Hello, Divers!

This is Tanque, SDI Course Director and head of the Private Diver dive operator in Arraial do Cabo! Today's topic is quite direct: The submission to low-cost diving pressure and its impact on the evolution of professionals and diving science.

It is well known that the ocean is one of humanity’s greatest mysteries yet to be explored. Such an endeavor requires the collective efforts of many people from vastly different specialties. A diver with years of experience will never discover anything new in the depths, nor reach such depths, without the relentless dedication of mechanical engineers, who develop equipment advancements, electronic engineers, who create more sophisticated computers and efficient ways to obtain and store data, and even, in collaboration with mechanical engineers, engineers who design technological marvels like CCR Rebreathers—all of which also demand the expertise of chemical engineers!

A layperson, when exposed to the amount of information in a course like Open Water SCUBA Diver, may get the false impression that diving is already a well-defined science. However, a deeper look—especially among divers who are at or studying for technical and professional levels—reveals that this is not quite the case.

There are limits to gas consumption, gas absorption, tissue saturation, ideal gas mixtures, and many other advanced diving concepts for which there is simply no solid scientific basis to determine human body reactions with absolute precision. In fact, even at the most basic diving levels, divers must sign liability waivers where they acknowledge and assume the potential risks to their bodies. Why does this happen? In most cases, it's because science has not yet reached a point where it can definitively predict the body's response during, immediately after, or long after a dive. There is still much research to be done! And who will fund this research? The answer always falls on those who are most interested—the diving community itself.

And how does the diving community fund this? Through the consumption of diving equipment and services! Everything is interconnected—or at least, it should be. Active divers, through social media, conversations with friends, family, and colleagues, encourage new divers to join the community. These new divers enter through courses taught by well-trained instructors, following well-defined standards set by certifying agencies, whose teaching materials are continuously refined and improved!

As these divers become part of this world, they quickly realize that rental gear is too basic for their ambitions. They start purchasing their own masks, fins, and snorkels, soon upgrading to dive computers, regulators, BCDs, and more. However, what truly keeps a diver curious and engaged is an active diving community that constantly informs them of new limits being pushed by human exploration, fueling their curiosity and leading them to pursue diving specialties!

A diver wants to know what it feels like to enter a shipwreck! To explore a cave! To experience narcosis at 60 meters deep! How helium gas improves alertness at such depths! How far can a new gas mixture take them? What’s down there? Is their camera good enough to capture it? Will their dive computer really help in these extreme conditions? At what point does a Rebreather stop seeming like an expensive and complicated tool and start feeling like an essential investment in their well-being while pushing the limits of exploration?

While this community strives to go where no one has gone before, certifying agencies feel the pressure to create more precise, useful, and didactic educational materials. Instructors feel the pressure to go beyond, to evolve, and to connect with great mentors who will help them grow along with their students! At the core of this virtuous cycle, diving equipment manufacturers are compelled to produce more efficient, reliable, and technologically advanced gear. Entry-level equipment becomes more affordable as demand increases, giving the industry the confidence to invest in technology, leading to stable companies, well-paid professionals, and satisfied customers who live rewarding, adventure-filled lives.

But is this the current reality of the diving industry?

At resorts and dive centers, what we see today is quite different. The industry has succumbed to pressures of immediacy, extreme cost-cutting, laziness in evolving, and the high costs caused by a lack of demand for higher levels of training. The most common argument is:
"Oh, but customers don’t want to dive for multiple days, and they don’t want to study!"

My counterargument to this is the famous quote from Steve Jobs, who shook the tech industry in 1997, when he returned to Apple’s leadership—and we all know how that turned out! His words were:

"Some people say, 'Give the customers what they want.' But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, 'If I had asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, "A faster horse!"' People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page." — Steve Jobs

I strongly believe the diving industry needs to understand the meaning behind Steve Jobs' words.

Where should we go from here?

Everyone will have their own opinion. But I believe the diving community needs to recognize that the pursuit of instant gratification, participation trophies, and the promotion of diving without proper training are critically damaging the sport.

I still believe it is possible to inspire people to explore the unknown! I still believe we can train professionals who inspire others, who serve as models for evolution and great exploration!

To achieve this, each of us in the diving community must ask ourselves: What are we doing to improve the market we love so much?

  • Are we seeking the best training?
  • Are we looking up to the best professionals in the industry?
  • Do we attend events to learn about innovations and see how we can contribute?
  • Or are we simply choosing the cheapest, fastest option?
  • Do we have a plan for where we want to go in diving? What do we want to see? What research can we support?

The ocean is vast. The mission of exploring it is colossal. There is so much left to discover! So many species to document! Don’t think everything is already known—we are still just getting started.

Could YOU be the next great diving innovator?
Will your name be on a new species discovery? A new shipwreck?
Will YOU be the one to document a new dive site? A new cave? A new gas mixture? A groundbreaking decompression technique?

One thing is certain: if you dive only once a year, without certification, with someone holding your tank for you… that person will nevr be you