Marine and Sea Turtle Conservation Volunteering, Maldives

Are you an ocean lover? Are you passionate about marine conservation, oceanography, biodiversity studies; would you like to work with saving an endangered species or are you just crazy about spending time underwater, diving, snorkelling, and the general underwater experience? Then this is your chance to see your passion turned into action and experience the splendours of the lush corals of the tropical islands of the Maldives!

As a volunteer in our Marine & Turtle Conservation Programme, you will not only get to experience true island life as it is lived in the Indian Ocean. You will also get a chance to work closely with other ocean enthusiasts, both international and local, at our local marine centre. In our marine centre, we work on a range of projects such as our turtle head-starting program, collecting fish and coral data, planning and implementing awareness programmes for the community and schools, reef monitoring and extending our coral garden which has been laid around the island of Naifaru. Additionally, during the calm season (November to May), there is the potential opportunity to contribute to manta ray monitoring efforts.

Every project is important to us and the community in different ways and you will play an integral role contributing to the longevity of all of the above projects.

The Marine & Turtle Conservation Programme is available for 2-week durations but we strongly recommend you to stay for at least 3 weeks to get the full experience as some of the tasks will take a while for you to master. Furthermore, weather conditions also play a factor in what you will be able to do and bad weather may prevent you from going in the water for several days.

Location

A geological eccentricity nestled in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives are a series of ancient coral reefs that grew up around the sides of towering prehistoric volcanoes. These immense structures have long since sunk into the ocean, leaving behind coral islands of incredible natural beauty, from the modernity of Male to the idyllic paradise of the Southern Atolls.

The Maldives have bright blue skies, all-year sunshine and fantastic diving and snorkelling in lagoons the temperature of bathwater. The country embraces travellers from around the world but maintains a deep Muslim faith.  The Maldives has a tropical climate with warm temperatures year-round and a great deal of sunshine. The weather is determined largely by the monsoon seasons.

Accommodation

Volunteers on this project stay together in our shared volunteer guest house. The guest house comes with a living room with comfortable furniture, laundry facilities, TV, a large bookshelf and a fridge. All rooms in the house come equipped with aircon, fans and wi-fi internet. The standard room is a two to three-person shared (single-sex) room with its own Western-style bathroom.

We provide 3 meals per day for all volunteers. We will also organize for volunteers to eat together at local restaurants with the staff from time to time as a social event and order the food in advance if needed, but volunteers will need to pay either in dollars or local currency during their stay for any extra food expenses on top of this e.g. snacks.

Project Dates

You can join this project for 2 weeks or longer all year round, starting on any Thursday. However, we strongly recommend you to stay for at least 3 weeks to get the full experience as some of the tasks will take a while for you to master. Furthermore, weather conditions also play a factor in what you will be able to do and bad weather may prevent you from going in the water for several days.