The fifth annual Blue Friday day of “Don’t Shop… Dive!”, launched in 2021 by Marin Scuba Club member Kenneth Carter, was our biggest and best one yet, with dozens of participants across four continents, including seven Green Fins Members.
How Blue Friday Started
For those new to our club, Ken said, “REI inspired me to start Blue Friday because it closed all of its stores on the day after Thanksgiving, then gave all of its employees a day off to spend outdoors instead of shopping as part of its #OptOutside initiative.
This commitment, which was the polar opposite of Black Friday consumerism, opened my eyes to how members of Marin Scuba Club and Dive Club of Silicon Valley could put our name on a way to give back to the Earth by skipping plastic consumerism.
“So in 2021, just after my son earned his Open Water certification, I woke up one morning and booked all of the reservations at Point Lobos Natural Reserve in Carmel-by-the-Sea, in Northern California, and Blue Friday was born. It was also a way that my son and I could start diving together in California waters throughout the year. Because members of both clubs had such a great time with excellent visibility and virtually no other divers the first year, we decided to launch a second trip the next year, and have done so annually ever since.”
This Year, a Global Alliance
For 2025, Marin Scuba Club formed an alliance with Sun Divers Roatan and The Reef World Foundation to broaden participation even further. Green Fins is a global initiative that has reached over 1,500 marine tourism operators that protect coral reefs through sustainable tourism, and is internationally managed by The Reef World Foundation, a coral reef conservation charity working to keep reefs healthy and thriving by promoting the wise use of natural resources, particularly coral reefs, for the benefit of local communities, visitors, and future generations.
“Blue Friday perfectly embodies the true value of the Green Fins community. It transforms awareness into powerful, collective action,” says Dev Albao, Programs Manager of The Reef-World Foundation. “This event emerged from the collaborative environment of Green Fins Hub’s Community Forum, with Sun Divers Roatan sharing its own involvement and championing members to join the cause. Our vital online platform where dive operators actively share and learn environmental best practices. It proves that when our global network pools its expertise, we can move beyond consumption and lead the dive industry towards tangible positive impact on the reefs and connected ecosystems worldwide.”
Who Participated in Blue Friday 5.0
NORTH AMERICA
CALIFORNIA
• Six members of Marin Scuba Club did a shore dive at Point Lobos, Carmel, California: Mark Judson, Dan Wilcox, Rich Maxwell, his friend Michael, Jaydon Carter, and Blue Friday founder Ken Carter. He said, “The conditions were very good, but variable; water temperature was 14o C.; visibility was between 3 and 10 meters; the ocean was mostly still with the occasional surge; we saw decent marine life and kelp, but no Purple Sea urchin barrens.”
“The other two dive teams made two dives each, while Jaydon and I only made one due to an equipment fail. Jaydon blew an air hose at the beginning of the first dive, so we swam out so that I could replace it. After the first dive was completed, we had been in the water for almost an hour and a half. Our one dive was 18.7m for 39 minutes. He was too cold to make a second dive. It proves the Ken Carter rule of scuba diving: the best save-a-dive kits include an entire second set of gear.”
• Gil Zeimer took a quick dive in the heated pool at the Marin Diving Center.
• Jami Leslie Feldman (#underwaterpaparazzi) dove in San Diego.
• Author and past MSC presenter Jeff Bozanic dove with his three children on Catalina Island, off the Southern California coast. He texted: “63-64oF at two sites, 30-ft. viz, 1 small shark, 1 horn shark egg case, lots of abalone. On the surface, saw tons of sea lions, whales, dolphins. Nice day!”
HAWAII
• Marin Scuba Club member Kerwin Louis dove on the Big Island of Hawai’I with Jack’s Dive Locker.
COLORADO
Green Fins member High Plains Scuba Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, took divers into Horseshoe Reservoir during their “Black and Blue Friday”. Training Director Greg Redder said, “We had a blast and will do it again next year.”
ILLINOIS
• CUES (The Chicago Underseas Explorer Society) celebrated by kicking off its partnership with Theodore Roosevelt High School, which started a swim/scuba class for students at Chicago-area schools. Blue Friday participants included a few CUES members, one student, and the school principal in the pool. “With an air temperature of 32o, this was the coldest Blue Friday celebration we’ve ever had,” said CUES Board Member Andrew Zaruba.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• Green Fins Member Blue Planet Scuba in Washington, D.C., took part for the first time.
HONDURAS
• Green Fins Member and three-time Blue Friday Ambassador, Sun Divers Roatan, hosted a Blue Friday trifecta this year with a PADI Dive Against Debris, a beach clean-up that pulled 94.48 lbs. of trash, and a well-earned Happy Hour at its Dive & Stay partner, The Beach House hotel. Co-owner Natalie Shuman said, “Blue Friday is our favorite kind of gathering — locals, visitors, and our entire dive tribe coming together for one purpose: protect the ocean we all love and share.”
Watch Sun Divers’ IG video
MEXICO
• Amigos del Mar in Mahahual, Mexico, went diving in Banco Chinchorro – too much current for photos.
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND
• Terry and Cathie Cummins from Dive-Queensland went to Cairns and Ribbon Reef in the Coral Sea on Mike Ball’s Dive Expeditions. They hosted 22 divers from the U.S., U.K., France, China, and Australia.
• DivePlanit Dive Travel promoted Blue Friday Down Under with two blogs on its website.
• DivePacific.co.nz and the New Zealand Underwater Association (NZUA) posted a blog by Gil Zeimer.
OCEANIA
• Julie Finley from Marin Scuba Club dove at Palau’s Blue Corner and the German Channel with Sam’s Tours and Palau Dive Adventures. She reported, “I saw nine Giant Manta Rays on one dive; I’d never seen that many before in years of diving there.”
ASIA
There were four international Green Fins Members this year in Southeast Asia:
• Easy Divers Bali, Indonesia, reported on social media, “Blue Friday is a global grassroots initiative to go diving, instead of shopping, on Black Friday. So don’t shop. Dive!
• Scuba Center Asia, Bali, Indonesia, posted, “We went to Mushroom Beach to clean up as much plastic and garbage as we can. “28 November is Blue Friday (instead of Black Friday). This movement is to redirect attention from ‘ooh shiny cheaper items that you’ll only use once or twice’ to helping the planet keep clean from discarded items. Say no to plastic, say yes to Inyo.”
• Phi Phi Cabana Diving, Krabi, Thailand, announced: “Blue Friday has arrived, and the ocean is calling a little louder than usual. Choose your path through the underwater world:
– Sea Turtle Ecology, Coral Identification
– Coral Reef Restoration, Marine Ecology
– Nudibranch Ecology.”
• Abyss Ocean World, in Northwest Bali, Indonesia.
• Plus, Service Manager Sameer Chettri did a giant stride into the warm water of the United Arab Emirates.
MIDDLE EAST
• Finally, Guru Dive in Istanbul, Turkey, said, “As a proud Green Fins member, we’re joining the #BlueFriday movement to protect and preserve our seas.”
Join Us Next Year
Blue Friday 6.0, which will be celebrated on Friday, November 27th, will be bigger and better than ever. We’ll be updating 2026 information about participating throughout the year.
In the meantime, please reach out to all of your dive buddies, dive clubs, dive shops, liveaboards, resorts, certification agencies, and anyone else who might be interested in joining this grassroots initiative to give back to the ocean. Also, always remember to support your local dive shop’s Black Friday sale.
Blue Friday 5.0 In The News
Marin Scuba Club
