DIVE HAPPY

Two dive operators in South East Asia offer specialised trips for people with disabilities to either learn or continue to enjoy scuba diving

Something that deserves to get more attention is the how great scuba diving is as a sport for people with disabilities. The weightlessness of the water means that even if someone has severe problems with their legs or arms, they can still learn an adaptive way to scuba dive and enjoy the freedom of neutral buoyancy. Similarly, the silence of the underwater world means that it's equally open to deaf divers too - who already have a headstart on the whole signalling thing through sign language. Scuba diving is immensely pleasurable for the freedom it brings to all of us, so it's great to see there are dive operators specialising in taking disabled people diving within South East Asia, which is not generally famed for its enlightened attitude towards providing disabled access in everyday life.

There are at least two dive outfits I know of who specialise in helping disabled people - HandiDivers in Bohol in the Philippines, whose website is currently undergoing a refit but who can still be contacted; and Worldwide Dive And Sail based in Phuket, Thailand, which is a yacht running to the Similan Islands and also, twice a year, down one side of the Malay peninsula and up the other!

HandiDivers say they specialise in diving with "motor handicapped people, amputees and sight impaired people in Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Philippines." Worldwide Dive And Sail is owned by Frank, a great Dutch guy a met a few years ago when he was based in Khao Lak - along with Naomi, a British deaf scuba diving instructor and Marine Biology graduate who fluently lip reads English and French (!), Frank has been running dive trips for deaf and hard of hearing people for several years. Check out the testimonials on their website - it's clear that scuba diving provides a huge boost for people with disabilities in terms of their self-confidence and sense that they can take on anything. Which is pretty much what diving seems to do for everyone, come to think of it.

If you know of any other diving schools and operators specialising in helping disabled people in the Asia / Australia region, please leave a website address in the comments below. Thanks!