March ReefBox Unboxing! Better Late Than Never!

Wow.  I am so behind on these.  I’ve just been so incredibly busy, what with work, getting ready for a year’s worth of dive trips, and Phoenix Comic Fest on the horizon, I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and review the cool stuff I’ve been getting from ReefBox.  Divers, if you’ve got the money, sign up for it.   It’s like getting a little present each month to yourself.  Yeah, there’s redundancies, but the difference between a failed dive trip and a successful dive is redundancies. The night before you get on the plane or hop in the car, and you don’t have something, you’re going to be angry.  Don’t be angry, get ReefBox.

And if you’re just starting out diving, over the past 3 months (YES I’M THAT FAR BEHIND), I’ve gotten stuff I would have loved as a new diver.  It’s win-win.

So the March ReefBox was the “Dive Boat Essentials” box.  Behold!


If you’ve never been on a dive boat, they run the gamut from luxurious (the Solmar V is probably the nicest dive boat I’ve ever been on) to the simple (El Mar’s Diving Center’s Piesquita) is not an uncomfortable boat by any means, but it’s got one purpose: to get you to the dive site and back (whereas boats like the Solmar V are liveaboards and are meant to be filled with amenities post-dive).   Some of the boats are even smaller  – Waidroka Bay Resorts Dau Wai (“Water Master”) has to negotiate narrow channels and shallow reefs and by that very nature has to be small and compact.

So, space is a luxury, and comfort is a premium.  The sun and water are you enemies.   So the March ReefBox delivered quite a bit to help you defeat the elements!

First off was a Dive Flag, which I actually do not already have.  If you’re not familiar with the law, in most jurisdictions, boaters are required to stay 100 feet away from a dive flag (THAT INCLUDES JET-SKIERS, A-HOLES).  I’ll tuck it in my dive bag, just in case.

Next is a Marine Life friendly sunscreen from the good folks at Tropical Seas.  I actually already use Stream2Sea (having discovered them at SharkCon in 2016), but I’m running low, and I’m really curious to see if there’s a difference between the two.  I’m going to Catalina Island next week to dive, so on day 1 I’ll use Stream2Sea and on day 2 I’ll use ReefSafe, and report back here with the results!  They also include a $5.00 coupon which really adds to the value here.

Next up is a Dry Bag from Stuffsack – ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for a ride on a boat that is basically just stocked with people in varying degrees of wetness.  You put your dry clothes, phone, towel, etc. in here and then find a way to keep it away from everyone’s wet gear, towels, spilled cups of water, etc.   I’ve already got one of these, but I did mention the redundancies, yes?  And this can be used when going to beach, on a hike, etc.

Finally, a nice little pair of sunglasses from Knockaround.  I’ve already got my Costa Hammerheads which I live and die by, but these are my back-up pair in case I forget my Costas (as is the custom of my people), or when my friends do (my friend Lauren forgot hers when we went to the zoo, and bam! Thanks, ReefBox and Knockaround!)

Note: I checked the Knockaround website and they’re all sold out of their Shark Week glasses.  Dammit.  If anyone from Knockaround is reading this – you should send me any leftovers your might have.  I promise I will wear them prominently in my upcoming videos from Stuart Cove.

As always, they include a deal with a dive operation (in this case, it was 15% off a dive package with Scuba Life Cozumel.  Seems nice! I’m booked solid through April 2019 with trips to Catalina Island, Bahamas, San Carlos, Mexico, South Africa, and the Philippines.  #humblebrag

Also included is a Reef Brief from Coral Reef Alliance (which gets a donation from the ReefBox) about adaptive reefscapes.  Check it out! 

Let’s do the ratings!

1. Environmental Friendliness: 10 out of 10.  All of the packaging was recyclable, and the ReefSafe sunscreen is necessary for divers.

2. Usefulness: 9 out of 10. Some of it will be backup/Save-a-Dive, but the I’ve already gotten use out of some of this stuff without even hitting the water.

3. Value: 10 out of 10.  If you’ll remember from the February unboxing, my box-per-month cost is $27.16.  Per the ReefBox info card (and not including the coupon from ReefSafe, or the discount to the Scuba Life Cozumel), the box is worth $65.94, and that’s $38.78 in savings.  That ain’t bad.

4. Fun: 10 out of 10.  Another win from the Reefbox folks!

So, the rating I give this box is an 9.75, and let’s just round it up and call it a 10.

Get ready for the April ReefBox unboxing tomorrow!

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