Dive industry representatives in Sabah have welcomed new licensing requirements for scuba tourist guides, arguing that stronger regulation could raise professional standards and improve diver safety while helping protect employment opportunities for local diving professionals.
The rules are being implemented through Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, known as MOTAC, which now lists specific guidance for new and renewed scuba diving tourist guide licences through its official tourist guide licensing portal.
According to the guidelines reported by Sabah media, applicants for a scuba diving tourist guide licence must be Malaysian citizens aged 18 or over and hold at least a Divemaster or diving instructor qualification. Applicants must also complete an approved tourism course and be employed by a dive centre operating under an appropriate Tour Operating Business and Travel Agency Business, or TOBTAB, licence.
Industry Welcomes Greater Regulation
Sabah Diving Club president Shen Fei said the introduction of clearer regulation could improve accountability and safety standards within the state’s diving industry.
Speaking to Malaysian newspaper See Hua Daily News, Shen said an effective registration system should create a fair and orderly operating environment while giving appropriately qualified local diving professionals opportunities within the industry.
He argued that the regulatory framework should ultimately achieve three objectives: protecting diver safety, raising professional standards and safeguarding employment opportunities for Sabah’s local diving workforce.
The employment issue has become an increasingly prominent part of the discussion surrounding Sabah’s rapidly developing dive tourism sector.
Foreign Dive Professionals Already Under Scrutiny
Concerns about unregulated diving activity are not new.
Earlier this year, the Malaysia Scuba Diving Association raised the issue during discussions with MOTAC’s Sabah office.
The association said in March that it had raised concerns about foreign scuba businesses allegedly operating without appropriate registration and foreign instructors and dive guides allegedly working in Sabah without the required permits.
It also called for additional courses to help local diving professionals obtain the Dive Guide Licence.
Similar concerns have been particularly prominent around Semporna, the gateway to internationally recognised diving destinations including Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai.
In April, Malaysia Scuba Diving Association president Aminor Azmi Abdul Latip told Malaysian media that foreign instructors and guides were allegedly operating without permits in Sabah. The association argued that the situation was affecting legitimate local operators and potentially compromising training standards. Those allegations represented the association’s position rather than independently established findings against individual operators.
By February, the association had also highlighted what it described as a significant gap between the number of guides being processed for licensing and the industry’s requirements. MSDA said only 203 dive guides had been processed at that stage, compared with an estimated industry requirement of between 800 and 1,000.
Sabah Wants More Tourism Value to Stay Local
The debate sits within a wider effort to ensure that Sabah’s growing marine tourism economy creates opportunities for local communities.
Last month, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said the state’s policy was for tourism development in Semporna ultimately to benefit local communities across areas including accommodation, transportation, travel agencies and other supporting services.
Authorities have established a multi-agency task force to address issues facing tourism operators in the area, including licensing.
Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai has similarly argued that growth in marine tourism should generate opportunities across local accommodation, transportation, guiding, marine services and community-based businesses.
For Sabah’s dive industry, the new licensing framework therefore represents more than an administrative change.
If effectively implemented and enforced, it could help define who is permitted to work professionally with visiting divers, establish clearer standards for operators and guides, and address a long-running debate about how much of the economic benefit generated by Sabah’s internationally important diving destinations remains within local communities.
The challenge will be ensuring that licensing is accessible enough for qualified Malaysian professionals to enter the system while enforcement is consistent enough for legitimate operators to see a meaningful difference on the ground.
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