One Dive Site, One Boat: Respect St. Maarten’s Marine Life

At SXM Divers, we limit dives to six guests to protect St. Maarten’s marine life: fish schools, turtles, sharks, rays, and more. Small groups keep the ecosystem healthy, dives safe, and experiences excellent. Fewer divers mean less stress on marine life. Fish schools stay put, turtles don’t hide, sharks and rays remain calm. There’s less chance of damaging corals or stirring up sand, so the reef stays healthy. Our guests see the ocean at its best because we dive carefully. Other operators don’t follow this. They pack 10-15 divers into a site to cut costs, scaring marine life and harming reefs. Large groups create a mess: more harm, less to see. It’s a cheap move that hurts the ecosystem and everyone’s dive.

The Nature Foundation’s buoys let us tie up without hurting reefs. We turn off our engines and then send divers in quietly to keep the site peaceful. That’s how diving should be. But some operators show no respect. When we’re tied up and diving, they pull up close to our boat—pure disrespect—drop their divers right on our dive site, and keep driving around. Their engine noise disturbs marine life and ruins the experience our guests expect. Our message is clear: only one boat should use a dive site at a time. If we’re diving, no other boat should be there. They need to wait far from the reef until we’re done or pick another site entirely.

Crowding a dive site is dangerous. If one of our divers needs to surface—low air, nerves, anything—they could come up under a boat driving around the site. Propellers can kill. We’ve seen operators get too close, ignoring the risk, after dropping their divers on top of ours. Their divers disrupt ours too. Picture watching marine life, then a crowd from another boat crashes in, kicking up sand and clearing the site. Our guests deserve better than dealing with groups from operators who choose profit over quality.

St. Maarten’s ecosystem is fragile. Big groups chase away sharks, rays, and fish schools. Turtles vanish. It’s more likely to harm corals when groups are larger. Operators running cheap, packed trips make it worse: less control, more damage. They’re hurting sites we all need. This has to stop. We’re calling on other operators to respect dive sites. Don’t come near if we’re diving—wait far from the reef or go elsewhere. Reduce group sizes—large groups cause damage. Support the Nature Foundation to protect our reefs.

St. Maarten’s marine life deserves respect. We want fish schools darting, turtles cruising, sharks, and rays thriving. SXM Divers is committed to small groups and smart diving, but we need others to join us.