What are the best gifts for sea swimmers and those who like to jump into wild waters…? This blog series gathers together some of the best gifts for outdoor swimmers, a few perfect gifts for sea swimmers, and lots of lovely treats for chilly dippers.
In this first blog post, I’ll start by looking at swimming gear. Hopefully giving you lots of ideas of what to buy that cold water swimmer in your life.
If you’re new to wild swimming, this list of goodies might also give you some ideas about what you’ll need to keep swimming into the winter.
Finding the perfect gifts for sea swimmers and cold water swimmers
In future posts, I’ll be gathering together some ideas for post swim-treats (for when you get out of the water), inspiring reading materials for swimmers, meaningful gifts like Sea Soul Blessings (of course!), and all sorts of other lovely gifts for outdoor swimmers. Sign up for our Sea Soul Newsletter to make sure you get those first.
Where possible, I’ll try to highlight the eco-friendly options as I go along – because those who love swimming outdoors, usually want to protect what we love.
(And yes, basically, my master plan is that I’m going to send all of these blog posts to my husband, and hope he gets the many many hints…)
What is it about wild swimming?
Wild swimming has boomed in recent years. In 2019, 7.5 million people were swimming in outdoor lidos and open water every year, and according to Sport England, the numbers of outdoor swimmers have been increasing year on year.
I’m seeing three or four times as many winter swimmers in the water this winter than in previous years – so those numbers are only going up!
With gyms closed, mental health issues on the rise, and so many of us learning to deeply appreciate our limited time spent in nature over lockdown, it’s wonderful to see so many people discovering the joys of cold water swimming.
That love of a cool refreshing dip is a treat for the gift-giver too, as it makes it really easy to get the swimmer in your life a present they will love…!
Swimwear
The good news is that there are growing numbers of wonderful sustainable options for beautiful practical swimwear…
You could try Deakin and Blue, Patagonia, The Salt Sisterhood and Batoko amongst others – with more affordable options at We Are We Wear.
In Cornwall, we have the bright beachy designs of Tide and Seek and the more classic styles of Finisterre. Along with new local designs from the brilliant Morswimmy in Penzance.
Swimwear from any of these companies would make an amazing gifts for an outdoor swimmer.
Right now I’m loving my More Than Swim sea turtle swimsuit (witness my first experience of being a swimwear model below!)
More Than Swim make eco-friendly swimwear by hand in the UK, and Sandra’s original prints feature endangered species. She uses eco-friendly inks transferred directly onto the fabric to avoid leaching nasty chemicals into our rivers and seas, offsets the carbon with a donation to Amazon conservation projects, and donates to Plastic Oceans UK from every sale.
In general, it’s hard for sustainable and ethical swimwear options to be made cheaply, but if I get just 365 swims out of this one, that’s 27 pence a swim, and right now, if we truly want to change the way we consume, it’s more important than ever to support small ethical businesses.
Wetsuits, layers and gloves – practical gifts for sea swimmers
You don’t have to “swim in skins” to be a wild swimmer. For many open water swimmers, having extra layers is a must – it means that they can stay in the water longer, go further, and really enjoy the experience.
But I have to confess that I have very little useful information to share on this one, as I swim in my swimsuit or bikini all year round, and I’ve never even tried a wetsuit on (trying to get wetsuits on and off exhausted kids in the cold has put me off for life!). I haven’t tried gloves either.
All I can tell you is that my surfer husband gets his wetsuits from Deeply in Portugal, who have an eco-friendly wetsuit option (that’s a difficult thing to find) – he’s probably even more addicted to surfing than I am to sea swimming, and he tells me they are brilliant. The kids’ wetsuits come from Animal and Quiksilver… mainly sourced from the brilliant local shop, West Cornwall Surf Company.
And one of my lovely swimming friends has a 1mm neoprene Ripcurl spring suit (£99+), and she swears it keeps her warmer in there.
I haven’t spotted any eco-friendly gloves yet, but for some expert recommendations, you might like this review post from Outdoor Swimmer.
If you have some extra swimming layers or gloves that you love, I’d love to know what you’d recommend as gifts for outdoor swimmers below.
Ear plugs
Again, there are lots of options here, but I’ll share my favourite. Having surfed for most of his life, my husband suffers from surfers’ ear, a painful condition gained from lots of time spent in cold water. So a little while after I started swimming all year round, he got me some Surf Ears ear plugs to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to me.
Surf Ears hang around your neck and look a bit like headphones (see me styling them below!) so I quite often get asked what I’m listening to (just the sea and my own random thoughts about whether I’m about to bump into a seal to be honest…). Thankfully, that means that they’re really hard to lose as they’re expensive (the latest versions are £50).
What’s brilliant about them is that you can still hear while you’re wearing them – unlike a lot of putty-like earplugs which tend to make me feel a bit dizzy and spacey. They also last well – I’ve had mine for 3 winters now and they’re still going strong…
Goggles
I love my huge Speedo goggles shown above (these are £26), which I got from my local independent sportswear shop, Whirlwind Sports. These larger sized goggles mean that I can see all the beauty underwater, and I feel really secure when I’m wearing them. I keep them defogged with a bit of eco washing up liquid. But I think there’s definitely a gap in the market for a sustainable pair of goggles…
Swim hats
My top tip for being a long-haired cold water swimmer is to wear two swim hats – it keeps you warm and your hair (kind of) dry. Mostly, I’ve gone for cheap, practical and long-lasting swim caps so far, but there are all sorts of exciting and colourful options on the market to gift to the stylish sea swimmer in your life.
If you’re getting a special gift for a dipper (a wild swimmer who’s generally more into bobbing and chatting than swimming long distances), you can go for a classic old school swim hat with all the flowers like this one above from Fine Saratoga. They even have swim turbans with some extra diamante bling if you know an especially glamorous wild swimmer…
There are also some brilliant creative small businesses that you can support with a swimming cap purchase, like Nancy Farmer’s Water Drawn Art – this is one of her designs below (£12.50 – £14).
I shared the brilliant Learner cap from Cool Bathing (who also recycle old caps – so that’s a good move towards sustainability) in my blog post suggesting gift ideas for sea lovers (swimmers and more…).
Cool Bathing have all sorts of colourful caps that would make great gifts for sea swimmers and outdoor swimmers alike from £12 – £16 – here’s another lovely one with a Cornish flavour. I definitely agree that Cornwall is a stunner from the water.
There isn’t an obvious sustainable option on the market, but Speedo are now making some recycled swimcaps (£14) which is a great start.
Many wild swimmers like to swim in woolly hats, so that big comfy head-warmer knitted by your Great Aunt Flo might just be the perfect gift after all.
If you haven’t got a Great Aunt Flo, Sea and Stream have lots of lovely woolly hats, like this beauty below from £22. I have a gorgeous navy blue one from them, and it’s super toasty when I get out of the water. Sea and Stream also have all sorts of brilliant suggestions for gifts for outdoor swimmers, and are lovely – so pop on over and say hello.
Shoes
As for booties and shoes, my fellow swimmers like to keep an eye on Lidl to see when the cheap summer swim-shoes come in, so I’ve lived in the same single (now falling apart) pair of Lidl bargain booties since they first introduced me to those.
The grip (if there ever was any) has faded away, and the string to tighten them has broken, so I’ve nearly lost them in the waves a couple of times now – their days are clearly numbered. So I’ve been looking around for some replacements…
The trick is to find some footwear that’s not too heavy in the water to affect your swimming, but does have solid enough bottoms (who doesn’t love a solid bottom?) to navigate comfortably over rocks, seaweed and a fear of weever fish.
Hastings company, Wavers, get the award for the snazziest slip ons (see below). You can get yourself a pair for £25 from Seabirds Ltd. in Brighton who also sell all sorts of wild swimming goodies.
Tow floats and dry bags
I had my first go with a flashy splashy orange tow float when I had a brilliant open water swimming lesson with lovely Ella at Wild Edge Swimming Cornwall this year (along with a rash vest for the very first time) – and I can’t say I’ve got used to the sensation of being bopped in the head as you swim yet.
But, a tow float is a really good idea for staying visible in the water. Maybe the greatest gift for wild swimmers is something that will keep them safe. And looking like a puffy-tailed cat.
Some tow floats are also dry bags – so they double as a waterproof bag with space to carry your camera, keys, clothes, possibly even a Battenberg cake and a flask of tea, who knows!
Maybe you could even squeeze your Sea Soul Blessings cards in there for a bit of ‘in the water’ wisdom…
Puffin make eco-friendly bubble tow floats (that’s the kind I tried with Ella) that start at £18.99 and dry bag tow floats from £26.99. Alternatively, Dry Bags make all sorts of Swim Secure floats, with everything from bumbags to tow-donuts (whatever that is).
Puffin also make a handy waterproof pouch for your phone if you like taking watery photos. That’s £7.99. I don’t have one of these as I’m normally too busy swimming and blissing out at being away from my phone, but I love seeing the photos people take from the water.
And let us know your top recommendations for wild swimming gear below – what bit of outdoor swimming equipment could you not live without?
If you’d like more ideas for wild swimming gifts, there’s a second blog post in this series: Gifts for Wild Swimmers 2: Post-Swim Treats. And a third one: Gifts for Wild Swimmers 3: wild swimming 24/7, that includes inspiring books, magazines, evocative art and amazing wild swimming experiences.
You might also like 20 great gifts for sea-lovers (which actually includes way more than 20 gifts, as it’s being constantly updated…!) and these wonderful books for sea-lovers.
That’s my first lot of suggestions for gifts for sea swimmers or the wild swimmer in your life, sign up for our Sea Soul Newsletter here for special offers, ocean inspiration and news from me…