‘Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but bubbles‘, goes the diving motto. But according to a study published in Conservation Letters on 25 May, divers leave traces more often than they realise. At the same time, dive tourism can encourage reef protection. Does dive tourism protect coral reefs – or damage them?
Bing Lin, ecologist at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study in Conservation Letters
‘As dive tourism is currently organised in many places, it damages coral reefs too. That does not mean diving is inherently harmful. I became a diver myself because I fell in love with that magical underwater world. That is precisely why I find this so important: an industry that presents itself as non-extractive and sustainable must take a closer look at its own impact.
‘In our study, we covertly followed divers underwater with video cameras and then asked them afterwards how often they thought they had touched the reef. There was a large gap between the two. On average, divers underestimated their reef contacts by nearly five times. Many people are genuinely nature-conscious and want to do the right thing, but simply do not notice what they are causing underwater. The majority of the damage was unintentional or went unnoticed.
‘That may be confronting, but it is also cause for hope. The problem is not that divers are malicious or deliberately breaking off coral en masse. The problem is that they have poor awareness of their own behaviour. You can only become part of the solution once you acknowledge that you are part of the problem.
‘We also identified what increases the risk. Cameras play a clear role, particularly larger ones. During encounters with animals, reef contact increases sharply: divers become excited, want to get closer or take a photograph, and lose sight of their surroundings. The behaviour of others is also contagious. Once one diver touches the reef, it quickly becomes a social norm.
‘That is why the answer is not to stop diving, but to dive better. The dive industry must give greater weight to impact, not just to accessibility. That starts with education, guides and certification. Stay further from the reef, correct one another, limit high-risk equipment, and make sustainable behaviour the norm. Only then can dive tourism protect the reefs on which it depends.’
Kay Dimmock, researcher at Southern Cross University in Australia, specialising in dive tourism and coastal and marine tourism
‘Dive tourism can protect coral reefs, but that does not happen automatically. The question is not simply whether divers cause damage – this study demonstrates that convincingly. The question is also: who benefits from that tourism, who feels responsible for the reef, and what happens when that income disappears?
‘For me, sustainable dive tourism is about local ownership. When a community genuinely benefits from a dive site, a sense of care for that place tends to develop more readily. It is not just about the owner of a dive shop, but also about local guides, people who transport tanks, provide food, offer accommodation, or have known for generations how the reef is changing. That knowledge and involvement are crucial. When a foreign operator simply flies people in, makes money, and leaves again, what remains locally is primarily pressure on the ecosystem.
‘That is why this ecological study needs to be complemented by the social and economic dimension. It shows very clearly when and how divers cause damage: through poor buoyancy control, cameras, wildlife encounters and overconfidence. But direct reef damage is not the whole story. Dive tourism can also create jobs, increase knowledge of nature, support monitoring, and provide a reason to protect a reef rather than exploit it.
‘That requires far more than a fine sustainability claim. Operators must actively guide their visitors: small groups, thorough briefings, local guides, intervention underwater, and video-based training so that divers can see what they are actually doing. Many people think they are hovering neatly above the reef, until they see themselves on camera with their fins on the coral.
‘My answer to the question is therefore: it can be both. In some areas, dive tourism contributes to protection; in others, it looks more like mass tourism – people in, show them something quickly, people out. The opportunity for improvement is always there, but the industry must not only sell the experience – it must also take responsibility for the place it is selling.’