Ceningan Divers joined Green Fins this month.
The centre has been open for about two and a half years. Like every dive shop we know, the team talks about the reef constantly. The staff value it, guests come for it, and it features on the website, in the briefings and in half the photos the centre posts.
Having an independent person observe how the centre actually operates is a different matter, and that is what we have now requested.
What is Green Fins for a dive or snorkel operator?
A code of conduct, with an in-person assessment for full members. Green Fins was established in 2004 by the UN Environment Programme and The Reef-World Foundation. It provides dive and snorkel businesses with a code of conduct and, for members who complete the full process, an on-site assessment by a trained assessor. The score works in the opposite direction from what many expect: it is on a 330-point scale, and a lower score is better, indicating less impact on the reef.
The code is not a mission statement. It covers concrete practices: no touching or standing on coral, no feeding fish, no anchoring on the reef, proper briefings, waste sorting, and no sale of shells or coral in the shop. These practices can be verified; on any given dive, they are either followed or not.
That is what makes the program convincing. Most green labels in tourism consist of a logo and an invoice. This one places an assessor on the boat.
For dive and snorkel businesses interested in the program, the Green Fins website explains how to become a member and what is expected. Joining is straightforward; remaining a member requires sustained effort.
What does the assessment examine?
How the business operates on a normal day. The assessor observes the briefing, how the boat is handled at the site, what happens to waste, what divers do underwater, and how the guide responds when a diver kicks a coral head. The business then receives a score and a list.
The list is the most useful part.
The first score is not yet known, and speculating publicly would serve no purpose. The list will most likely identify practices nobody notices anymore: small habits that develop when the crew is busy, the boat is full and everyone has been working the same way for some time. A briefing that has become shorter over time. A mooring shortcut on a crowded morning. A waste bin that is not where it should be.
A first assessment that reveals uncomfortable findings is valuable. If it produces only praise, either the business was already excellent or the review was not thorough. We prefer to know.
Why is an outside assessment more valuable than a sustainability slogan?
Because it produces specific actions. A slogan costs nothing and requires nothing. An assessment provides named items: change the briefing, change the mooring method, use a different bin for this waste. That list can be brought to a staff meeting, and everyone knows what to do the next morning.
It also sets a benchmark to improve upon. Green Fins expects members to reduce their impact score over time, so continued membership depends on progress. That is very different from a badge purchased once and then forgotten.
From a marketing perspective, the field in which our team has spent most of its career, this matters more than owners often realize. Travellers are increasingly adept at recognizing greenwashing. Every resort in Bali states that it loves the ocean. "Eco-friendly" on a website means little on its own. "An outside program assesses us, and here are our results" carries far more weight.
The same principle applies to reviews: what an independent party has verified carries more weight than what a business says about itself. Our team spent years building social media strategies for businesses in Vancouver and then for dive operators here, and the posts people trusted were consistently those in which a third party vouched for the business.
Where does the real work of membership lie?
In staff training. This part never appears in the brochure.
Owners can sign the form and post the code of conduct beside the tanks. None of that changes what happens at eighteen metres when a guest grabs something to steady themselves and it turns out to be alive.
The guides change that, as do the divemaster giving the briefing and the boat crew deciding where to drop the line. Most of the effort after joining must therefore go into the team: explaining the reasons, not only the rules; repeating them; and making it normal to correct a guest underwater, courteously.
That last point is more difficult than it appears. No guide enjoys signalling "don't touch that" to a paying customer who is on holiday and enjoying the dive. There are concerns about the review and the tip. However, a guide who lets it pass once will let it pass again, and it then becomes the culture.
New staff then arrive, which happens frequently in dive tourism, and the training begins again. It is an ongoing process.
What is the centre doing before the assessor arrives?
The preparation is simple: reviewing the code of conduct with the entire team, not only the instructors; asking the boat crew what prevents them from following it, since they usually know; reviewing our own briefings with fresh eyes; and agreeing that when the list arrives, it will not be disputed. The issues will be corrected.
What does this mean for any small business making a green claim?
Most businesses will never have a reef to protect, but the principle applies. We recommend identifying an outside standard in the relevant field that actually verifies something: a certification, an inspection, or a program with real criteria and an assessor who visits. The business should allow that standard to assess it, then publish the results honestly on its own website, in plain language.
That is the kind of writing we value: plain, specific and verifiable. It is also the most difficult kind of website copywriting to fake, which is precisely why it is effective.
We will report again once the first list has been received, and we expect it to give a more measured picture of our performance.