Perhentian Marine Research Station
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Overview
Highlights
- 2019 Project Evolution
- Immersed in Local Malay Culture
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Activities
Trip includes
- Food, dorm accommodation with shared bathroom
- Cooking facilities
- All dives, equipment and marine park fee
- Return ferry from Kuala Besut to Perhentian island
- Weekly Malay dinner.
Itinerary
Unqualified divers arrive Monday and complete dive course including 1 extra buoyancy dive and 1 fun dive.
Qualified divers arrive on Monday, and conduct:
1 survey skills & buoyancy dive 2 coral nursery dives 2 shark photo ID dives 2 Reef Check Malaysia survey dives (fish/invertebrates & substrate/coral health) 1 Seagrass Watch survey diveUnqualified divers arrive Monday and complete dive course including 1 extra buoyancy dive and 1 fun dive.
Qualified divers arrive on Monday.
Volunteers will learn the theory of Seagrass Watch; a globally accepted method of surveying seagrass beds 8 training dives
Volunteers will conduct actual official Seagrass Watch surveys on 4 of the largest seagrass beds in the Perhentian islands.
Surveys are repeated twice a year to assess the health of the beds, as well as the impacts of the monsoon.
Sundays on the island are days off! Chilling, diving, trekking, totally up to you. If it’s your last week then Sunday is your departure day, so you’ll have to say a sad farewell to your fellow volunteers. Boats back to the mainland are at 8am, 12pm, or 4pm.
Here at PMRS, we will help you to perfect your underwater research skills. Key skills such as perfect buoyancy and being an eco-conscious diver will quickly be gained whilst conducting research with us. In addition, you will have an opportunity to learn and apply glob...
You will learn our method of developing artificial reefs and coral nurseries which involves transplanting coral fragments on to specifically designed bottle reefs. Another method we use is the creation of coral pyramids out of coral rubble to improve the overall health of a degraded reef ecosystem.
You will assist with the establishment of our new elasmobranch monitoring scheme. This will involve the use of camera traps and diving to investigate shark and ray species found around the Perhentian islands and collect data on their spatial distribution and population density.
You will use the Reef Check surveying methodology to help us with our ongoing monitoring of the coral reef health. The data we collect will build upon our previous years of research in understanding species richness and abundance on our reefs, and it also helps us to introduce, implement or influence effective conservation strategies.
You will use the Seagrass Watch method for surveying seagrass to collect vital data which will be analysed and compared with other seagrass beds around the world. You will assess the seagrass using quadrants, or you will map the boundaries of the beds; teaching you vital research skills.
If you aren’t dive qualified you soon will be! We utilise the dive schools on the island to train our divers. By using the established dive centres to run our courses, we build stronger bonds with the wider island community and help share the wealth! Through one of th...
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Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Ecoteer Responsible Travel.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.
Ecoteer Responsible Travel Reviews & Ratings
Its was a great experienced to undergo an internship
Its was a great experienced to undergo an internship at Fuze Ecoteer (Ecoeducation and community conservation project). My position there was a teacher intern, where...
pleasure to get to know them
I came to Perhentian for research purposes and connected with Ecoteer as they are a well-established organization doing great conservation work in the area. From th...
Other Ecoteer Responsible Travel Reviews
Has been so incredibly positive
My experience in Malaysia with Ecoteer has been so incredibly positive. I got the opportunity to work with Community house as a photographer also I worked in Merapoh...
An incredible time in a beautiful part of the world
Thank you to the team at @fuze_ecoteermerapoh for showing me an incredible time in a beautiful part of the world. ������� I’ve met some wonderful people, trekked t...
I’ve met some wonderful people
I’ve met some wonderful people, trekked through Malaysian forests, climbed through hidden caves and had the opportunity to spend time with a gorgeous tribe of native...
Tour Operator
Ecoteer Responsible Travel is a brand under Blue Forest Travel (travel license KPL4863) and started in 2010 through the growing need for more support for the projects based in Asia associated with Ecoteer.com and the creation of the Turtle and Community project on the Perhentian Islands. Some of the grass root projects on Ecoteer.com were unable either to financially support themselves or lacked the man power and sought Ecoteer’s help to continue or improve their work. Ecoteer Responsible Travel was then formed to help concentrate resources to develop meaningful volunteer and ecotourism experiences which could help solve the specific issues for each project.
Ecoteer has since developed 4 project sites in Malaysia and Indonesia. Ecoteer establishes project sites working alongside local communities and/or NGO’s to create mutually beneficial outcomes. At each project site Ecoteer has offered education and alternative sources of income for the local communities whom are attached to a project site, with up to 35% of volunteer fees being given to them for services rendered. The Ecoteer programmes also provide donations and manpower to the NGO’s that they work with for example MYCAT and Save the Caves of Merapoh. The Ecoteer project sites are all run to the same business model – Self-sustainable projects funded by voluntourism, school groups and corporate programmes.
Aim
To provide tourism experiences that bring the most possible benefits to the host communities and the environment which surrounds them.
Principles
Humble but confident
We listen to everyone, most of our mini projects are from feedback and ideas we have received from volunteers and villagers, an example of this are the Malays Dinners which now run at all our project sites. Listening is vital to us and then we take action, however we are confident we are going in the right direction as we host ecotourism students from University Technology Malaysia who conduct annual external assessments of the impacts of our projects. We use external auditors because they will be neutral or even looking for negative aspects in our work. Negatives are what makes us stronger, positives are just for the ego.
Caring
We care about the environment, the local communities we work with and of course our guests. We always strive to do our best and more.
Impactful and with a bite
After the success of our small scale projects Ecoteer has been asked to play a significant role in developing Perhentian into a top Ecotourism destination. This a huge honour and a sign of respect that we are gaining from decision makers in the Perhentian Islands.
Responsible Tourism
As our name suggest we are a Responsible Travel Company, or at least a travel company that aspires to be as responsible as possible. Responsible Tourism to us means that we look after the environment, people, culture, our staff, our accounts and of course our tourists. In general being Responsible means we provide as many benefits as possible to all parties. We know we are not the best in responsible tourism, at the moment, and we will never reach being 100% responsible as it doesn’t exist but if you reach for the stars and land on the moon the view is not so bad.
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- Travel to and from Kuala Besut
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