These are two presentations given by Gil Zeimer, Scuba Storyteller, at Scuba Show Long Beach on May 30th and 31st, 2026. One focused on the history of Blue Friday, a global initiative that celebrates diving, not shopping, on what is traditional Black Friday. The other is a recap of how 40 years of dive logs […]
Blue Friday 5.0 Recap: One Day, Four Continents, Dozens of Divers
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.
Long Island Network Divers 5-13-26
I look forward to sharing my underwater adventures, equipment malfunctions, dives gone wrong, amazing moments, and much more contained in my “Scuba Storyteller” book of 65 diving anecdotes with the Long Island Network Divers on May 13th.
Desert Dolphins 4-15-26
“Scuba Storyteller: How I Turned Four Decades of Dive Logs into a Book”. I’ve been a diver since 1985 and have published more than 300 scuba stories since 1994. Sixty-five of my favorites are in my book.
Alacosta Divers 4-6-26
“Scuba Storyteller: How I Turned Four Decades of Dive Logs into a Book”. I’ve been a diver since 1985 and have published more than 300 scuba stories since 1994. Sixty-five of my favorites are in my book; more than half were written from logbook notes, while others are about the diving industry. I strive to […]
My Dive Buddy Wears Diapers
My dive buddy prefers warm water. So do I. Every evening around 8 p.m., we gather our gear, approach the dive site and take the plunge.
The Ten Overlapping Lives of Eric Douglas
Eric Douglas may not believe in reincarnation, but he’s led ten fascinating, overlapping lives. To put his career in perspective, some divers are photographers. A few are columnists or journalists. Fewer yet write novels. More are producing podcasts or documentaries. This 58-year-old has harnessed his insatiable appetite for diving to educate his followers across multiple […]
Why I Dive
I dive because it’s beautiful. I dive because it’s powerful. I dive because it’s wonderful. I dive because it’s colorful.
Don’t Stop Belizin’: Surviving a Two-Star Liveaboard at a Five-Star Destination
In 1987, I made a killing on Disney stock options, decided to book my first liveaboard, and vowed to wear a Mickey Mouse T-shirt every day of the trip in Belize. But now, when I look back from 2025 with 20/20 hindsight, I must have been out of my mind. With only 10 dives under […]
A Little Kelp With My Friends: Diving in California’s Channel Islands
My first trip to Southern California’s Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary in 1987 to dive among the kelp forests was going to be spectacular. But all I could think about was my hemorrhoids. I’d already whet my appetite for this type of cold water diving thanks to several trips to the amazing Monterey […]
The First Time If Ever I Saw Your Fish
When our daughter was eight, we flew from cold, foggy California to the hot, sunny, Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba for a vacation. This was her first underwater experience.
Aqua Tutus Presentation on 5/1/25
AquaTutus Dive Club, Wednesday, May 1, 2025 via Zoom. Title: “Blogging About Bubbles” Subtitle: “How to Get Published or Document Your Trips –– A 13-Step, Real-Time Workshop” by Gil Zeimer Read my Aqua Tutus Presentation (PDF) To put your name on the list to buy my upcoming book of short scuba stories, email gil@zeimer.com with […]
Celebrity Jeopardy – Working With Big-Name Talent
I enjoyed a charmed advertising career and was lucky enough to work with many celebrities along the way. They include Joan Baez and then San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein; ventriloquist Paul Winchell; Pernell Roberts from Bonanza and Trapper John, M.D. fame; Country Joe MacDonald; Henny Youngman; Sally Kellerman; Don Pardo from Saturday Night Live; and […]
A Couple of Cold Ones: London and Paris for The Holidays and Birthday: Part II
After a few delays at the train station, we left London and arrived at our Paris hotel by early afternoon. The Hotel Pas de Calais is just off Boulevard Saint Germaine, around the corner from Ralph Lauren and Yves Saint Laurant, in the 6th Arrondissement. It was a week c’est magnifique!
A Couple of Cold Ones: London and Paris for The Holidays and Birthday — Part I
Revenge, gazpacho, and beef tartare are best served cold. A holiday visit to London and Paris should not be, but an Arctic blast has sent Western Europe temperatures dipping to its lowest temperatures in a decade as we arrived about Noon on December 9. Thanks to our phones’ weather apps, we came dressed for 30s […]
The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park, England
The Nerds Who Brought The Nazis to Their Knees More than 80 years ago, the world was at war. On the ground in Europe, the Nazis’ Third Reich had invaded and controlled most of the continent, while unmercifully bombing London during “The Blitz” in the hopes of surrender. On the seas, Nazi U-2 submarines were […]
32 Minutes Later
I have the good fortune of being born 32 minutes after my twin brother, David, at Mt. Zion Hospital. We’re third-generation San Franciscans. The funny thing is, our Mom didn’t even know she was having two babies because she’d only gained 18 pounds. Her obstetrician kept telling her, “Small baby, lot of water.” But when […]
Palau Dive Trip April 2025
I’m leaving next April 10th for a trip that’s been on my bucket list for decades –– to the pristine Western Pacific paradise known as Palau. We have four spots left as of today. Contact me if you’re interested.
Scuba Show 2024 – 12 Injuries
At Scuba Show 2024 in the Los Angeles Convention Center, I presented this seminar: “The 12 Most Common Diving Injuries –– And How to Prevent Them”. I’ve actucally experienced 11 of these, but that’s not unusual for any diver. After all, one of my dive buddies once explained, “Once you’ve done about 100 dives, anything […]
Midwinter’s Daydreams: 7 Nights on a Princess Cruise
This is our blog about a seven-day cruise on the Sky Princess through the Western Caribbean and Mexico. We hope you enjoy our stories of shipboard life, shore excursions, scuba diving, snorkeling, and generally overindulging…
Diving From a Cruise Ship in Roatan
It’s extremely easy for cruise ship passengers like me to arrange a two-tank dive while visiting Caribbean Islands like Roatan in the Honduras Bay Islands. I did it on in mid-February when I was there aboard the Sky Princess with Sun Divers Roatan. So can you. Here’s how…
Desert Dolphins Presentation: 3/20/24
Desert Dolphins Presentation, Wednesday, March 20, 2024 @ 6pm PT via Zoom Title: “Blogging About Bubbles” Subtitle: “How to Get Published in 13 Steps” Summary: Whether you’re a snorkeler, diver, or photographer, blogging preserves your underwater experiences while humor lets your story stand out from others. This presentation will take you through 13 easy-to-follow tips […]