As a Padi instructor for more than 13 years and a diver since I was aged 16, I cannot fail to express my opinion on what is happening in the diving industry.

Over the past years, we witnessed a bigger number of diving accidents. One reason is, obviously, the increased number of diving schools. Having said that, in my opinion, the number of divers in Malta has gone down rather than up although, admittedly, I do not have any statistics.

If one were to analyse what is happening, one would notice that out of, say, 20 accidents there would only be one instance when the group was accompanied by an instructor. Most of the time, it is certified divers who decide to dive independently (unaccompanied) who encounter difficulties.

According to regulations of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, a certified person can dive alone and, actually, Maltese laws are stricter because they demand an advanced level rather than an open water certificate. (The advanced course involves one deep dive, from 18 to 30 metres, and with just nine dives one would be able to rent tanks and dive on one’s own.)

Many of the divers who visit Malta would not have dived even for one whole year and, yet, they decide to dive unaccompanied. Perhaps, diving schools should offer to accompany such visitors on a couple of dives before allowing them to dive on their own. Unfortunately, many diving schools are just too busy to do so.

Some diving sites, like Reqqa, Dwejra or Ix-Xatt l-Aħmar, are just too deep for inexperienced divers and when they see that blue they panic. So giving them a tank when they would have only logged very few dives is like giving some of them a ticket to death. It is like a person who has just acquired his driving licence but never drove on a high way, yet deciding to do so.

Some years back independent (freelance) instructors were not allowed to operate any longer. Many divers would seek an independent instructor to have a tailor-made course for a small group or a one-to-one service to feel safer.

But freelance instructors were stopped from doing such work on the premise that they had unserviced equipment and so they were unsafe.

If laws are not changed, Malta’s reputation as a prime diving site risks being tarnished

The authorities, which did not seem to know what the real situation was, had banned freelance instructors. As a freelance diving instructor, I was taken to court, together with others, and fined.

In reality, freelance instructors did a good job, accompanying small groups and they loved what they did. I do not recall anybody being involved in an accident when accompanied by such an instructor or an unserviced regulator being the cause of a mishap.

I never had any equipment at home because I used diving schools. Thus, my equipment was safe and, besides, diving schools would also share in my profits through the rental of equipment.

So why are freelance instructors not allowed to advertise their services?

In my opinion it is because some diving schools were not happy with having five-sixths of the cake and wanted to eat the whole thing, possibly also taking the dish, the packaging and even the table.

We are now facing a situation whereby Maltese instructors who know the dive sites are not being given any work, which is going to foreign instructors, including new inexperienced ones. So people like me, who love diving, do not have the option to work whether independently or with a diving school. I have approached at least two diving schools this year asking for a job but none would employ me.

Thus, what has proven to be safe, like independent Maltese instructors, should be allowed and stop what has resulted to be unsafe, such as unaccompanied diving.

Some accidents could have been avoided. If laws and regulations are not changed, there are bound to be more such accidents and, of course, Malta’s reputation as a prime diving site risks being tarnished.

David Apap is an open water scuba instructor.