Blog Written by Gil Zeimer author of “Scuba Storyteller: Mostly Humorous Diving Tales by an Addicted AquaNut”
"Why not skip the shopping insanity of Black Friday,
on the day after Thanksgiving, and go diving..."
Five years ago, one of my dive buddies had a great idea. Why not skip the shopping insanity of Black Friday, on the day after Thanksgiving, and go diving with his son as a healthier alternative?
Kenneth Carter said, “I was inspired by REI closing its stores the day after Thanksgiving. That’s why the members from the Marin Scuba Club and the Dive Club of Silicon Valley have been giving back to the Earth by skipping plastic consumerism and going diving at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in Carmel-by-the-Sea, within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.”
“It started as an excuse to take my son, who had just gotten his Open Water certification, diving in California waters throughout the year,” he continued. “I woke up one morning and booked all of the reservations at Point Lobos in 2021. Because we had such a great time with excellent visibility and virtually no other divers the first year, we decided to launch a second annual trip the next year.”Blue Friday’s slogan that is gaining traction worldwide is, “Don’t Shop… Dive!” And this grassroots initiative is featured in Chapter IV of my upcoming book by Best Publishing Company that will be available in December: “Scuba Storyteller: Mostly Humorous Diving Tales by an Addicted AquaNut”.
- The First Blue Friday: The Birth of a New Holiday Tradition
Since 2021, these two dive clubs in Northern California have been embracing “Blue Friday”. - The Second Blue Friday: Varying Visibility at Point Lobos
When Robert Louis Stevenson lived in Monterey in 1879, he called it “The most felicitous meeting of land and sea in the world.” Though it’s renowned for its beauty, above and below the waves, ten divers from the two dive clubs braved the chilly Point Lobos waters, rough seas, and varying visibility for the second annual Blue Friday in 2022. Their logbooks noted encounters with rockfish, kelpfish, and sheepshead. Sadly, purple sea urchins have populated the preserve, and there were small urchin barrens in the deeper water. - The Third Blue Friday: High Tides and Churned Up Water
For 2023, we heavily promoted Blue Friday in ScubaRadio.com, California Diving News, and other media outlets with the hope that more divers would participate in more locations.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas. On the Monterey Peninsula, Jim Van Gogh, a member of the Dive Club of Silicon Valley, reported: “My buddy and I ascertained that the conditions were less than stellar. The tide was very high tide, with a big swell. The water was very churned up, aerated, and dirty. So, we bailed on the dive and just hiked.”
But Kerwin Lewis, a Marin Scuba Club member living on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and Natalie and Shannon Shuman, American co-owners of Sun Divers Roatan, all enjoyed warm weather and excellent visibility. - The Fourth Blue Friday: A Wider Finprint
This “Don’t Shop… Dive!” day was embraced by more people in more places than the previous years, combined.
These included Dive Queensland in Australia; Blue Wilderness Dive Adventures out of Kawaihae Harbor in Hawai’i; by “#UnderwaterPaparazzi” in San Diego, California; the Peace Dive Boat in the Channel Islands, California; Meanwhile, Mike Smith of Marin Scuba Club, and Chris Cervellone of Sea Divers Scuba Dive Club; Amigos del Mar in Mahahual, Mexico; Sun Divers Roatan, a PADI Eco Center in Honduras.
Join Us for Blue Friday 5.0: November 28th For a Truly Global Event
This year, we’re pulling out all the stops with divers getting wet in dozens of countries across four continents.
Marin Scuba Club and Blue Friday 5.0 have gained global recognition through an alliance with The Reef World Foundation (Green Fins’ international coordinator), and Sun Divers Roatan by reaching out to over 1,500 dive operators across the globe. As always, members of several Northern California dive clubs will convene at Point Lobos in Carmel, California, for some shore dives.
Jami Leslie Feldman of #UnderwaterPaparazzi has plans to dive in San Diego… BPC author Jeff Bozanic is planning a dive in either California or Florida… Sun Divers Roatan will host a “Dive Against Debris” at its PADI Adopt The Blue dive site, followed by a beach clean-up that evening in Half Moon Bay.
Down Under in Australia, Terry and Cathie Cummins of Dive Queensland will be in the Coral Seas, and DivePlanit Dive Travel will urge clients to join, as will Dive Pacific in New Zealand. NECO Marine and the Black Pearl in Palau will host some drift divers, and Kerwin Louis of Marin Scuba Club will charter a boat with Jack’s Diving Locker on the Big Island, Hawai’i.
Meanwhile, High Plains Scuba Center in Colorado will sponsor a coldwater lake dive, and divers from the 216-member Chicago Undersea Explorers Society will be using Roosevelt High School’s facilities for a Blue Friday celebration.
Sun Divers Roatan will host its third Annual Blue Friday Dive Against Debris at its PADI Adopt The Blue dive site, followed by a community beach and bay clean-up with the Roatan Marine Park. Amigos del Mar will participate in Mahahual, Mexico, while author Carlos Lander will dive at Chichiriviche de la Costa in Venezuela, and Sameer Chettri will join in the warm waters of the United Arab Emirates.
In addition, CORAL.org is now on board, NAUI Worldwide will reach out to its instructors and dive centers, as will PADI.
Finally, I’ll be taking a dip in the heated pool at Marin Diving Center in San Rafael, CA.
Organize Your Own Blue Friday event.
It’s this easy:
- For divers: Get wet the day after Thanksgiving, or anytime that week, then post your photos, videos, and descriptions of where you went and what you saw on Marin Scuba Club’s Facebook page. All Blue Friday activities will be recapped in a follow-up blog.
- For dive shops, liveaboard boats, and resorts: Kick off your holiday sales a week earlier or all week long, from Monday through Sunday, to free up divers who want to “Dive… Then Shop!” Or lead a Blue Friday group dive event, even if it’s in your training pool or a nearby body of water. Use the Blue Friday 5.0 toolkit to promote your event.
Wherever you are, warm or cold water, great viz or not, start planning your Blue Friday 5.0 dive now for the last weekend of November. Ask your dive group, shop, club, and buddies to join you, but if you can’t get wet, take an environmental diving e-course or at least visit and support your local shop during its holiday sale.
With your expanding global participation, Blue Friday can continue to expand annually as an evergreen holiday event.
For more information, please visit MarinScubaClub.org/blogs.
About The Author As a PADI diver since 1985, Gil has authored more than 300 scuba articles and newsletters that have appeared in over 25 magazines and websites. His first book, “Scuba Storyteller: Mostly Humorous Diving Tales by an Addicted AquaNut” will be available in December at ScubaStoryteller.com.
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