Most Americans can’t wait to crawl out of bed extremely early on the day after Thanksgiving and maul the malls in search of the year’s best bargains.
But what if there were a healthy alternative to Black Friday shopping insanity? There is — it’s called Blue Friday, it’s now in its fourth year, and its slogan is “Don’t Shop. Dive.”
The Beginning of a New Holiday Tradition
Since 2021, the Marin Scuba Club and the Dive Club of Silicon Valley, both in Northern California, have been embracing Blue Friday.
It’s the brainchild of Ken Carter of Mill Valley, CA, who says, “I was inspired by REI closing its stores the day after Thanksgiving. That’s why the members of both of these clubs 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.”
Ken Carter and his son, Blue Friday 2021. Photo by Terry Rowe.
How Blue Friday Began
“It started as an excuse to take my son, who had just gotten his Open Water certification, diving in California waters throughout the year,” adds Ken. “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, we decided to launch a second annual trip in 2022.”
Blue Friday 2022
Ten divers from the two dive clubs braved the cold Point Lobos waters, rough seas, and varying visibility for the second annual Blue Friday.
They were treated to rockfish, kelpfish, and a small herd of sheepshead. However, sadly, the urchins have found the preserve, and there are small urchin barrens in the deeper water.
Point Lobos, King Tides. Blue Friday 2022. Photo by Ken Carter.
Year 3: Three Diving Sites in Two Countries
Last year, we promoted Blue Friday in California Diving News, Undercurrent, the Marin Independent Journal, a ScubaRadio.com interview, and other media outlets.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature was having a bad day on the Monterey Peninsula in 2023, so Blue Friday became No-Go Friday. Jim Van Gogh, a member of Dive Club of Silicon Valley, reports: “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.”
Ken Carter even tried to re-schedule the event for December 23, but local dive shops reported crappy viz and a strong surge down to 70 feet, while NOAA showed a 4-5 foot swell, so those dive plans were shelved, too.
Jim Van Gogh and Dan Mills. Blue Friday 2023. Photo by Jim Van Gogh.
Blue Friday’s Reputation Went Global
However, news of Blue Friday 2023 spread to other parts of the globe. Kerwin Lewis, a Marin Scuba Club member who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii’ chartered a boat with Kohala Divers out of Kawaihae Harbor.
He exclaims, “Ideal diving conditions. Surface temperature 83o, water temperature 80o. Visibility was the best I’ve seen in months –– about 100 feet! No wind chop, no surge. Saw a Blue Dragon Nudibranch which usually can only be seen on the Kohala Coast, and some diver eating an egg underwater (LOL).”
Meanwhile, Natalie Shuman and her husband, Shannon, the American owners/operators of Sun Divers Roatan, promoted Blue Friday on their Facebook feed. She adds, “It was a perfect dive day with surface temps in the low 80s, sunny skies, and calm waters. The water temperature was equally perfect at 82 o. A special seahorse sighting was found at Butcher’s Bank off of West Bay in Roatan. This was one of the busiest holiday dive days we’ve had which shows that more people are opting out of Black Friday!”
Kerwin Lewis, Big Island. Blue Friday 2023.
Join Us for Blue Friday 4.0: November 29
Blue Friday is later this year than normal because Thanksgiving falls on November 28th.
In the San Francisco Bay Area where we live, some members are signing up for a charter aboard the Beach Hopper IIdive boat on Blue Friday to explore Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon, the largest underwater chasm along the North American West Coast. About 60 miles off the coast, it descends from 60 feet to nearly 12,000 feet. If interested, email Capt. MaryJo Nelson at captmaryjo@gmail.com.
If the weather and sea conditions are mild, we may extend the trip with shore dives for a Bluer Saturday on November 30th in the Carmel/Monterey area or even for Bluest Sunday on December 1st. But if you want to join us for this year, we’ll see you down there.
Meanwhile, Ken Carter is living temporarily in New York to launch a new company called Ozeki with the Techstars NYC Fall 2024 Cohort, so he will be diving in Long Island Sound with the Big Apple Divers, New York City’s dive club.
In addition, our colleagues are again poised to get wet on the Big Island of Hawai’I; in Roatan, Honduras; and other far-flung locales, including Cuba and Australia’s Coral Sea.
Or Organize Your Own Blue Friday Event
If you don’t live near the Monterey Peninsula, we invite you to organize your own Blue Friday celebrations.
Wherever you are, warm or cold water, great viz or not so great, please promote your “Blue Friday” dive to your store, club, and buddies, join us virtually at your favorite dive site, and send your social media links or images to gil@zeimer.com to archive it with other 2024 activities.
With your continued support, Blue Friday can become an evergreen holiday event.
About The Author.
Gil Zeimer became a PADI-certified Open Water Diver in 1985. His stories have appeared in CA Diving News, Scuba Diving Industry Magazine, inDEPTHmag.com, Scuba Times, Alert Diver, Sport Diver Interactive, Dive Pacific Magazine, Asian Diver, Dive Travel, Scuba Diver Life, DivePacific.co.nz, Adventure Journal, Local Getaways, Undercurrent’s Traveling Diver’s Chapbook, S.F. Chronicle, L.A. Times, and Marin Independent Journal. He lives in San Rafael, California.
