26 Useful Gifts for Scuba Divers Under $20
Reading Time: 12 minutes Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for the special scuba diver in your life this holiday season? Or you may not know where to find an affordable, yet practical item? This list of gifts for scuba divers under $20 removes all the stresses of the holiday season before it even sets in!
Finding Gifts for Scuba Divers
Aaah, scuba diving. The gear intensive sport is certainly not known for its affordability. From costly vacations, expensive dive charters, and the exuberant price of all the gear that goes with it – how in the hell are you supposed to find a quality gift within your budget!?
We understand that sentiment. For us, it seems to be a recurring issue every holiday season as most people in our lives are other divers. And to top it off, we don’t want to gift some cheap, useless present. We want it to be useful. Something they’ll use on a regular basis.
After years of gift giving, and years of diving professionally, we’ve discovered useful items that make for PERFECT gifts for scuba divers. Gifts they’ll actually put to use. And gifts that won’t burn a hole in your wallet!
Affordable and Useful Gifts for Scuba Divers
As avid divers ourselves, we can honestly say we do, or would, use ALL of these items. Each gift idea is practical and would be put to good use by any scuba diver. The best part? They’re ALL under $20.
DISCLOSURE: this article contains affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you! Your support in this way is a huge boost so we can keep providing valuable information for our readers! Thank you in advance!
1. Diver down
A surface marker buoy (SMB) informs boats in the area there’s a diver below the surface – keeping the beloved diver in your life safe from any accidents.
Additionally, if a diver gets lost underwater, they can deploy their SMB to signal everyone their location to get picked up. Most dive operators actually require equipping one before you enter the water.
Even if the diver in your life already owns one, it’s always a good idea to carry a spare.
Surface Marker Buoy
2. Ease the head pain
The rubber straps often used on scuba masks can be wildly uncomfortable and quite literally, hair pulling.
A neoprene mask strap cover is a fun way to ease the pain from a mask strap. Not to mention, add some flair to your scuba get-up.
Mask Strap Cover
3. Let everyone know you’re a diver
Who doesn’t love stickers?! Divers love putting scuba-related stickers on their water bottles, laptop cases, cars, coffee mugs, coolers, or scuba tanks.
How else were you going to let EVERYONE know that you’re an avid diver?!
Dive Stickers
4. Protect your hands
For the longest time I never went diving with gloves on – exposing my hands to the treacherous nature of the underwater world. However, after slicing my hand on a barnacle one dive…never again.
Although, you shouldn’t be touching much in the ocean anyway, it’s always a good idea to keep a pair of gloves on you to protect those delicate hands of yours.
Gloves
5. Defog eco-consciously
Give the gift of eco-friendly diving with some reef safe defog!
If you didn’t know, masks tend to fog up underwater unless treated with a chemical formula first. Oftentimes, this formula is filled with ingredients proven detrimental to coral health.
Stream2Sea removes the detriment with their reef-safe defog!
DISCOUNT: Use Coupon Code, “Oceanwide” at checkout to receive 10% your entire purchase!
Reef Safe Defog
6. When all else fails, write it down
You can’t speak underwater. Hand signals only. You know what’s frustrating? When your buddy doesn’t understand those hand signals.
That’s why I carry a slate and H20 pencil to write down the nonsense I’m trying to convey to my buddy. Surely, it’ll get my point across.
Slate and H20 Pencil
7. LOUD NOISES!
“Look a sea turtle! Look a shark! Wow!”
But somehow, your buddy never saw it despite your best efforts arm waving and screaming into your regulator! It seems you can’t get their attention when you need it the most!
Don’t let either of you miss a moment again with a noise maker / tank banger. It’ll be hard not to hear and look.
Noise Maker / Tank Banger
8. Clip it!
Divers can never get enough clips with a seemingly endless supply of gizmos and gadgets to secure. I use many and keep many more spares attached to me at all times.
Gear Clips
9. Underwater lines
Shipwreck penetration, navigation courses, dive flag connection, or deploying an SMB, a line & reel are just as vital to a scuba diver as anything else.
Finger spools with 100 feet of line are affordable and just as effective as their overpriced counterparts.
Finger Spool & Line
10. Real divers use tiny towels
Microfiber towels, that is! Compact, lightweight, and oh so cozy. Every ocean lover, avid boater, or scuba enthusiast should own one of these!
Microfibre Towel
11. Dry belongings = happy divers
Oftentimes on boats, everything gets wet. Everything. And believe me, nothing is worse than having your one set of dry clothes get wet on a chilly day. Or your wallet, phone, keys on any day. You name it.
Any one spending any amount of time by the ocean needs dry bags. At least one, if not multiple.
Dry Bags
12. Hydrate or Die-drate
Breathing compressed air, immersing in salt water, and basking in the sun are all good ways to dehydrate divers.
Staying hydrated is critical for an optimal dive experience! Not to mention, reusing a water bottle helps eliminate all the plastic we often find in our ocean!
Plastic Free Water Bottle
13. Don’t feed the fish
You wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve seen get sick on a boat while diving. The fish love the free meal but the experience isn’t so great for the one puking.
If your dive buddy is susceptible to motion sickness on a boat, give the gift of holding down their lunch on your next dive trip with Dramamine!
Dramamine
14. “What is THAT?!”
Ever see a cool looking fish or sea creature? Ever want to know what in the hell it is? Reef fish ID cards / books are a fun and interesting way to learn what you’re looking at on your next dive!
Reef Fish ID
15. Again, dry things = happy divers
Especially when it’s your phone. These Pelican Phone cases are no joke – your phone will stay dry, and in fine working order.
Pelican Phone Case
16. Travel in style
Scuba diving is inescapably related to travel. Reefs, wrecks, and dazzling underwater scenery spreads ocean-wide.
Does the scuba diver in your life want to see it all? If they do, a passport cover may be a fun gift to motivate them to buy that next plane ticket!
Diver Passport Cover
17. Track ’em all!
Most scuba divers keep a dive log to track where they’ve been, what they’ve seen, and other specifics to improve their dive capabilities.
All sorts of dive logs are on the market – but these are our favorite.
WHOOPS: this may be slightly over $20…still an affordable, useful gift though.
Dive Log
18. Get rid of the stench
Two types of divers exist: those that pee in their wetsuit, and those that lie about it. And once it’s in the wetsuit…well, it’s in there.
Wetsuit cleaners do the trick on getting rid of that stench your dive buddy seems to always bring home with them.
Odor Away Wetsuit Cleaner
19. A beacon of light
Night dives are commonplace in the dive community. Exploring underwater in the pitch black in an ocean full of creatures. Sounds fun, right?
Flashlights are required but they’re way more expensive than our $20 limit. However, most night dives are accompanied with a small marker light that attaches to the back of a diver’s tank – providing a small beacon of light to illuminate your dive buddy!
Marker Light
20. Just hanging out
If you’ve ever seen your dive buddy struggle with their BCD and finding good storage, it’s probably because they aren’t using the proper hanger for it.
These bulky hangers are perfect for hanging all things scuba-related too – wetsuits and regulators included.
BCD Hanger
21. “Where’s the best place you’ve been diving?”
Good question. And a frequent one too. And to be honest, it’s hard to keep them all straight. But this fun scratch off map can help with that.
Not to mention, it’ll probably look hella cool hanging in your buddy’s dive locker!
Dive World Scratch Off Map
22. Wet money still works, right?
I sense a common theme here. Dry things = happy divers. That includes your money!
(Okay, this one might be a little over $20, but it’s totally worth the extra bucks).
Waterproof Wallet
23. Save your skin and the coral
Back to our friends at Stream2Sea. In addition to their reef safe defog, they make an awesome coral reef-safe sunscreen.
Most sunscreens contain harmful chemicals to the marine life in the ocean, coral in particular. But not Stream2Sea!
DISCOUNT: Use Coupon Code, “Oceanwide” at checkout to receive 10% your entire purchase!
Reef Safe Sunscreen
24. Salty hair is wildly uncomfortable
Long hair don’t care? Or is it a pain when it’s salty? Probably the latter.
Stream2Sea to the rescue again with handy eco-friendly conditioner which keeps those long locks flowing before and after a dive!
DISCOUNT: Use Coupon Code, “Oceanwide” at checkout to receive 10% your entire purchase!
Leave-in Conditioner
25. Film like a pro
Our friends at SoFloSpearfishing make an affordable mask built for scuba diving and/or freediving with a handy GoPro mount stationed on top.
If your buddy likes to make GoPro videos while diving, this may be the perfect gift!
GoPro Mount Mask
26. Be that person. Get a gift card.
If all else fails, just do it. Nobody will be mad about it. Scuba gear is expensive, and even a small amount on a gift card will go a long way for that special diver in your life!
The House of Scuba is one of the largest online retailers in scuba equipment in the world. Your dive buddy surely will find something worthwhile on their site!
House of Scuba
Nothing? Search here.
Nothing? Well, shucks. Try sifting through the products by Innovative Scuba Concepts
.
Gizmos, gadgets, trinkets, and fun little additives for any scuba diver. We’ve spent ALOT of money on their products over the years.
READ MORE: Lionfish Hunting Resource Page
Want more gift ideas for scuba divers or ocean lovers?
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Read More About Scuba Diving Gear
We hope you enjoyed our post on gifts for scuba divers. Hopefully you’ll find it useful on your next adventure! Here are a few more ocean-loving articles we think you should read next:
- 7 Best GoPro Accessories for Scuba Diving
- 9 Essential Scuba Accessories for Shore Diving
- 7 Tips to Prevent Losing Your GoPro While Scuba Diving
- The Complete List of Essential Scuba Accessories
What gifts for scuba divers did we forget? Should we add or remove any from our list? Let us know in a comment below!
