Don’t Shop. Dive! Why Blue Friday is the Best Kind of Retail Therapy

Forget the crowds, chaos and credit card hangovers – Blue Friday is back for its fifth year, and Diveplanit is diving in!

So what is Blue Friday? Blue Friday is a grass roots campaign that started five years ago in northern California – and now that the Black Friday sales madness is growing more popular by retailers down under, we’re hoping to encourage divers to avoid the shops, and go diving.

Started by diver Ken Carter and his son at Point Lobos, California, in 2021, Blue Friday flips the Black Friday script by inviting divers to hit the ocean instead of the mall. This year’s theme, “Don’t Shop. Dive!”, reminds us that the best deals aren’t in stores – they’re beneath the surface.

What began as a single father-son dive in California has evolved into a global underwater movement, now spanning four continents. With the help of Marin Scuba Club, NAUI Worldwide, Sun Divers Roatan, GreenFins.net, and Reef-World.org, hundreds of dive operators are joining in across the globe.

At Diveplanit, we believe every dive is an opportunity to reconnect with what matters most; the ocean, our dive buddies, and the health of our blue planet. Our oceans give us so much, it’s only fitting that we dedicate a day to celebrating them rather than consuming more stuff. Blue Friday is a wonderful reminder that diving can bring us joy, connection, and purpose all at once.

Here’s how you can take part this year:

• Plan your dive for 28 November (or any time during the Thanksgiving week)
• Post your dive pics and stories on Facebook and Instagram, using #BlueFridayDive and #DontShopDive
• Share your posts to the Diveplanit Ocean Lovers community
• And Marin Scuba Club – where it all began!
• Support your local dive shop – every purchase helps sustain our community all year long.

Why drive to the mall when you can dive in the ocean? Let’s make this the biggest Blue Friday yet!