Sustainability - Making sustainability easy and fun

Curacao’s first 100% AWARE Dive Center, The Dive Bus makes a donation to ProjectAWARE for every PADI dive course certification issued by the almost world famous Dive Bus Crew.

You receive a special PADI AWARE version of your PADI certification card, and information about PADI AWARE’s areas of focus and concerns, so you can make a bigger difference by further supporting them and their actions, if you like.

If you don’t know that something you’re doing can have a negative impact on the very thing you’re diving to see and enjoy – how can you do anything about it?

The Rules of the Reef poster in The Dive Bus briefing area and on the Dive Buses, should help. Please take particular note of #5: it’s forbidden to remove anything from the ocean, except trash. (Even that must be removed carefully, to avoid doing more harm than good).

If you’re not one of the millions following Project AWARE’s 10 Tips for Divers to Protect the Ocean Planet, you might want to take a minute to check them out. This ethic or code is followed by millions of scuba divers to dive by, and anyone and everyone to live by. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how easy the Tips are to follow – and how many you’re probably already following.

And of course, there’s a bunch of fun PADI dive courses to improve your knowledge, awareness and dive skills, so you get more from every dive and reduce any negative impact.

Everyone has – or will – dive with that guy.

The one with the gigantic camera rig, crawling all over the corals and pushing you out of the way so they can get the perfect shot?

Don’t be that guy. No shot is worth damaging the reef for – or ruining everyone else’s dive. This giant poster in our dive briefing area and on the Dive Buses is a reminder how to get awesome photos and video – without being that guy.

And if you (or your dive buddy) might be that guy? We can fix that in half a day. We’ll correct your weighting and dive positioning, making your diving effortless and improving your air consumption. With these news skills, you’ll become a more comfortable and confident diver, able to notice and enjoy more on every dive – and much less likely to damage fragile marine life and / or annoy fellow divers in the process.

Curacao’s first dive center to Adopt a Dive Site through the PADI AWARE initiative, we run free Dive Bus Clean Up dives every quarter.

Data about the trash collected on each Clean Up dive is submitted online to PADI AWARE. They use this vital, real-time marine debris data to identify, monitor and tackle underwater trash issues, worldwide.

There’s not usually much underwater trash that can be recycled – but there is some we can re-use …:

Hands-down the most popular Specialty course at The Dive Bus, you’ll come away from the fast-paced, highly practical PADI AWARE Dive Against Debris course bursting to implement ideas for preventing trash reaching the reef in the first place.

And, as with any dive course you take with The Dive Crew, you’ll receive a special 100% AWARE version of your certification card.

PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and PADI AmbassaDiver

“I’ve been cleaning up fishing line and fishing lead on pretty much every dive for as long as I can remember. My divers always ask what I’m doing and why, and I’m happy to explain – and how we re-use the lead to make some of the weights that they’re actually diving with.

I love that they love finding out where some of their weights came from. It’s a great motivation for them to see a direct, positive outcome from taking care of our reefs, and they’re more likely to join in and do the same.”

Dive Shop Manager and PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor

“I love showing divers the small stuff that they might not notice otherwise. It makes them more aware of what’s around them when they’re diving, how fragile it all is and how we all need to take care of all of it.

These days I spend more time in the dive shop than underwater, and it’s amazing – and very cool! – how many of our divers comment on and support our efforts to take care of our ocean environment, together.”

PADI Open Water Scuba Dive Instructor

”Marine debris has been problematic on some scale in every place I have dived. Fortunately, divers are often enthusiastic participants in helping clean it up. I started helping with PADI AWARE clean-ups during my Divemaster course in Thailand. When I arrived in Curacao, I was excited to carry on with that work, and loved that The Dive Bus has always made it fun and easy for our divers to join in.

The Dive Against Debris course is special for me because part of the focus is on preventing the problem. I love having discussions with divers about what we can do to reduce waste and small changes we can make to help protect our marine environment!”

PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (retired!)

“I’m always looking for ways to incorporate reef and ocean protection initiatives into everyday life at The Dive Bus to make it as easy and fun as possible for our divers to support and get involved with.

PADI and PADI AWARE are thrilled with what we and our divers are achieving, and other Curacao dive centers have rolled out similar initiatives, helping positioning Curacao as the AWARE destination that it is.