The brilliance of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef can be seen underwater just off the coast of Belize. But for many local people, it may as well be worlds away.

That was the case for Hilario Tush, who grew up on the mainland Belize, practically in the jungle. As an adult, he made his way to Placencia, where he met Splash Dive Center owners Ralph Capeling and Patricia Ramirez, who presented a new world of opportunities.

“When I was a little kid I always thought about scuba diving and wished I could one day do something like this,” says Tush. “So when I came to Placencia, after working for a while in the city, I got tired of it and decided to change my career.”

Tush started working in the dive shop, manning the register and helping out with anything that needed to be done in the office. But thanks to one of Splash Dive’s six local programs — a passion project for Ramirez — Tush was introduced to scuba diving and eventually a new line of work.

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Splash reaches out to the local community, from its children to first responders, and offers free dive certifications. Since starting its local outreach programs in 2005, Ramirez estimates that they have trained about 200 people at no cost, with about half of them moving on to the professional level.

“I could see visitors from abroad bringing their children to Belize and learning to dive, but our local people have less disposable income, so the local kids were not getting the same opportunity,” says Ramirez. “It started helping people in the community — particularly the kids — and then as my business grew I saw an opportunity to develop my own workers to learn about diving and encourage them to become dive professionals.

Tush, who worked his way up to the Instructor level while working in the office, is now an oft-requested dive guide for repeat visitors to Placencia. He’s just one example of the many dive guides who’ve come up through Ramirez’s charitable ranks. And graduates of the programs now work throughout Belize as guides or sailing the seas on a liveaboard.

“The most rewarding part is to see how they respond to the opportunity to train to become dive professionals, share their knowledge with all who come to dive and snorkel with us, and at the same time benefit from the higher salary and improved standard of living,” says Ramirez. “You can see the pride of their achievement when you go on a dive or snorkel trip with us.”

Splash Dive Center’s six programs help Belizians of different walks of life.

• Splash Kid's Club
• Splash Junior's Club
• Splash Workers Program
• Adopt a New Tour Guide
• Help our Heroes
• Be my mentor