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Got Dad's 60th round the corner so kinda need to make an effort here. He loves diving but i can't buy him anything just because it has a diver related thing on it etc as he'll just be like "wtf this is worthless." - as is so would we with our miniature ocd.

So any divers recommend anything related to diving that is a guaranteed "awesome". Show tickets, boat trips, anything. Price has it's limitations so no fly him off to the other side of the world kinda thing. Am combining monies with sister to help.

Thanks!

What about a PADI course? Theres lots of clubs and areas that do them. Basically you do X amount of sessions and get a little qualified cert thing. Cater to all levels of newbies.
I did one in Portugal and wasnt very expensive.

Full disclosure: I’ve not been diving in a long time. Might have been back in y2k. Things might have changed.

Diving is kinda expensive. Not a lot of low-end stuff related to it.

What kind of gauges does he have? Does he have a dive computer? Expensive, but nice

Is any of his stuff old and worn out? What shape is his dive bag in?

Does he have a camera? Underwater case?

My mom couldn’t stand the basic mouth pieces that came with her regulators. She got some soft silicone ones, far more comfortable.

Fish identification books. Big old encyclopedias, lots of pictures.

How much money do you, in fact, have to spend on him is the first question. Do you live somewhere that he can easily be part of a group that does a weekend dive trip? Any dive shop would have a line on those, so check a few out to see if anything is available and affordable.

If he doesn't have the Flippers that are in two parts at the fin, get them for him. They are AMAZING.

Here's an example:
http://www.scuba.com/US/scuba-gear-20/014183/Apollo-Bio-Pro-Adjustable-Strap-Fins.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw0KK4BRDCiKHD5Ny8pHESJACLE620OrIK1L7V-Q1pKVh0ovVxUmuvUajnchB7yIHtahSWaRoC5rDw_wcB

Mdlbuildr wrote:
If he doesn't have the Flippers that are in two parts at the fin, get them for him. They are AMAZING.

Here's an example:
http://www.scuba.com/US/scuba-gear-20/014183/Apollo-Bio-Pro-Adjustable-Strap-Fins.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw0KK4BRDCiKHD5Ny8pHESJACLE620OrIK1L7V-Q1pKVh0ovVxUmuvUajnchB7yIHtahSWaRoC5rDw_wcB

You're talking about split fins?
Give them to the wrong sort of diver and they'll beat you to death with them....
Many serious divers wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

As to the question, how about a hard hat dive experience using the seibe gorman standard diving dress (the big copper helmet)
He might enjoy that.
Or if you are near any of the sea life centers they do shark tank dives.

 marv335 wrote:


You're talking about split fins?
Give them to the wrong sort of diver and they'll beat you to death with them....
Many serious divers wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

Really? Wow, I had no idea. I loved them.

Mdlbuildr wrote:

 marv335 wrote:


You're talking about split fins?
Give them to the wrong sort of diver and they'll beat you to death with them....
Many serious divers wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

Really? Wow, I had no idea. I loved them.

If you're diving in certain situations, like wreck penetration, cavern/cave, or anywhere with high levels of silt, they tend to cause the silt to bloom causing total loss ov visibility, which in an enclosed environment can be deadly.
You can't really do a proper frog kick with split fins, you need a stiff solid blade for that.