The War on Plastics

In Mauritius we are lucky. Our government has had a ban on plastics since 2016, and its a real pleasure to see the supermarkets selling shopping bags and packing into paper sacks. Many hotels are using reusable plastics for guest lunches, and a lot of the restaurants are no longer serving drinks with straws. The Tap Water Revolution is aiming to have filtered cold water dispensers in the public places in Mauritus and already they have installed three, with more in the pipeline.

As the SKY #passonplastics War on Plastics campaign begins to take effect the global focus has begun to switch to the oceans and to what lies beneathe the surface. In the noughties scuba diving was just another hobby for the well heeled polo playing Formula One adrenaline junkies. It has now become a serious career choice for a lot of millenials. And as PADI has opened up in China, the demand for diver training has skyrocketed.

Europe has recently discovered that Mauritius is a direct flight from most European capitals ( I few direct from Mauritius to Birmingham in the UK for a Dive Show, never again, it was like entering a police state) and there is little or no jet lag. It's warm and the visiblity is good year round. Its a safe, happy place, the wealthiest nation in Africa in terms of per capita income, crime is almost non-existent and family values are entrenched in social patterns.

So people are arriving at Ocean Spirit in Pereybere Mauritius to dive, to enjoy the sometime 80m viz and to bring their families to learn to dive. Discover Scuba Diving is the perfect way to start. No skillsneeded, no pressure to perform, just a short safe simple course, and you are in the blue, watching the ocean from the inside. Its magic. I make little videos of some of the DSD divers. You can see the rapture in the eyes as they discover marine life for the first time. Its another world.

And as people see how vulnerable the reef creatures are to pollution, awareness of the dangers of plasics become a reality. The first whales have been sighted, and the winter season has begun. Ocean Spirit is holding a World Oceans Day on Pereybere Beach and Coin de Mire Island onm 8 June, so if you read this, please join us. Its a lot of fun.