Statistics on divers from China?

[drbill]

Dear Dr Bill

I'm a dive master intern in Fiji and my dive instructor told me a horrific account of a couple who had advanced certs but clearly no experience because of an incident that happened underwater. He says they had paid for certs in China without doing any courses.

Is this something that the dive community is aware of? The super rich paying their way at the expense of health and safety under water.
Many thanks

I really can't comment on how the dive industry sees this (if they are even aware of it). I am not a dive professional but a marine biologist who uses SCUBA in pursuit of my research and underwater filming. Certainly the number of Chinese who at least try diving has increased significantly over the past two decades as the Chinese economy grows and more people benefit from it.

I have observed some groups of Chinese with really poor water skills in places like Palau but have no knowledge of what dive-specific training they may be receiving.

 

[japan-diver]

The industry looks poorly at people paying for a cert without doing a course or a poor course but this is not unique to China but can be found anywhere there are a large number of divers and folks with money.

 

[Dany_1984]

Hi divers!
There's anyplace here on scubaboard forum where contact divers from different countries?
Next august I will move to live near Shanghai (kunshan-suzhou) with my wife and I would like to know other divers that live in the same area.
thank you all

Daniele from Italy

 

[xulei338]

Can anyone point me in the right direction for obtaining some data on Chinese divers, such as the following:

- Certification rates in recent years?
- What are the popular destinations for Chinese divers to go, outside of China?
- It has been said that currently Cantonese is the predominant language among people who fit the Chinese diver profile but that as that changes, Mandarin will become more important - is this accurate?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

这是一份来自于14年后的回答，2024、04、28
- Certification rates in recent years?
近些年，中国潜水员数量增长非常快，具体是多少。鬼知道。。。。一年10来万人没问题吧。
- What are the popular destinations for Chinese divers to go, outside of China?
菲律宾、印尼、帕劳是中国潜水员偏爱的潜水地点
- It has been said that currently Cantonese is the predominant language among people who fit the Chinese diver profile but that as that changes, Mandarin will become more important - is this accurate?
不。。。除中国香港以外，大陆和中国台湾的潜水员普遍普通话非常利索。

---------------------------------------------------------
This is an answer from 14 years later, 2024, 04, 28

- Certification rates in recent years?

In recent years, the number of divers in China has grown very rapidly. What is the specific number? The devil knows. . . . 100,000 people a year will be no problem.

- What are the popular destinations for Chinese divers to go, outside of China?

The Philippines, Indonesia and Palau are the preferred diving sites for Chinese divers

- It has been said that currently Cantonese is the predominant language among people who fit the Chinese diver profile but that as that changes, Mandarin will become more important - is this accurate?

No. . . With the exception of Hong Kong, China, divers from Mainland China and Taiwan generally speak Mandarin very fluently.

 

[Centrals]

No. . . With the exception of Hong Kong, China, divers from Mainland China and Taiwan generally speak Mandarin very fluently.

It is NOT Taiwan!!! It is Republic of China.
Hong Kongers are NOT chinese.
Both ROC and Hong Kong are writing proper Chinese which is too difficult to those north of our border.