Scubaism

Anyone can open a dive centre in Cyprus, with the government unwilling to enforce a minimum set of safety standards that would regulate the industry, professional divers said yesterday.

“A monkey can go and open [a dive centre] tomorrow unfortunately. There are people who teach and train who are not insured,” said Clive Martin, general secretary of the Cyprus Union of Dive Centres.

Martin said the union had been set up precisely because the island lacked regulations.
“We are working with the CTO [Cyprus Tourism Organisation] to implement these requirements… We can’t force people to join the union, but what we want is to force people who open dive centres to comply with basic minimum standards.”

Martin told the Cyprus Mail that although the government had recognised the union and its charter, it hadn’t enforced the minimum set of standards on non-union members.

“There are people who teach and train [diving] who are not insured. Who do we call? If I call the marine police and report someone, they might know the person and nothing happens. It’s a case of who you know, and it’s not worth it. If I see a PADI [Professional Association of Diving Instructors] school doing something irregular, I’ll refer it to PADI international in the UK. Here, I don’t know who to send it to. No one really bothers.”

He added: “We just look after our members and keeping sending emails to non union members to try to push for more people to join so that we increase safety levels and improve the levels of professionalism on the island. Once everything is standardised, at least tourists will be free to go wherever and will feel safe and secure with whichever dive centre they choose.”

John Irvine, a PADI staff instructor for the past 10 years and a partner in the Latsi Watersports and Diving Centre, agreed: He said no one inspected dive centres in Cyprus and that there was total self-regulation. “There are many dive centres not registered with PADI or another diving organisation because they don’t want to pay the fees.”