are extremely important - such as banning shark finning -  we do our best to make raising awareness of them and tackling them, a whole lot of fun and, therefore, more 'front of mind' (hopefully!):

Curacao Clean Up 2018

Curacao's community is playing its part with the annual, island-wide Curacao Clean Up event, bringing people and communities together, across the whole island.

To date, this initiative led to more than 1 million kgs / 2.2 million lbs of trash being removed for proper disposal. That's equivalent to the weight of 6 Boeing 747s ...

We'll be joining in with a Dive Bus Clean Up dive  – you're welcome to join in or find events happening near you, here (scroll down the events page and you may spot someone you recognize … and here, too!)

The new Dive Bus Sustainability Policy

The Dive Bus Eco Policy was one of the highest visited pages on our website. Built back in 2005 with help from Project AWARE, it's been the heart of the dive center from the very beginning.

Long overdue for an update, the policy formerly known as The Dive Bus Eco Policy has been completed overhauled into The Dive Bus Sustainability Policy.

The original Dive Bus Eco Policy focused mostly on fixing what had already impacted. The new Dive Bus Sustainability Policy focuses on simple, easy and fun ways, to prevent or minimize impact in the first place.

“Since The Dive Bus first opened its door, thousands of divers have helped clean up Curacao's reefs on hundreds of Clean Ups," says Dive Bus Mark, a PADI Ambassadiver.

“The cool thing is not only how many of our divers are more than happy to help out, but how many choose to dive with us because of our commitments to taking care of the ocean.”

"But," adds Suzy, one of The Dive Bus Women of Conservation, "cleaning up trash from our beaches and oceans only fixes part of the problem. The other part is preventing trash getting there in the first place. The new Sustainability Policy includes a bunch of solutions to help address that, through education, awareness and fun, simple actions."

 

 

 

NEW PADI AWARE Advanced Open Water course:
only available at The Dive Bus, Curacao

Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, it’s a sad fact that divers can contribute to reef damage. Usually accidentally or unknowingly, it’s still damage that an ‘Oh crap!’ can’t fix.

But the brand new Dive Bus PADI AWARE Advanced Open Water course can.

Tailored for divers with ocean protection at their heart, this special  Dive Bus version of the PADI Advanced Open Water course has been enthusiastically supported by our buddies at Project AWARE and PADI, calling it:

"An amazing initiative!"

The Dive Bus PADI AWARE Advanced Open Water course also includes a Dive Against Debris Specialty dive, giving you an optional "double-whammy" certification, to get you on your way to your PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.



To launch this exciting new course, we're giving away a FREE reusable stainless steel straw, courtesy of the good folks at 4Ocean to our PADI AWARE Advanced Open Water course graduates.

Want one for yourself? Hurry before they're gone..!

 

Enjoy AWARE Week 2018 wherever you spend it,
and keep up to date with the latest on social media:

#thedivebus #seriouslyfundiving #AWARE #PADI #sustainability #givingback #learntodive #divecuracao