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 rehabilitation program, collecting ecosystem 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. Each of our endeavours supports one of our four goals: to rescue and rehabilitate turtles, protect Naifaru and the surrounds, conduct community outreach and finally to assist coral restoration efforts. Your assistance is integral to these goals and every bit counts!

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. Our turtle patients are mostly victims of ghost net entanglement and have suffered from amputations out at sea. You will help us care for them and assist in their rehabilitation journey back into the sea. We hope you stay with us a little longer because, the longer you stay with us the more likely you will be able to see dolphins, rays, wild turtles and hopefully a release!

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, sunshine and fantastic diving and snorkelling. The country embraces travellers from around the world but maintains a deep Muslim faith. Despite experiencing the seasonal monsoon the natural beauty does not waiver. Here on Naifaru we find ways to have fun, rehabilitate the turtles and work with the community rain, hail or shine (although we don’t get hail).

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 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 organise 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.

We are so grateful to our volunteers and we hope you come along and help us out! The turtles are waiting and the Maldives are calling!

For more details on how the programme works, dates, costs and how to apply, please visit our detailed project page here.