| |
Story and photo by Suzanne Nielsen and reprinted with permission of the
Daily Herald.
Wave of the past, wave of the future?
 Recreational diving on Saba developed in the early 1980s with the first dive operation, Saba Scuba Safari, established by American scuba enthusiasts. Diving is now an island tourist attraction and supports three dive operations, Saba Deep, Sea Saba, and Saba Divers. Of the 21,346 tourists in 2003, almost over 20% came for the diving experience in the Saba Marine Park, established in 1987.
The trend shows a modest increase in overall tourist numbers: 825 more for the first six months of this year when compared to the same period last year (12,079 to 11,253.) Still, the 1994 high of 28,844 looks difficult to replicate, let alone exceed.
A 1996 study "Saba, Integrated Tourism Development Master Plan" determined that, with proper management, Saba's "carrying capacity" could accommodate a two-fold increase in all tourist numbers as well as divers. However, both numbers declined after the study, in part due to hurricanes and the terrorists acts of 2001.
The importance of marketing
 "It's more about marketing these days," says one dive operator. All three operators have web sites and sophisticated marketing materials. They sponsor industry journalists to get Saba in the media, and they attend trade shows in Europe and North America. "It's not just about the diving, it's about the island as a whole," they say.
All operators and Glenn Holm, Head of the Saba tourist office, emphasize that money must be found to keep up the advertising effort. "We were glad for the emergency fund," says Holm, "but we need a sustained effort."
The three dive operations have operations along the Fort Bay pier front; one also has a restaurant there and the other two have office and retail outlets in Windwardside. Competition has to be intense with the relatively small market share; all three shops say it has been good year so far, with March reaching record levels.
They have the same concerns: the rising cost of doing business on the island: fuel, electricity, and telecommunications have all increased, but none of these monopolies has enhanced premises or services. They note the gas station property at Fort Bay has not been improved, the GEBE plant continues to belch pollution, and the internet connection has slowed tremendously as SATEL overstretches bandwidth.
The dive shops are in a highly competitive business and try to differentiate by offering new services such as mixed gas diving, free evening lectures, fashionable dive gear and resort wear, and complete customized resort services such as taxi and dining reservations.
They are unanimously concerned about the sustainability of the fragile onshore and offshore environments.
Sustaining a healthy dive environment
 Davis Kooistra, head of the Marine Park since 1997, says that any given dive site on Saba (there are 27 moored sites) can withstand about 2,000 divers a year without an impact. Current usage falls way short of this number. Kooistra, who studied Tropical Marine Biology at Holland's Groningen University, is just now tabulating basic scientific information about the health of the reefs. As a scientist, he is cautious and conservative about drawing conclusions. He emphasized that reefs are very dynamic and fluctuate, and any "snapshot" study could document the reef at a high or low peak, thus giving a false picture.
"We need studies done over time, to get an accurate picture," he commented. Such studies are in the works. Dr. Callum Roberts and Julie Hawkins from York University in England have come regularly to Saba. The first draft of their report documenting the amount of fish and the quality of Saba's underwater environment indicates very little diver impact in the Marine Park.
Concerns/Solutions
The quality of the underwater environment is only partly the responsibility of the dive community. The other folks responsible to the health of this valuable tourist asset are everyone who lives on the island. Saba's steep volcanic sides mean that everything eventually ends up in the Marine Park as all waste products roll downhill and wash out to sea.
A heavy rain fall at Saba's crowded landfill would sweep toxic substances from the landfill to the shore line immediately down hill. Tourists often ask about the island's recycling program, and are puzzled to hear there is none.
The landfill is an old problem, but new ones also crop up, such as recent dumping along the shore line to the west of Fort Bay, opposite Tent Reef. Some of these materials have been dredged up from the harbor during the construction of the breakwater, but piles of freshly excavated soil were put near the water line from the new housing construction in The Bottom. The government has ordered this to stop, but only after protests reached the proper authorities. Apparently no recognized policy is in place.
 Fort Bay esthetics and cleanliness also concern these business owners: this first impression is not favorable. The GEBE power plant and the heavy traffic to the crusher and the landfill make the harbor noisy and dirty: hardly attractive to tourists arriving by ferry, yacht, or cruise ship. There is ongoing talk of beautifying the waterfront, but any amount of dressing up will not conceal that this is a working port. However, filters and noise reducing elements would make the power plant less objectionable.
The lengthy construction of the new pier breakwater has put a special burden on dive operations: the pier surface is often muddy and slick, presenting a hazard to divers trying to get on/off the dive boat. Construction grit gets into delicate dive equipment, increasing maintenance and decreasing equipment reliability and product life.
One improvement would be to organize Fort Bay traffic better, creating an area for each activity: commercial, dive, and fishing. A solution has been proposed to government to create a dive dock in the area where the sundeck is now located. This would make step on/step off less dangerous and would diminish traffic to the large pier, which could then be used exclusively for commercial off loading. The smaller jetty would continue to serve the fisherman.
If the road behind Fort Hill could be improved, perhaps it could become a by-pass road to the crusher and the landfill, greatly diminishing traffic, noise, and pollution along the pier front.
The buzzword: eco tourism
Eco tourism/sustainable tourism are today's buzz words. Saba is a natural for this type of tourist with its as-yet unspoiled environment. If Saba markets its tourism product in this fashion, then the Saba government will have to come up with the appropriate ordinances to bring the island into compliance with the general notion that pollution, littering, unauthorized dumping, and so forth are not tolerated. Landfill problems and recycling projects will have to be vigorously addresses, implemented, and monitored.
Government also needs to address its stake in tourism, which is the second largest private contributor to the island's economy, with the Medical School in first place. The relationship between island government and tourism operators often appears adversarial. Dive operators remarked that the general population does not feel a part of the tourism product, but given the intimate size of the island, every person does represent Saba and participates, willing or not, in the tourism product.
 A professional hospitality course at Saba Comprehensive School might open up a stronger connection, they suggest. Typical tourists are well traveled, expect value for their money, and anticipate a certain quality of professional service.
All dive operations are currently owned/operated by non-Sabans and many of their employees are also not locals. Without exception, operators want to hire locals, but have difficulty finding qualified Sabans who are willing to work in the demanding private hospitality sector. They find that locals are waiting for a government job with its higher perceived salary and benefits.
When employers are obliged to staff with non-Sabans, the high cost and unexplained waiting period of the work permit leave the impression that government is not supporting or encouraging private enterprise.
In an attempt to create locally trained dive personnel, dive shops offer free dive master training to Saba youngsters--surely an attractive occupation on weekends and school breaks, but there are no takers.
For its part, this private sector would help its cause by presenting a more united front on what its needs to succeed. Various committees have been formed in the past, either part of the Saba Business Association or ad hoc, to see whether there is enough synergy to speak with a more powerful voice and lobby island government for increased cooperation. These efforts soon dissipate, however, when momentum is lost and personal business interests demand attention.
A tighter working relationship between government and business is clearly in the interest of both since an improved local economy would inject more vigor into the island's current disappointing economic position.
Top Photo: Dumping in front of Tent reef dive sites jeopardizes delicate reef life.
Second Photo: The Marine Park improves the hyperbaric chamber: new employee Stan Peterson with Park Manager David Kooistra.
Third Photo: This elephant ears along the Hell's Gate roadside is sprouting strange fruit. With incredible accuracy, a soft drink can landed here after being thrown from a passing car.
Fourth Photo: Along the water front: a mixed-use harbor is difficult to beautify, but pollution and noise could be controlled more. Here dive shop and restaurant are immediately adjacent to the power plant.
Bottom Photo: The proposed site of a dive boat dock in front of two of the dive shop operations.
 Back to Saba Scenes page.
Story and photograph © Suzanne Nielsen, 2005.
|
