Conservation

Scuba Junkie was founded by divers who are passionate about the marine and terrestrial environments. We believe that as divers and snorkelers, we are fortunate to be able to share the thrill and beauty of the underwater world, and that it is our responsibility to protect and conserve what we see.

As a result, protecting the environment is at the heart of all of our business operations. We adhere to high responsible and eco-tourism standards, and we use eco-friendly practices and technologies to reduce our own adverse impacts on the marine environment.

This responsible, sustainable approach begins with our resort and dive operations and extends to Scuba Junkie S.E.A.S, Scuba Junkie’s dedicated conservation arm, which was established in 2009 in Mabul. Scuba Junkie S.E.A.S., now a registered non-governmental organization (NGO), has expanded its conservation portfolio to include eco-resorts, turtle conservation, shark conservation, coral conservation, cetacean conservation, combating marine debris, and outreach.

Our goal is to ensure that the tropical coral reef ecosystem in our key areas thrives and is protected from further degradation, as well as to ensure that it is used in a sustainable way that not only protects the ecosystem, but also helps to protect the livelihoods of the local communities who rely on the ocean for their sustenance and survival.

The expansion of Scuba Junkie into Indonesia has allowed us to build new connections and engage with even more communities. It took nearly a decade of hard work and dedication to get Scuba Junkie SEAS to where it is today in Malaysia, and we aspire to have the same reach here in Indonesia.

Each year at Sangalaki we hold the following week-long events with both our guests and the local community. Our whale shark week event seeks to promote the importance of the region’s marine ecosystems, particularly whale sharks - and the pioneering work of Whale Shark Indonesia’s efforts in their research and conservation. Activities include presentations from whale shark experts, as well as environmental efforts such as reef and beach cleans. We provide an opportunity for all tourists to the area to learn responsible, reliable information about the whale sharks and marine life in this incredibly diverse area – and how to behave responsibly and respectfully in the unique marine environment they are visiting – highlighting the local government's tireless efforts to protect their natural treasures.

We welcomed the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF), which conducts Manta Ray research, to join us on our boats for essential data collecting on dives. Before Covid we had a research person from MMF stationed full time in our resort and who set up a database for the manta population in this area. This is the first of its kind within this area and we are very proud to have helped with this. The research staff from MMF would also give our guests workshops on Manta Ray identification and conservation. We hope to be able to re-start this project again once COVID is over. We continue to send MMF photos of Manta Ray bellies to help with the Manta Matcher database, which also allows our guests to identify the resident Mantas.

We support citizen science initiatives by collecting sighting data to support our calls for enhanced shark and ray protection in Indonesia. This entails Scuba Junkie's dive team documenting daily shark and ray sightings. We encourage our guests to submit their ID photos from their dive with us to global databases such as www.whaleshark.org and www.mantamatcher.org. We are also happy to upload photos for our guests if they're not able to do it by themselves. Our main avenue for citizen science is contributing to Dive The Data for every single dive that we do. We note down any megafauna that we've seen on the dive along with the site, our depth, the temperature, the visibility, number of boats on the site and whether there was any plastic trash present. This is all uploaded daily and can be viewed by region on their website.

Marine conservation starts at home. Our resorts and dive operations have been designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We have taken several key steps to achieve this, including at minimum the installation of zero efflux sewage systems as well as dedicated recycling and water refill stations, and we have banned the use of single-use plastics in our resorts. All of our resorts also have a "no seafood" policy.

Since our initial assessment in 2016, we have been honoured to be named one of Green Fins Top Ten Members. Green Fins, an international initiative coordinated by the Reef-World Foundation, advocates for a comprehensive approach that encourages dive centers and snorkel operators to reduce their environmental impact.

We follow the S.E.A.S. guidelines (which you can download below), as we do at every Scuba Junkie location - it's critical that we all act responsibly in the water to preserve the environment for future divers.

On the dive boat, we provide natural (reef-safe) soap spray for your mask, as well as rubbish bins to ensure that nothing is thrown overboard.