04/11/2026
The New Colonialism Underwater
Imagine growing up in a coastal village where your family has fished the same waters for generations. You know the reefs, the currents, the seasons and the marine life better than almost anyone. Then, one day, those waters become a popular diving destination. Foreign operators arrive, marine parks are established and tourists begin paying considerable amounts of money to experience the ocean you've always considered part of your home.
At first, it looks like progress. Tourism creates jobs, brings investment and gives local communities new sources of income. But there's a question we don't ask often enough: who actually benefits from all this activity?
In many popular diving destinations across Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, much of the tourism infrastructure is controlled by businesses based overseas. Local people may work as boat crew, guides or instructors, while the companies controlling bookings, pricing and marketing collect a substantial share of the revenue. The ocean attracts the visitors, but the economic benefits don't necessarily stay where they should.
Conservation can make the situation even more complicated. Marine protected areas are essential for preserving biodiversity, and many have produced genuinely positive results. But what happens when local fishing communities lose access to traditional fishing grounds while commercial dive operators continue bringing paying customers into those same waters? Protecting marine life is important, but conservation should never become an excuse for excluding the people who have depended on those ecosystems for generations.
There's also an uncomfortable contradiction in how we judge different activities. A local fisherman catching a few fish may be portrayed as damaging the environment, while a boat carrying tourists to the same reef is presented as supporting conservation. Yet tourism has an environmental footprint of its own, from fuel consumption and waste to overcrowding and physical damage to fragile habitats. Neither activity should be judged without considering its actual impact.
Social media has added another dimension. A beautiful reef can become internationally famous almost overnight, attracting visitors, investment and attention. But that visibility doesn't always translate into better protection or improved living conditions for the surrounding community. Sometimes it simply creates more pressure on an ecosystem that was already struggling.
None of this means diving tourism is inherently harmful. Responsible operators can provide valuable employment, support conservation and help communities develop sustainable livelihoods. The difference lies in who makes the decisions, who owns the businesses and whether local people have a meaningful say in how their waters are managed.
As divers, travellers and members of an industry built around the ocean, we should be willing to ask those questions. We spend considerable time discussing how to respect marine life, but perhaps we should pay just as much attention to respecting the people who share their home with it.
Because protecting a reef while ignoring the community that has lived alongside it for generations isn't quite the environmental success story we might think it is.
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