Blue Ventures Malaysia - Volunteer Project

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Why choose Blue Ventures Malaysia - Volunteer 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. The main focus of the work that Blue Ventures conducts on all expeditions is collaboration with local communities to implement strategies that aim to make marine resource use sustainable. 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 The project is based in Tekek village and volunteers will stay in simple wooden chalets on the long, sandy beach. Each room has a bathroom with hot water showers and balcony. The community awareness raising projects include a three day excursion to Mukut village, a pretty fishing village with very little impact from tourism, in the south of the island. Volunteers will also take part in a partner turtle conservation project at Tioman Turtle Sanctuary and conduct terrestrial surveys during a two day trek through the interior of the island.	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 including teaching English in the schools and helping our local Liaison Officer teach environmental and conservation workshops. 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!

Soon after arrival and acclimatisation at the Blue Ventures field site, volunteers begin an intensive scientific training programme, working closely with the marine researchers based at the camp. 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.

The accommodation throughout the volunteer program will change depending on the activities performed and your whereabouts on the island:

• The project is based in Tekek village; while here volunteers will stay in simple wooden chalets on the long, sandy beach. Each room has a bathroom with hot water showers and balcony.
• The community awareness raising projects include a three day excursion to Mukut village, a pretty fishing village with very little impact from tourism, in the south of the island.
• Volunteers will also take part in a partner turtle conservation project at Tioman Turtle Sanctuary and conduct terrestrial surveys during a two day trek through the interior of the island.
  

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REEFsponsible activities

The Blue Ventures Malaysia volunteer project is a six week program during which volunteers will learn how to carry out underwater reef surveys, gain a basic understanding of marine ecology and conservation, take part in beach and reef clean-ups and contribute to the local community awareness raising projects. This includes a three day excursion to Mukut village in the south of the island to teach a school environmental program. The project is based in Tekek village and accommodation is simple wooden chalets on the long, sandy beach.

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 whole of your six week 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.

Soon after arrival and acclimatization at the Blue Ventures field site, volunteers begin an intensive scientific training program. Training is largely field based, involving numerous snorkeling 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 BV.

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. When not diving, volunteers will be in the classroom with our field scientist, working on village awareness raising campaigns, helping out on school programs, relaxing on the beach or trekking in the jungle.

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

• Prices vary according to your current diving qualification (the more experienced you are, the cheaper your expedition). However, please don't let this put you off, as half of our volunteers have never dived before!
• Prices are given per person and are based on 3 volunteers sharing one chalet.

Private, couple or family rooms

• We can offer private rooms for singles, couples or families. There is a maximum of 3 people per room, so if you are a group of 4, you will need two private rooms.
• Please add £50 per week supplement to the expedition cost below for each private room required.

Dates of Expeditions 2010

These are the start dates in Tioman Island. You will have to get yourself to Tioman before or on the start dates. Blue Ventures provides each volunteer with detailed information on how to get to the island as part of your pre-departure briefing materials.

We currently have volunteer vacancies for our Tioman Island project starting and finishing on the following dates.

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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