CLIENTS EASILY forget the monogram pen sets doled out en masse for the holidays, but a diving trip off the coast of Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, to swim nose-tonose with great white sharks creates indelible memories. Cloud 9 Living in Boulder, Colo., says it sells such exotic experiences that make for intangible, standout gifts.
Diving from a private yacht to swim with sharks is an extravagant purchase at $100,000, but the company offers a variety of getaway experiences at more practical prices. The company sells helicopters tours, whale-watching boat rides or a day at a spa for prices starting at $75 each.
Cloud 9 offers these experiences across the country and abroad. Visitors to its Web site www.cbud9 living.com choose a region, type of adventure and price range to obtain options.
A hot-air balloon ride that launches in Pittstown, for example, costs $210. Strapping into a MiG-25 fighter jet at the Zhukovsky Airbase in Russia costs $17,500, travel and lodging not included.
Gift-givers looking for tangible items to offer colleagues and clients do not have to setde for paperweights. Ilene Goldmeier, president of gift-seller The Perfect Gift Co. in West Orange, says the resurgence of travel and leisure has renewed interest in items geared for people on the go. "For a while after Sept. 11, everyone kind of stayed home, [but] travel seems to be more popular now," she says. Travel items are popular as gifts this season, she continues. Other popular items include stadium chairs priced at $55 and blankets at $45.
