The standards are nice, but I for one do not think that Belize as a country should have ANY regulatory authority over the scuba industry, except to mandate professional status with a recognized international certifying agency. The root of the problem is the ABSOLUTELY STUPID tour guide license requirement which limits international participation in the industry. The system is racist. A Salvadoran or Guatemalan born resident of Belize seems to be able to get a tour guide license at will, but a European person cannot. It has created a de facto labor union and a shortage of QUALIFIED scuba instructors. This requirement is the cause for the embarrassment that is the diving industry in Belize.
The reason that having certifying agencies works is that the system is self policing. The reason self policing works in other parts of the world is that there are natural international influences due to the vagrant nature of dive professionals. I have dove with Dutch dive masters and instructors, German Dive masters, South African dive masters, Guatemalan instructors, Brittish Instructors, and Honduran dive masters. I did not dive with any of them in their home countries. Those professionals were working far from home in order to expand their horizons and explore a different part of the world. Foreign professionals lend consistency to the standards. They spread best practices. The best dive master with whom I ever dove was a German citizen working in the US at one of the busiest dive areas in the continental US. He was so good, that it raised my understanding of how capable a dive professional could be.
Belize and the BTB do not get this. The only people from other countries working in the water were somehow grandfathered into the tour guide license system. It is not because Belizeans are lazy, careless or unintelligent. It is because for the most part, they have some of the best diving in the entire world right off their dock. Why would they bother to travel? The industry has gone down a tangent that is not in keeping with the standards of the certifying agencies. People on this board argue about how good the dive professionals in Belize are. I can tell you that the German dive master would not stand for violations of the AGENCY standards. Any of the professionals who work with him would certainly learn from him. Professionalism is contagious. If a professional candidate were trying to get a credential at my home shop and he or she had only dove locally, he or she would probably not be certified. Exposure to different conditions, foreign professionals, and new environments makes the professionals better.
In the US, there is no federal government safety standards for the sport diving industry. Yes tanks have standards imposed by the Department of Transportation, but those I think are actually an overlap from other types of tanks. Some local governments have addition safety standards such as the requirement of dive flags in some areas. But for the most part, scuba diving is one area that the US government has not yet tried to regulate. The reason they have not is that the self governing nature of the certifying agencies seems to be working. In Belize it is not. That is why the agencies have directly expressed their concern.
Now I know that a few people will blast me on here for criticizing the Tour Guide License system, but I realize that those individuals want to protect their own personal interests. The fact of the matter is that the diving industry in Belize is not generating tourism and BZD to its potential, because most intermediate level divers have heard some things and are afraid or not interested in going to Belize. The beginners all rave on Trip Advisor proudly declaring whichever dive master or instructor they used to be the best and most fun in the world. They saw amazing thing and he even wrestled a moray eel and taught them how to caress a nurse shark. Those divers do not know any better. If they had fun, the dive master was the best in the world. Some of the advanced divers don't really care and just do their own thing away from the group ignoring some of the outlandish behaviors. Its the intermediate divers who have some experience who visit Belize once and get turned off. Or a friend or LDS owner tells them that Belize is dangerous and the diving is no good. Those tourists go on several expensive dive vacations a year. They do not come back to Belize. All of those dollars go to other countries where they feel more comfortable.
How many dive shops are in Belize? How many were there in 2007? Why does the only dive resort on Lighthouse Reef have trouble filling their handful of rooms? How many dive shops up north on AC are closed and abandoned? Why is it possible to always find an absurdly inexpensive deal on a room or condo for rent in AC? The answer is that the industry is not producing up to its potential. Its not because the quality of the diving in Belize has deteriorated faster than other destinations. Its not because of the US recession anymore. Its because Belize diving has a bad name amongst its number one consumers.
The dive professionals in San Pedro are already making fun of the "Code of Practice" They are already explaining how it won't work in Belize. I heard several say that this will blow over and nothing will change. The fact of the matter is that most of that code is just agency standard. Getting a quasi-governmental agency, the BTB, involved is unlikely to do what needs to happen. It has no teeth.
Obviously the certifying agencies think that those type of standards work. All of the properly credentialed scuba professionals have obligated themselves to following those standards. The reason they are not being followed is that most of the scuba professionals in Belize do no think the standards are important. They have come to this conclusion because there seems to be a Belizean way of doing things that they think works. Open the industry. Let the profession police itself as the system was meant to do. Its the only way that the Belize dive industry is going to get back on track.
