In the interest of planning ahead, here’s our annual Christmas gift guide. This is specially for the people whose idea of a good gift is “whatever’s available in a shop close to the mall entrance on 23 December!”
Books
For the reader, you could check out our book reviews, arranged by topic:
- Conservation
- Dive travel
- Diving adventures
- Diving history
- Diving science and physiology
- Extreme diving
- Fish identification
- Marine biology
- Marine outposts and shipping
- Oceanography and ocean history
- Photography
- Sharks
- Ships and shipwrecks
There are also a couple of children’s books to consider.
Dive gear
Check out What’s in My Dive Bag for some ideas… You can contact Andre for most of these:
- torch
- gloves
- fins
- hoodie
- SMB – no Cape Town diver should be without one!
- strobes
- signalling devices
- a knife
- logbook
- slates
Make sure you know the returns/exchanges policy of wherever you make your purchases. Some places can be difficult, and if the mask doesn’t fit it’s no good at all!
For lady divers
For the diving lady in your life (or your man friend with too much hair), what about some rich hair conditioner to apply before going in the water – suggestions here, otherwise try what I’m currently using: Aussie Moist Three Minute Miracle, which is available at Clicks. A pack of cheap, soft fabric elasticated hairbands is a good stocking filler.
Some high SPF, waterproof sunscreen, or a nice hooded towel for grown ups (available in one or two of the surf shops in Muizenberg) would also not go amiss.
Experiences
Don’t forget to add a memory card for the lucky recipient’s camera if you plan to gift any of these! Contact Tony for prices.
- Discover Scuba Diving
- Refresher
- a well-chosen Specialty course
- voucher for a boat dive or two on Seahorse
For those who need (or like) to relax
Magazine subscriptions
- The Dive Site – should be your first choice
- Divestyle
- Submerge
Memberships
- DAN cover (for the year or for a dive trip)
- Membership to one of the local dive clubs: Cape Scuba Club, FBUC, OMSAC…
Wall art
Clip Clop designs and prints beautiful tide charts for Cape Town and Durban and moon phase charts for the year. You can order online or find them at Exclusive Books.
My underwater alphabet is available for R200 in A1 size, fully laminated. Shout if you want a copy.
If you take your own photos, you could print and frame a couple, or experiment with stretched canvas prints if that’s your thing. A digital photo frame pre-loaded with underwater images is also a lovely gift for a diving friend.
Donations
For the person who has everything, or because you’re feeling grateful:
