Let young people go diving

Abstract

There are major concerns among stakeholders in Malta’s scuba-diving industry that fewer young people seem to be taking up the sport. For the Professional Diving Schools Association (PDSA), this worrying trend is the result of several causes. The main one consists of people’s misconceptions about how safe diving is as a sport. When diving incidents and fatalities are reported on the media, some people tend to assume that diving is an extreme sport that poses a high likelihood of injury or death. Over the decades, the global diving industry has developed standards and procedures that enshrine the chief value of safety. Diving certification agencies have designed courses that do not solely equip people with the knowledge and skills needed to dive but also with what they require to do so safely.