Peter Macdonald review 7 Apr 2013
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Seeing the spinner dolphins, jump and spin in the air.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Check who you are going to be working for. Look at their web-site might get the holiday cheaper. Thought I was going with one operator but was actually with another.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
They are trying to educate the locals on how to look after the wildlife and the corals surrounding the island.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
About 5 out of 10. The other operator did not look after the volunteers.
Read the operator's response here:
Peter, thank-you for your comments and we are glad that you enjoyed the Spinner Dolphins.
We currently run and work with over 300 projects in 21 countries Worldwide. Some we organise and run ourselves, others we partner with (after a lengthy application and vetting process). This project is one of those we partner with which may explain your confusion as to whom you went with. (A bit like saying you booked with Thomas Cook but were actually staying with a hotel).
It may indeed be possible to book directly (and for a little less) with some of the projects we partner with, however by choosing an established, insured, reputable company like ourselves you are taking the hassle out of your trip and have the peace of mind that if something goes wrong you have the back-up and support of a dedicated team.
As a side note, many of the projects we work with actively depend on our efforts to source them volunteers, and freely admit they would not be able to exist without the voluntary and fiscal aid that they receive.
We normally receive very favourable feedback on this project and will be addressing your final point directly with the project. We are sorry that this aspect has let down the overall enjoyment of your stay.
Colleen Blaine review 4 Feb 2011
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Swimming with the dolphins and spending time out at sea on the boat.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Take lots of sunscreen.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
No not at all I was disapointed in the structure of the programme as it is merely a research data collecting programme. They do not really value the volunteers nor make use of them in a structured way. The NGO needs to re-evaluate the level of conservation work they are doing.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
I would not do this one again as I feel that I had no conservation impact and I paid high price for horrendous accommodation and badly structured program.The activities we did do with the dolphins and whales were amazing though and was the only positive of the program.
Read the operator's response here:
Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. As discussed with you, we immediately took your comments on board and are working with the staff on the ground to address these issues. As a result, and after you finished the project, they have now employed a new volunteer coordinator who is very good and is vastly improving both the accommodation and the range of activities on the project.
