| country: | Malaysia |
| location: | Tioman Island |
| departures: | 2008: 3 Aug, 3 Sep |
| price: | From £1299 (28 days) excluding flights. We can assist with flights from the UK, insurance and visas |
| late availability: | Last place available on departure 03 Aug-30 Aug 08 |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Volunteering on this 4 week programme is divided between achieving or improving your scuba dive qualification, carrying out reef checks and assisting with sea turtle conservation. You will have time to relax and have fun as much as developing and learning diving and conservation skills. Working alongside the team will have its own rewards and be personally enriching. You will share your time with like minded people and discover a beautiful part of Malaysia on the stunning Tioman Island Marine Park.
As part of the programme you will gain a PADI Dive qualification enabling you to take part in reef checks which are vital to global marine conservation programmes.
The turtle conservation part of the programme allows you to work directly with the Department of Fisheries, assisting their work in increasing the chances of survival for sea turtles through activities such as: releasing turtle hatchings, cleaning young turtles, feeding and caring for injured turtles and burying and labelling turtle eggs all of which will increase their chances of survival.
In addition to the work you will carry out, your money helps us to carry out research, education programs, and knowledge transfer, whilst at the same time keeping your money in the local area and encouraging ecotourism.
The programme is split into 3 stages. You’ll spend one week gaining a PADI Dive qualification taking part in daily dives and classroom learning. For the second part you will be trained as a reef checker and will carry out reef check surveys. This will be followed by the third stage time of taking part in turtle conservation. This will be an experience like no other. Be warned the nights are late and morning early. You can be working up till 2am in the morning collecting eggs and can be up as early as 5am if hatchlings need to be released. The final part of the programme will involve you taking part in vital reef checks.
There will be plenty of free time to explore the island, go snorkelling, play beach volleyball and visit the local villages.
You live in wooden chalets on the beach with other volunteers. You will be given a food allowance so you will be able to sample the amazing culinary delights of Malaysia at the local food stalls. When not on the turtle conservation night times are free and people often sit around chatting, playing games, or writing their diaries. Then fall asleep to the sound of the night time rainforest chorus or on the beach under the stars.
As part of the programme you will gain a PADI Dive qualification enabling you to take part in reef checks which are vital to global marine conservation programmes.
The turtle conservation part of the programme allows you to work directly with the Department of Fisheries, assisting their work in increasing the chances of survival for sea turtles through activities such as: releasing turtle hatchings, cleaning young turtles, feeding and caring for injured turtles and burying and labelling turtle eggs all of which will increase their chances of survival.
In addition to the work you will carry out, your money helps us to carry out research, education programs, and knowledge transfer, whilst at the same time keeping your money in the local area and encouraging ecotourism.
a day in the life of a volunteer
The programme is split into 3 stages. You’ll spend one week gaining a PADI Dive qualification taking part in daily dives and classroom learning. For the second part you will be trained as a reef checker and will carry out reef check surveys. This will be followed by the third stage time of taking part in turtle conservation. This will be an experience like no other. Be warned the nights are late and morning early. You can be working up till 2am in the morning collecting eggs and can be up as early as 5am if hatchlings need to be released. The final part of the programme will involve you taking part in vital reef checks. There will be plenty of free time to explore the island, go snorkelling, play beach volleyball and visit the local villages.
You live in wooden chalets on the beach with other volunteers. You will be given a food allowance so you will be able to sample the amazing culinary delights of Malaysia at the local food stalls. When not on the turtle conservation night times are free and people often sit around chatting, playing games, or writing their diaries. Then fall asleep to the sound of the night time rainforest chorus or on the beach under the stars.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive in Kuala Lumpur airport and transfer to hostel over night. Welcome dinner and orientation |
| Day 2: | Transfer to Subang Airport after breakfast and fly to Tioman Island. Settle in and orientation. |
| Day 3-26: | Turtle Volunteer Programme project begins today. Activities include: Open water/advanced or rescue PADI dive course depending on dive qualifications (please be advised that the dive centre does not offer Emergency First Response 1 day course, which is a pre requisite to doing Rescue Dive - contact us for further advice on this). Unlimited snorkelling. Reef check (training and survey and data input, with up to 10 dives included on the course). 10 scheduled scuba dives for Reef Check. Beach clean up. Officially work for at a turtle hatchery for 12 nights. Exploring the local island and getting to the know the local people and culture |
| Day 28: | Fly back to KL Subang Airport from Tioman Island. End of programme. |
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you are looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Responsible Volunteering lies at the heart of all our operations, we believe it’s the key to achieving sustainable outcomes and maintaining successful volunteering projects. By adopting the principles of responsible travel we’re paving the way to make true ecotourism and responsible volunteering work in countries like Malaysia. Using our home grown code of Responsible Volunteering we have developed our own policy in which we state our responsibility to our projects, our volunteers, the environment, the local community and the local economy.
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Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |











