Blue Ventures Malaysia - Mini Sailing Expedition

10-day sailing adventure for GBP 990
Why choose Blue Ventures Malaysia - Mini Sailing Expedition Blue Ventures Malaysia’s primary aim is to contribute to the conservation of Malaysia’s valuable ecological resources. Not only a stunning dive destination and ecological centre, but a community ready to take the steps towards a future dedicated to sustainable tourism and development. Tioman is regarded as one of the world’s premier diving locations and has been attracting visitors for decades. Most reefs are fringing or patch reefs and the hard coral diversity and volume is astounding. Year round monitoring of the health of the marine environment of Pulau Tioman is carried out by volunteers though underwater reef surveys as well as hands on reef and beach clean-ups.
The Diving An incredible diversity of colourful and enchanting reef fish; along with tunas, jacks and barracuda which can often be seen hunting. Colourful nudibranchs will reward those with the patience to seek them out. More easily to spot are moray eels, rays, reef sharks and plenty of green and hawksbill turtles. Visibility can reach 30m and water temperature ranges from 26°C to 30°C. No previous dive experience needed to take part in the expedition. BVM staff ensure you are trained up to the Advanced PADI diver certification as well as Reef Check, by certified PADI Instructors.	The Accommodation Tioman is situated inside the Coral Triangle and the beautiful reefs around her rocky coast support valuable and endemic creatures. Based on Araliya, a Colombia 45 ft sloop rig sailing yacht crewed by Yacht master and Dive master/Field Scientist.	REEFsponsible Activities You will be trained to identify fish and other marine organisms, learn how to conduct underwater marine surveys and receive a thorough background in marine ecology and conservation You will be collecting reef health data via survey dives, take part in community and terrestrial research projects being conducted on site, and have the opportunity to help out with our local community programmes Opportunities are available to help out the partner project -Juara Turtle Project - which has been running a turtle sanctuary for three years.
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The Diving

Tioman Island, off Malaysia's East Coast, has extensive coral reefs teeming with a wide variety of tropical fish large and small. Dive sites also include over a dozen wrecks (mainly scuttled wooden hulled fishing trawlers). The waters around Tioman Island have something for every level of diver.

The shallow, calm waters of dive sites near Tioman, such as Pirate Reef and Renggis Island, are ideal for training and less experienced divers, as well as photography. A little further afield, sites such as Chebeh and Tiger Reef provide deeper waters, sometimes with challenging currents, plus the chance to see larger marine inhabitants
Tioman’s marine inhabitants include green and hawksbill turtles, reef sharks, dolphins, tunas, jacks and many colourful and reef fish and critters, and even the occasional whale shark and manta ray!

Training is largely field based, involving numerous snorkelling and diving excursions as well as informal lectures, small group discussions, and practice exercises of the various research methodologies that you are likely to use during your work with BVM.

Both qualified and non-qualified divers can join the expeditions. All volunteers are required to be trained up to PADI Advanced Open Water standard or equivalent before they can participate in underwater surveys. Dive training is carried out in the first two weeks of expeditions.

We are also able to offer extra courses for those volunteers who want to advance their diving qualifications. The Emergency First Response (EFR) course, Rescue Diver course and Divemaster course are all available to take on site.

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The Accommodation

Tioman is situated inside the Coral Triangle and the beautiful reefs around her rocky coast support valuable and endemic creatures. In addition, the interior of Tioman is covered by dense, relatively unexplored primary rainforest.

Much of the terrestrial fauna and flora is also endemic and endangered. The island is approximately 130 kilometres square in size, and lies off the east coast of the Malaysian peninsular. The 2,700 inhabitants of the six main villages rely on fishing or tourism for their income.

This amazing sailing and diving opportunity will be based on Araliya, a Colombia 45 ft sloop rig sailing yacht crewed by Yacht master and Dive master/Field Scientist. The maximum group size will be six divers. All meals will be provided, either on the boat or on land. Four nights will be spent sleeping on land and five will be spent on the boat.

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REEFsponsible activities

The Blue Ventures Malaysia Mini-expedition is a 10 day sailing and diving trip around the beautiful Pulau Tioman and surrounding islands. The trip is an opportunity to learn new diving skills, learn about marine conservation and contribute towards the preservation of Tioman’s reefs. Places on this fantastic trip are available to qualified Advanced Open Water (or equivalent) divers. Non-divers may become qualified at our partner dive centre, Tioman Dive Centre, prior to the start of the trip. Participants will dive two to three times a day and receive training in Reef Check survey methods, carry out reef health surveys and mega fauna surveys (turtles, sharks, dolphins) and help to crew the boat. When not diving or sailing, participants will learn basic ecology, marine biology and conservation through interesting workshops and presentations given by the on-board field scientist. The trip also includes four nights at the Juara Turtle Project, in Juara village where participants will take part in patrolling beaches, collecting data and releasing turtle hatchlings.

Blue Ventures Malaysia training, diving and other activities will be overseen by permanent, on site staff. The staff are a small, dedicated team and you will work closely with them during the duration of your trip. In addition to training and working with you, staff looks forward to socializing with volunteers over meals, spare time and non-expedition related activities.

After training, volunteers will carry out the surveys required; these include fish counts, reef health assessments, megafauna spotting and COT surveys. Volunteers will dive around twice a day. Most of these will be training and survey dives, but some will be for fun, exploratory and night dives.

Both qualified and non-qualified divers can join our expeditions. All volunteers are required to be trained up to PADI Advanced Open Water standard or equivalent before they can participate in underwater surveys. Dive training is carried out in the first two weeks of expeditions. We are also able to offer extra courses for those volunteers who want to advance their diving qualifications. The Emergency First Response (EFR) course, Rescue Diver course and Divemaster course are all available to take on site.

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Sample Packages

10 day packages = 990 GBP

Dates of the trips:
5th – 14th May, 2010
23th June – 2nd June, 2010
11th August – 20th August, 2010

Please contact us for a preliminary itinerary for the mini sailing expedition.

The REEFsponsibles have teamed up with Uniglobe Geo Travel to provide you with all your travel needs, from your front door to the reef.

Contact us for booking, inquiries or any additional information about our projects and how YOU can help.

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