Looking for the perfect gift for male divers can be difficult; in fact, looking for the perfect gift for any diver can be troublesome and lead to hours spent online wondering if they would like what you buy! So here are some of the best gifts for male divers, from dive watches and wet notes to coffee table books and sets of regulators. There is the perfect gift for every male diver and a wide range of budgets.
Dive Watches Are Perfect Gifts For Male Divers
Truth be told, every male diver loves a chunky dive watch on their wrist. Even if they deny wanting one, they secretly do, and that is why, more often than not, you can’t go wrong with picking up a good dive watch for the male scuba diver in your life. Dive watches vary wildly in price, from excellent budget ones that will set you back under $100 to fashion statement watches that will leave your pockets several thousand dollars lighter. Here are some of the best options for every budget.
Best Budget Option: Casio MDV106, “Duro”
The Duro is a legend in the diving world. It is robust and incredibly stylish, with a design influenced by the classic watches of the past. The watch is a straightforward design with a rotating bezel and a depth rating of 200m/660ft. Where the Duro stands out is its price point, and expect to pay around $50/$60. This makes it the ideal budget dive watch that won't break the bank and will still look good next to more expensive watches.
Best Mid Range Option: Seiko Prospex
The Seiko Prospex is a great dive watch with plenty of style and functionality at a mid-range price point. The Perspex family of watches has several models, and all will set you back a few hundred dollars, making them the ideal mid-range gift for male divers. The watches are depth-rated to 200m/660ft and have a rotating bezel. Depending on the model, the watches are available with stainless steel or rubber bracelets.
Best Luxury Watch? Omega Seamaster Divers Watch
The Omega Seamaster is very famous since, besides being a diving watch, it is far better known as James Bond’s watch. The time piece does everything you could want from a dive watch and looks equally fabulous on top of a wetsuit or a tuxedo, making it the perfect dive watch. The Seamaster is rated to 300m/1000ft and features a calendar and helium escape valve. Needless to say, for a watch associated with 007, it will set you back a few thousand dollars.
One of the biggest problems divers face is the lack of storage space and pockets on their diving gear. Imagine you are diving with your phone in an underwater case or camera in its housing. You also have a reel or two, a DSMB, and a couple of lenses for your camera so that you can switch between Macro and Wide angle. You could also have your underwater notebook or slate so you can take notes or communicate with your fellow divers. By now, you are wondering where on earth you will carry all this gear; it will not all fit in your BCD pockets if you have them.
This is where the Scubapro Hybrid Cargo shorts are a lifesaver. The 1mm shorts not only provide a small additional amount of warmth but also provide you with ample storage in the form of two cargo pockets. Combined, both pockets give you a substantial amount of extra storage. In addition, their location makes it very easy to use them, taking items out and stowing them away.
If the Scubapro model is not perfect in terms of design or storage capacity, you do have other options. The Fourth Element Technical Shorts are an ideal alternative. However, if you want some monster pockets, you can always opt for the Mares XR Tek shorts, which have virtually endless pockets.
Apeks Regulator Set
If you are looking to splurge on the technical or side mount diver in your life, whether they are male or female, then an Apeks Regulator set is the perfect option.
MTX-R Sidemount Set
The MTX-R is about as high performance as you can get when it comes to scuba regulators. The kit is super tough and rugged and can be taken anywhere on this planet, from warm tropical waters to extremely cold temperatures in the Arctic Ocean.
The kits come with everything you need for Sidemount diving, including two submersible pressure gauges with a short high-pressure hose, two short low-pressure inflators, a long hose, and a standard-length regulator hose with a 90-degree elbow. The kit also features a bolt snap, cable ties, and bungee cords to complete your side mount setup.
TEK 3 Regulator Set
The TEK regulator set first stage is the perfect design for configuring your rig on a set of doubles. The ports are located perfectly, so all hoses point down, giving you the optimum hose routing and layout. The set also comes with a 7ft/210cm second-stage long hose and a standard length second-stage hose.
The variety of ports available lets you configure your setup to perfectly match your needs; whether you want to dive single bladder or dual bladder or even using a wet suit or drysuit, the TEK 3 regulator set can cope with all the different configuration permutations!
Waterproof Notebook
Unless you are a fluent sign language speaker, complex communications underwater can be complicated and challenging. This is where a waterproof notebook can be a lifesaver. These are perfect for dive teams that want to be able to communicate better underwater or take notes and observations on their dives. Or even for working instructors who want to communicate better using the notes or even take notes to better debrief their students. Historically, these were hard to find; however, these days, you have many options available.
Halcyon Wet notes
The Haclyon notebook was one of the first on the market and is still a strong favorite, especially amongst technical divers. The notebook is replaceable and features 25 waxed sheets. You also get a place to store 2 or three pencils, as well as a small storage compartment for tables, cable ties, and such. The notebook has a closure loop and an attached bungee cord for easily mounting a bolt snap.
Apeks Wet notes
The Apeks wet notes notebook has everything you could ever want from an underwater notebook. Made from durable ballistic nylon, it features a replaceable 23-page notebook. Two transparent pouches are perfect for storing tables, small cutting devices, or additional pencils. In addition, you also have an elastic bookmark and closure loop with a bungee cord. The notebook is supplied with a stainless steel bolt snap, so it is ready to dive from the start.
Scubapro X-Tek Wet notes
A rugged and robust design made from 1000 denier nylon. The notebook is replaceable and features two clear pockets for accessories or dive tables. The Scubapro X-Tek also features an elastic bookmark, pencil holder, and secure closure loop with bungee cord for attaching a bolt snap to the book.
All divers love a good book about diving, even more so if it features tons of stunning photos and amazing dive destinations. That is why Carrie Miller’s 100 Dives of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Underwater Destinations is the perfect holiday gift.
The coffee table book features stunning photos and insights into some of the best dive locations worldwide. The book is the perfect companion for divers when they are unable to dive, and they can use it for inspiration to plan their next fantastic dive vacation. Reading the book, every diver will have new sites to add to their bucket list. Not to mention, in some cases, revisiting sites with a new perspective.
Ask any diver what is one of the worst feelings in the world, and they will tell you to put a wet wetsuit back on for the second dive. No matter how exciting the dive is, putting on a cold, damp wetsuit feels awful. This is where the portable wetsuit drying rack is just perfect, especially when shore diving.
Take off your suit after the first dive and hang it up on the rack that mounts to your car or truck mirror. After an hour or so, your suit will be dry or, if not much dryer than if you have left it crumpled on the floor in a heap! The Malo Portable wetsuit drying rack is the perfect holiday gift, especially for those who like to shore dive regularly.
