What do you really know about barnacles and crayfish? Ever heard about a zoanthid? What do cone shells eat? What is the reproductive cycle of mussels? How do dunes form? What is the history of Mission Rocks? What uses do algae have? How do mangroves deal with salt? Would you be able to tell the species of shark by looking at a beached tooth alone, or the species of whale by the type of ‘blow’ it makes when it exhales? A FGASA marine guide will be able to tell you all of these things!
The FGASA Marine Guiding qualification is an exciting but relatively new qualification offered by FGASA. It offers people the opportunity to learn about all aspects of guiding in the marine coastal environment, which has a lot to offer to tourists. In South Africa there are countless opportunities for marine guiding which have not been fully exploited yet because of the general focus on land based activities, such as game drives, cultural tours and hikes. Especially the iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a great example of a park where having a marine guiding qualification gives you a lot of extra guiding opportunities. To name a few: you could be a turtle guide or a whale watching guide, you could do specialized rocky shore excursions and you can go snorkeling and diving with your clients.
Historically going to the sea or beach has always been associated with fun and relaxation and not so much with learning about the environment. However, the marine guiding qualification offers the opportunity for people to make a difference and open people’s eyes to all the amazing creatures that you may find hidden under the sand or stuck to the rocks. In the Cape where less game drive opportunities are available this type of tourism is already much more established and one of the prominent as well as popular organizations is Strandloper safaris.
Marine Guides can specialize in very different fields, however, this qualification is about having the skills and understanding to interpret the coastal marine environment as a whole. This means that you could offer your guests a game drive to Cape Vidal and will be able to tell them about the animals and plants encountered along the way. Knowledge about the coastal forest and savannah is thus part of the course, albeit in not as much detail as in a terrestrial guiding course. Once in Cape Vidal you will take your guests out snorkeling and you will be able to give an appropriate safety briefing and subsequently can point out interesting fish and invertebrate species. Back on land you might be able to tell your guests a bit more about the dune vegetation and the important role it plays in trapping sand and stabilizing dunes. Or you could stop at Mission rocks and do some incredible interesting rocky shore guiding. These are the things that set a Marine Guide apart from a ‘normal/terrestrial’ guide! And it is these ‘things/opportunities’ that are so abundant in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Marine Guiding opportunities are not confined to South Africa as you could also work at lodges in Mozambique, the Seychelles etc.
The FGASA marine guiding course focuses more on the coastal environment and shoreline than the animal life seen under the water surface and therefore your assessment will be done on land in the rocky shore environment. Although for some people it may be disappointing not to spend all your time in the water it is good to realize that as a guide you only will spend limited amounts of time with guests in the water and for the rest of the time you also need to be able to entertain them. Diving and snorkeling activities often do not take longer than one or two hours. Some days you might have planned activities on or in the ocean, but if the sea is too rough alternative plans have to be made. Being able to give an interesting guiding experience on the beach is then a great bonus!
The course covers topics such as guiding skills, safety briefings, astronomy, weather & climate, estuaries, mangroves, rocky- and sandy shores, coastal & marine plants, fish biology, invertebrates (corals, sponges, jellyfish, sea stars, crayfish, prawns, mussels, periwinkles and many many more), marine mammals, turtles, frogs and toads, animal behavior, historical human habitation and conservation. During the Bhejane Marine Guiding course also a specialized Marine First Aid course is given as well as a Padi Open Water Diver scuba diving course.
If you pass both your theory exam and your practical assessments you will be qualified as a FGASA Level 1 Marine Guide, as well as a THETA NQF 2 Nature Site Guide.
TKZN (Tourism KZN) however does recognize the Marine Guiding qualification as being a specialty on top of your “basic” guiding qualification. Furthermore, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has earmarked this qualification to be the entry level qualification of any Marine Protected Area manager.
How can you get qualified as a marine guide? Bhejane Nature Training, as the only FGASA accredited training provider in the region, offers Marine Guiding courses. As per the new requirements from FGASA and THETA these courses are now 10 weeks long. It was found that many people struggled to take in all the information over a 6 week period and although 10 weeks seems long, for most people this will be a good amount of time to familiarize yourself with the theory and practical aspects of marine guiding. As mentioned above, included in the course is a Padi Open Water Course with one of the best dive centers in South Africa, Coral Divers in Sodwana Bay. Andrew Millers (from S.M.A.R.T.) has adapted his Wilderness First Aid course especially so that it applies to accidents in the marine environment and it is therefore called Marine Wilderness First Aid. It is recognised and endorsed by the Department of Labour.
For the people who do not manage to find the time to do the full course Bhejane Nature Training now also offers a marine workshop (2 weeks) for those people who are able to do a great deal of the theory through self study, and/or already have a guiding qualification. The workshop offers practical outings in Kosi Bay and St Lucia. The workshop will be intense and packed with lectures, exercises, presentations and other educational activities. For more information have a look at
http://bhejanenaturetraining.com/MarineGuiding.html
The Marine Guiding Course is for those people who have an interest in the marine environment and who are open to learn about all aspects of it. Job opportunities once you are qualified could vary from working at a lodge like for example Thonga beach lodge, to being a guide on a fishing charter, or to diving with guests for a lodge in Mozambique. Not even to mention how much your entertainment value and guiding quality on the Eastern Shores will have improved after having done a marine guiding course!
For more information, please email Freya.Adamczyk@gmail.com
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