The state of the diving tourism industry in Belize

[peterbj7]

I will say that we found the instructors in the Red Sea (Sharm El-Sheik) were incredibly careful to keep a close eye on their divers, perhaps because the European instructors (mostly British and German) have a different approach to this?

Diving in the Red Sea is very different from the Caribbean, at any rate around Belize. At Sharm it's not uncommon for divers to get vertigo, feeling there's nothing supporting them, as the water is so clear it's quite possible to look at coloured corals 100 mtr below you. The Red Sea is a far more open and potentially dangerous, certainly unforgiving, environment. Instructors there have be highly vigilant.

 

[flots am]

I will say that we found the instructors in the Red Sea (Sharm El-Sheik) were incredibly careful to keep a close eye on their divers, perhaps because the European instructors (mostly British and German) have a different approach to this?

I have a different approach that's been flawless for decades.

"You and your buddy are on your own. Make sure you bring a dive flag so you don't get hit by a boat. Have a great dive."

flots.

 

[yakivet]

Ken, just to be clear, no one here wanted to shoot the messenger because we didn't like the message.

Three of us objected to his condemnation of all dive ops in Belize and gave specific examples from personal experience of operators we know that follow safe practices. Even though we objected, two of us actually agreed with the OP that he had some valid points.

I know Ambergris Caye is by far the most popular tourist destination in Belize, but I think it's important to remember there's a lot more to the country than just that one island.

I Absolutely 110% agree with you! There's good apples and bad apples in every bin of fruit. Generalizations don't do anyone a bit of good.

 

[Allen Raphael]

Diving in the Red Sea is very different from the Caribbean, at any rate around Belize. At Sharm it's not uncommon for divers to get vertigo, feeling there's nothing supporting them, as the water is so clear it's quite possible to look at coloured corals 100 mtr below you. The Red Sea is a far more open and potentially dangerous, certainly unforgiving, environment. Instructors there have be highly vigilant.

+1 on that...much different diving altogether and certainly the opportunity for bad things to happen are potentially everywhere. I don't know, just seemed like the Euros were a little more stringent with their dive plan and well organized than most. Not to hijack the thread to another area of the world, but we found some conditions quite challenging at Ras Mohammed and the DM's made a point to not allow novice divers there until they could prove competency.

So true about yer buddy too...and believe me, my buddy (translation:wife) will kick my butt if we aren't safely within eye or ear-shot of one another! I think we'll be more informed this time about San Pedro dive shops too...I can vouch that Chuck and Robbie's did us right several years ago.

 

[peterbj7]

Chuck & Robbie's still will. I've never dived with them (they are the only SP dive center that want to charge me, and I've put so much into diving in Belize I now don't pay).but I know them and their reputation well.

Diving at Ras Mohammed can be VERY challenging. I can't think of anywhere in Belize or even from what I've heard about the whole Caribbean that comes close.

 

[izzydiver]

We can all agree that while there are certain dive centers and dive masters that are not doing their job properly, there are many out there that do an excellent job with regards to safety and customer service.

While it is true that the TG license requirements limit the DM pool, QUALITY dive operations can ensure that they have excellent staff by being very selective as to who they hire and better yet training staff from O.W. all the way to D.M.

A dive op does not HAVE to hire a useless DM simply because the pool is limited, dive centers have the resources to train their own staff.

I am very proud to see that one of my past students and instructor from Hopkins was mentioned here, it is not only testament to the fact that there are good people out there but also to the fact that you can train your own DM's to the highest standards possible.

With regards to Peterbj7 mentioning a dive center and its instructor who got expelled from PADI, I would like to correct Peterbj7 on the fact that the dive op was not expelled. The instructor was expelled because he was found to be in gross violations of PADI standards and procedures, ironically the Instructor is a "first world instructor" from New Mexico.

 

[peterbj7]

I was using the word "expelled" in the general English sense, not PADI's particular technical sense, and since the dive center was a PADI resort before and was not a PADI resort after, and that change was not of their own volition, I think "expelled" is a reasonable word to use. They were not warned, they were removed from membership. PADI used the term "excluded" when they told me. What I'm not sure about but perhaps Gaz is (?), is whether the instructor, an MI no less, was involved in the running and/or proprietorship of the dive center. Since PADI do have a reserved use for the word "expelled", it is noteworthy that the instructor was taken straight to that level, all intermediate steps being bypassed. He really was found to be a terrible instructor - as I already knew from meeting several of his students.

His behaviour was not just "technically" a breach of PADI standards, as can happen when someone does something to harm PADI's commercial position for example, but was flagrantly unsafe and extremely dangerous. One student that I met, possibly his last before his expulsion, was extremely lucky to be alive. Firstly he nearly drowned, then he had severe DCS that necessitated several days of Chamber treatment. This was especially costly for him as he had been told that the dive center was a contributor to the Chamber, but it had in fact not made any payments for a long time and he was NOT covered. He may never be able to dive again. And all this was done at and by the PADI dive center mentioned. The instructor may have been banned for life, but AFAIK the dive center continues. It is no longer PADI and I trust it no longer claims to be, though as I'm not on that island I can't be sure.

What appalls me, and this is the point of this post, is that so far as I can tell the BTB have taken absolutely no action against them. They did not even bother to send anyone to the recent PADI members meeting, to which they were specifically invited. The head of the TG Association did go to the meeting and I know is aware of what happened at that dive center, but if he's taking any action against members of his organisation there he's doing it very quietly. THIS is what I mean by institutional failings, and they affect diving/snorkelling in the whole of Belize.

 

[izzydiver]

Please do not speak of things you are not aware of. The dive op has been served with a notice of intended prosecution by the Tourism Police Unit which is the organization that deals with such matters.

The dive op does not fall under the San Pedro T.G.A. But the Caye Caulker one. They have a court case to answer to & from what I hear there is a civil case as well.

Things are being done, you just don't happen to know about them.

 

[Gaz]

I attended The first ever Belize Tour Guide training course when it was first introduced and it was introduced for several reasons such as ensuring that guides were knowledgable about Belize, increasing safety by requiring all guides to be trained in first aid and putting in place standardized International safety standards but most of all to stop foreigners from getting involved in the tour guide and dive industry in Belize.

Being one of the first foreigners to own a dive shop in Belize in those days it was a very trying time and as Belize tourism grew, more and more foreigners came looking to get into the dive business in Belize and this is another reason why the Tour Guide license was put into practice to stop foreigners getting into the business of guiding dives since a requirement was that you have to be a born Belizean.

Now in those days there really was not enough biz to go around so it made sense to protect jobs for Belizeans.
As Belize tourism continues to grow it will be inevitable that those doors will have to open up.

The issue of safety is a long standing one and in this day of the Internet where word can spread very fast any Dive Shop that is not on top of safety then business will surely be affected just as in this thread it does not take long for the guilty shops to be called out.

In my many years operating Dive Shops in Belize I have to say it was a constant battle to ensure safety guidelines were followed een when training was provided on a constant basis.

Gaz Cooper

---------- Post added April 14th, 2012 at 10:46 PM ----------

What I'm not sure about but perhaps Gaz is (?), is whether the instructor, an MI no less, was involved in the running and/or proprietorship of the dive center.

Hey Peter

Not been here in a while and I see you mention my name in a post in what context are you associating me with the specific post ??

Gaz

 

[peterbj7]

Yes sorry Gaz, my mistake! But when people won't say who they are one has to make (informed) guesses.