Scuba diving tourism

The history of scuba diving tourism is linked to the history of scuba equipment development and availability, and to the development of training systems that opened up the activity to sufficient numbers to support the industry. Key equipment developments include swimfins, which give the diver underwater mobility and free the hands for other functions, the diving mask, which provides underwater vision, the open circuit regulator, a simple and reliable breathing gas source, the buoyancy compensator, which allows the diver to swim comfortably above the bottom, and float at the surface, wetsuit, a simple and easy to use protection from moderately cold water, submersible pressure gauge, allowing easy monitoring of remaining breathing gas, dive computers, and nitrox breathing gas, both of which allowed longer dives without decompression.[8]

The growth of the diving industry in a region tends to follow a logistic curve, with a slow start and mostly established, experienced divers with relatively high skill levels exploring a new area where there is little supporting infrastructure. As the area becomes popular, the infrastructure develops and the growth accelerates until it is limited by carrying capacity is approached. By this time the main diver demography has shifted towards the inexperienced and often uncertified diver, with low skill levels and a greater tendency to damage the environment due to ignorance and lack of basic diving skills. Beyond this stage the situation may stabilise if managed well, or if not, the deterioration in value to the tourist may cause a reduction in popularity and a loss of trade.[9]

Too much competition for customers amongst a large number of diving service providers in a region can lead to low profit margins and pressure on struggling companies to cut costs by following unsustainable diving practices and providing substandard equipment. A reduction in numbers may lead to more cooperation between the remaining companies, and a greater willingness to follow sustainable practices.[9]

The shape of the curve will vary depending on the region. Areas with more resilient ecologies may see larger numbers while remaining viable, while areas with sensitive ecologies may suffer early collapse. Climate change is likely to render many areas more sensitive to diver impact and most will probably have a reduction in carrying capacity based on limits of acceptable change. The sites that remain viable for longer may receive the overflow from sites which suffer ecological collapse, putting them under greater stress as the less competent divers flood areas that were previously less attractive to them.[9]

The motivations of scuba divers to travel have been attributed to adventure, learning, escape, social interaction, stature, challenge and excitement, and while these are probably valid for most novice divers and some long term divers, the motivation of long term enthusiasts may be more complex. The development of a recreational diver from novice to experienced diver is usually associated with acquisition and improvement of skills, and is often accompanied by a shift in motivations to dive. Similarly, expectations of the diving experience, satisfaction with the experience available at different dive sites, and attitudes towards the underwater environment will change in divers who continue to dive over the longer term and relatively frequently. The desire to improve and learn for personal growth and the long term satisfaction and fulfilment derived from this learning is common in such divers. This could be an important factor informing the planning and management of diving tourism.[3][4]

Three main classes of recreational diving tourism destinations exist. These are tropical reefs, shipwrecks, and cave systems. Each caters to a different clientele, though there is some overlap. Temperate reefs are less popular as tourist attractions, but can have their own enthusiasts, including short range tourism and incidental dive tourism associated with general tourism in the region. Any exceptional dive site may be visited by expeditionary dive tourists once the attractions are known, though these destinations are generally not serviced by mainstream tourism service providers.

Tropical coral reefs

NASA image showing locations of significant coral reefs, which are often sought out by divers for their abundant, diverse life forms.

See also: Coral reef and Environmental impact of recreational diving

Tropical coral reefs are popular recreational diving tourism destinations, as they are generally both pleasant and colorful to dive, relatively low in serious hazards, and the water is at a comfortable temperature, so they attract divers of all levels of competence. They are more easily damaged by poor diving skills than some temperate reefs, where the environment is more robust due to rougher sea conditions and fewer fragile, slow-growing organisms. The same pleasant sea conditions that allow development of relatively delicate and highly diverse ecologies also attract the greatest number of tourists, including divers who dive infrequently, exclusively on vacation and never fully develop the skills to dive in an environmentally friendly way.[1] Low impact diving training has been shown to be effective in reducing diver contact.[5]

Regions include:

• The Great Barrier Reef of eastern Australia
• Indonesia
• The Philippines
• The Caribbean Sea
• Indian Ocean islands such as
  • Seychelles
  • Maldives
  • Mauritius
• The Red Sea
• Indochina
• Tropical east Africa
  • Mozambique
  • Kenya
  • Tanzania
  • Madagascar
  • Sodwana Bay in northeastern South Africa

Shipwrecks

See also: Wreck diving and Sinking ships for wreck diving sites

Diver at the wreck of the Hilma Hooker, Netherlands Antilles.

Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving.[10] The recreation of wreck diving makes no distinction as to how the vessel ended up on the bottom. Some wreck diving involves penetration of the wreckage, making a direct ascent to the surface impossible for a part of the dive.

Wreck diving may be divided into three categories of differing hazard and skill and certification requirement:[11]

• Non-penetration diving (i.e. swimming over the wreck)
• Limited penetration diving, within the "light zone"
• Full penetration diving, beyond the "light zone"

The inherent hazards of wreck diving may be aggravated by local circumstances like depth, layout and condition of the wreck, the silting hazard, and general sea conditions such as visibility, illumination, surge and currents, and water temperature. Training for wreck diving may be marketed as an associated service.

Flooded cave systems

See also: Cave diving

Sidemount diver in a fairly tight space

Cave diving is diving in water-filled caves, which is considered an extreme sport. The equipment used varies depending on the circumstances, but almost all cave diving is done using scuba equipment, often in specialised configurations with redundancies such as sidemount or backmounted twinset. Recreational cave diving is generally considered to be a type of technical diving due to the lack of a free surface during large parts of the dive, and often involves planned decompression stops. A distinction is made by recreational diver training agencies between cave diving and cavern diving, where cavern diving is deemed to be diving in those parts of a cave where the exit to open water can be seen by natural light. An arbitrary distance limit to the open water surface may also be specified.[12] Cave diving is a specialist aspect of scuba tourism, as the risks are relatively high and the skill requirements are stringent. Cave diving tourism is generally serviced by specialist dive guides and instructors.

Regions include:

• The cenotes of the Yucatán peninsula, Mexico.

The scuba diving tourism industry provides both tangible and intangible goods and services. The tangible component includes provision of equipment for rental and for sale, while intangibles include education and skill development, dive charter services and guide services on dives.[1]

During the 20th century recreational scuba diving was considered to have generally low environmental impact, and was consequently one of the activities permitted in most marine protected areas. Since the 1970s diving has changed from an elite activity to a more accessible recreation, marketed to a very wide demographic. To some extent better equipment has been substituted for more rigorous training, and the reduction in perceived risk has shortened minimum training requirements by several training agencies. Training has concentrated on an acceptable risk to the diver, and paid less attention to the environment. The increase in the popularity of diving and in tourist access to sensitive ecological systems has led to the recognition that the activity can have significant environmental consequences.[5]

Scuba diving has grown in popularity during the 21st century, as is shown by the number of certifications issued worldwide, which has increased to about 23 million by 2016 at about one million per year.[13] Scuba diving tourism is a growth industry, and it is necessary to consider environmental sustainability, as the expanding impact of divers can adversely affect the marine environment in several ways, and the impact also depends on the specific environment. Tropical coral reefs are more easily damaged by poor diving skills than some temperate reefs, where the environment is more robust due to rougher sea conditions and fewer fragile, slow-growing organisms. The same pleasant sea conditions that allow development of relatively delicate and highly diverse ecologies also attract the greatest number of tourists, including divers who dive infrequently, exclusively on vacation and never fully develop the skills to dive in an environmentally friendly way.[1] Several studies have found the main reason for contact by inexperienced divers to be poor buoyancy control,[5] and that damage to reefs by divers can be minimized by modifying the behavior of those divers.[6]

Diver impact on subtropical, and particularly temperate reefs is less researched than tropical reefs. The perception is that these reefs are less vulnerable than tropical reefs and the sessile species are less vulnerable to diver impact.[5] Diver contact with the bottom is also prevalent on temperate reefs – one of the main forms mentioned is fin contact with the bottom sediment, raising particulate material into the water column and degrading visibility.[14]

Three aspects of responsible diving behaviour have been identified:

• Safe diving behaviour, which is largely a matter of competence, use of appropriate equipment for the dive, use of equipment in good working order, staying within the bounds of personal competence and adherence to procedures known to reduce risk.[8]
• Good buoyancy control and trim, the ability to remain at a controlled distance from the benthos, and to do so without contacting it. This is a skill often neglected in entry level recreational diver training, but often offered as an extra course, (eg: PADI Peak performance buoyancy[15]), in training systems that have been planned around minimising the duration of individual courses, and where the entry level training concentrates on providing the minimum skills acceptable for the safety of the diver in the conditions where the training is done. This has convenience advantages to the diver, and financial advantages to the training provider, but as most recreational divers never progress in training beyond entry level, they are often left marginally competent, and may not get enough practice to improve.[8]
• Non-contact behaviour, the voluntary avoidance of contact which may damage the environment. This behaviour is only effective if good buoyancy control and trim are available, and it requires situational awareness which may not be sufficiently developed in a novice, particularly in an unfamiliar environment, and using unfamiliar equipment, often exacerbated by the use of a camera, which can distract the diver from detail awareness of their surroundings.[8]

The impact of recreational scuba diving on recreational dive values and the cultural heritage of shipwrecks has been found to comprise four basic types:[16]

• The removal of artifacts and associated disturbance to wreck sites,
• Direct contact with wrecks and the benthic biota living on them by divers and their equipment, causing direct physical damage
• Exhaled air bubbles trapped inside the wreckage, which can dislodge loose deposits and accelerate corrosion
• Impact damage by anchors of dive boats, considered by some researchers to be the most damaging form of impact associated with recreational wreck diving.

Scuba diving is an equipment intensive activity. Significant capital outlay is required to establish a retail outlet with the expected range of equipment and filling facilities. Dive boats are a large to very large capital expense, and running costs and crew salaries can be considerable. There are also health and safety aspects to be considered, both for the operator and the customer, as high pressure filling equipment is used to provide breathing air which will be used in a hostile environment. Adequate quality control is necessary to avoid providing a harmful product. The cost of qualifying as a diving instructor is significant in time and money, and annual registration fees are a required.[1]

Recreational diving tourists appear to be male-dominated, with an average age in the mid thirties, a college education, and higher than average income, which is in keeping with the relatively high costs of equipment, training and travel[3][19]

The general population of American scuba diving participants are on average wealthier and better educated than the general population, and have a higher participation than average in individual and team sports, and extreme sports. Nearly 46% participate in running or jogging, and 36% swim for fitness. The DAN medical emergency line and fatality and injury monitoring program have reported that some divers get injured as a consequence of inadequate physical fitness.[20]

A study to identify differences between local scuba divers and visitors in Florida showed that visitors had less certification and experience but spent more on scuba, compared to local resident divers. Cluster analysis identified four groups of scuba divers:[19]

• Fun-seeking belongers: Divers with a strong affiliation for group belonging, looking for fun and excitement, enjoyed diving in varied locations, enjoyed stimulating encounters and considered bonding with other divers important. They self-identified as belonging to the scuba community and sought to associate with other divers with similar attitudes. They tended to have more diving experience and spent more on scuba activities. Mostly males, and the majority unmarried.
• Actualizers: Divers focused on challenge, self-recognition, and self-esteem values, likely to consider certification important and consider that overcoming the challenges is important to their self-image. Represented by more females than other groups, and lower income and expenditure on scuba activities.
• Inner-circles: People who perceived diving as an opportunity to make new friends, and spend time with family and friends. Image as a diver relatively unimportant, and not driven to be part of the scuba diving community. Mostly married, male, well-educated, with less diving experience than average.
• Moderates: Divers more likely to do a single dive in a day, and less focused on the characteristics typical of the other groups.

Participation in recreational diving implies acceptance of the inherent risks of the activity [21] Diver training includes training in procedures known to reduce these risks to a level considered acceptable by the certification agency, and issue of certification implies that the agency accepts that the instructor has assessed the diver to be sufficiently competent in these skills at the time of assessment and to be sufficiently informed to accept the associated risks. Certification relates to a set of skills and knowledge defined by the associated training standard, which also specifies the limitations on the scope of diving activities for which the diver is deemed competent. These limitations involve depth, environment and equipment that the diver has been trained to use.

Waivers and release

The waiver is intended as a legal defense against lawsuits claiming ordinary negligence by the operator. The diver acknowledges understanding and acceptance of the risks inherent to scuba diving. The waiver may also require the diver to follow recognized safe diving practices. By signing the waiver the diver agrees not to sue the operator for injuries and damage due to ordinary negligence relating to the diving activity. It will generally not be enforceable for gross negligence and events beyond the normal scope of diving.[7]

Medical statement

The medical statement is intended to draw the diver's attention to the range of medical conditions that may increase the risk of injury during a dive. Failure to disclose a known medical condition which is then the cause of an injury will usually disqualify the diver from legal compensation, and may also void an insurance claim. It also transfers responsibility for establishing fitness to dive from the operator to the diver.[7]

Marketing of scuba diving tourism is generally by advertising in specialist and general tourism magazines, both print and web based, at trade shows, on websites, and by personal communications from satisfied customers to their acquaintances with similar interests. Surveys have shown that personal communications are the most effective advertising, and depend on customer satisfaction.[1] Diving fatalities can have serious adverse effects on the popularity of a destination and service provider, even when there is no fault established in an investigation, though this is usually a transient phenomenon.[8]