Logo Gili Shark Conservation

Gili Shark Conservation Project

About

We are an international marine research center that hosts researchers, scientists, and ocean lovers from all over the world. A place in the heart of our community where we provide education in solving oceans-related issues. A home to people that want to make the world a little bit more beautiful.

We educate, train, and empower local talent to become leaders of the Gili Island's growing tourism industry and guardians of its natural environment. And we provide scholarships to Indonesian women who want to pursue a career in marine conservation but don’t have the financial or emotional support to make it happen.

Every day our research team goes out to collect abundance data within the zones of the Gili Matra Marine Recreational Reserve to assess the health of the environment and act to enhance marine protection and health where necessary.

Founded
2015

Reviews

Default avatar
Billy
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Gili Shark Conservation & Oceans5

I reached out to Rose at GSC and the team at Oceans5 in the hopes of completing my PADI Divemaster program in a destination where I could also help with conservation work concurrently. After some correspondence and personal back-and-forth brainstorming between destinations I decided to spend 9 weeks on Gili Air and I never looked back.

My time with Oceans5 and Gili Shark was easily some of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life. The standard of teaching on both ends—from dive practices, safety and divemaster mentorship with oceans5 to methodology, species ID and coral restoration with GSC—was stellar, only to be exceeded by the sense of humor and warmth of the team members themselves.

Rose and Andreas have started something special with Gili Shark Conservation (and Coral Catch!) and working with Maisy, Musa, Katon, Cakra and Delya everyday felt more like spending time with friends than laborious work. You do everything from harvesting coral and cleaning restoration structures, to IDing turtles, surveying coral health and building anchors or cleaning beachfronts; all of it with a laugh and a smile.

The HQ team (Joe, Ifan, Mira, Anto, Faizal, Salma and more) make you a part of the family and provide a second home. It is a true joy to share time with them each morning and evening.

And what can I say about oceans5 dive resort beyond that they’ve become a family to me? To Sander (course director and owner), all the instructors (Ary, Waz, Al, Irlando, Yunus!) to Chelle (shop matriarch/manager) and the boat crew (Oja, Din, Jini, Kian and Yudi) and dive guides (Sury, Jay, Dedi..) I can’t express my gratitude and love strongly enough. It broke my heart to leave them—feeling that I was leaving home more than when I set out in the first place.

I now have an Indonesian home and family to return to and I cannot wait to do so.

Bonus points for not having a single bad meal in my entire stay and for the across the board friendliness of the entire island and its inhabitants.

Pros
  • Diving
  • friendship
  • education
Cons
  • Wish I Could stay even longer
  • Mosquitoes
Default avatar
Carolina Maria
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

One of the best experiences ever…

Joining Gili Shark Conservation as a research assistant was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. A special thanks to Rose, Maisy, Musa, Katon and Cakra whose energy and passion is inspiring. Everyone at GSC is not only kind and willing to help, but also friendly and funny- you will spend every single day with a big smile on your face! The program is a great opportunity to approach marine conservation with the best team and to do that in paradise! Finally, if you wanna learn diving or improve your diving skills, Gili Shark and Oceans 5’s instructors are top-notch. I am really grateful for this experience and I hope to go back soon to do my divemaster!

Pros
  • Team was professional and friendly
Cons
  • Couldn’t stay longer!
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Gabriella
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The Best 4 Weeks of My Entire Life

My time with Gili Shark Conservation was easily one of the best experiences I have ever had and I’ve never felt more welcome than I did at Villa Nangka and Oceans 5. Each and every staff member is incredibly kind and they are extremely passionate about the work they are doing and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of it. I loved every single second I spent on Gili Air and I didn’t expect to find people and experiences that would be so hard to leave. I cannot recommend this amazing program enough and would go back in a heartbeat.

Pros
  • Marine education
  • Amazing diving
  • Incredible people
Cons
  • Hard to leave
Default avatar
Beatrice
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing Time in Gili Air

You can tell that everybody working as staff at the Gili Shark project absolutely love what they are doing and are doing an amazing job at sharing that with others. Living on Gili Air has been one of the best times I have had in my life. The people there are incredibly nice and welcoming. I have felt very lucky to be part of something so special. Also, if you love diving as much as I do you will probably never want to leave again and if you are thinking of doing your divemaster you will have some of the best instructors I have met in my life, both from Gili Shark and Oceans 5.

Pros
  • Amazing people
  • Great island
  • Fantastic diving
Cons
  • A bit expensive
Aryssah
Aryssah
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing Experience with GASC

I really enjoyed my time volunteering with Gili Air Shark Conservation. Gili Air is a beautiful island with many restaurants, spas, and activities to explore. During the project, it was so special to be in the water twice a day, discovering the underwater world. I learned about all the different species of tropical fish, made friends with many sea turtles, and even saw a couple sharks up close! But more importantly - the facilities and the staff were amazing. Villa Nangka, where volunteers are set to stay, is a short bike ride to Oceans 5 dive shop, where volunteers work. Both were clean, with friendly staff and quality places to be partnered with. As mentioned, I was also truly touched by the staff. They made you feel right at home, comfortable and special, and as if you were part of the family instantly. I caught a bug while there, and the way they took care of me was nothing short of how my own mother would. I’m really lucky I found this project, and would highly recommend! It warmed my heart to be surrounded with likeminded people, making a difference for our planet’s oceans.

Programs

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Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

What is your favorite travel memory?

My favourite travel memory goes back to when I travelled to Bali for the first time. A friend of mine and I went to Nusa Penida, which is an island located 40 minutes away on the east side of Bali. We knew it was possible to see manta rays, so it was the main reason why we decided to go dive over there.

We dived 5 times across 3 days. The first day we went to dive on the north side of the island, meaning we would not see manta rays, as they hang out on the south. Still, the crystal clear water and the abundance of fish was amazing!

Then the second day arrived. Overexcited, we made our way to Manta Point on the South of Nusa Penida. As we backrolled in the water, I remember all my muscles stiffening and my skin shivering right away. So cold!! As I am used to diving around the Gili Islands, where the water temperature is around 28 degrees, at Manta Point the water temperature was 22 degrees! It did not matter, as we made our way to the cleaning station, I saw my first manta! I forgot about the temperature of the water immediately and was mesmerized by these amazing creatures.

In total, we saw 5 manta rays swimming above us, circling around the summit of the cleaning station. The feeling inside of me was pure joy. A little bit of craziness, mixed with a big adrenaline rush. I’ll never forget my first time diving with mantas and I can’t wait to see these amazing pelagics again.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I’ve changed in a few different ways since I started working with the Shark Team. First of all, I don't see the ocean as I used to. It's not only a place to dive and have fun; the ocean means way more to my eyes now. I’ve realized how important it is for all life on earth. I realized that the ocean is very vulnerable to our actions and that it is not indestructible. We need to respect the oceans and protect it any way we can. I am definitely more aware and try to do what I can to protect it.

I have changed many habits since living on Gili Air. The first one is my use of single-use plastic. I changed some things I used to do in my everyday life. Also, now I always try to pick up any garbage I see while diving. It's little gestures, but when you add them all together, a little becomes a lot!

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

It’s hard to choose only one. What is truly amazing is to watch a student or a diver returning from a dive where they saw sharks. One or many, swimming or resting, it doesn’t matter! The smile on their face and the excitement in their eyes is incredible. It makes you feel so happy and proud to do what you are doing. I love seeing this.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

If I could choose one it would be the IDC program. First of all, because it would be great to be able to share by teaching my passion for the ocean. Being an instructor is more than only teaching about diving techniques, skills and science: it’s is also an opportunity to communicate the importance of the ocean. Sharing methods and ways on how to protect our marine ecosystems and how each of us can make a difference.

Being surrounded by people with the same passions definitely makes that passion grows even bigger and so we can achieve greater things.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

The biggest aspect that makes my company so unique is that, besides doing amazing conservation work for the ocean, they are also trying their best to work closely with the local community.

I understand that sometimes it can be difficult to mix different cultures, and even with the difficulties encountered at first, they pushed through because it was important for them to give back to the Gili Air community who have given them so much already.

With all their efforts, they’ve developed great relationships and they are now evolving many different projects with community reach. The Plastic-Free Paradise movement regroups four different projects that I believe will make a big difference for our island over time.

What makes me very proud is to witness the commitment of every single individual taking part in the Gili Shark Conservation project. Since it was created, it did really great things, even with a small team.

The impact the project has on the island since the beginning, and the evolving methods to study our oceans, our fish, our reefs, and the results coming out from it so far, this couldn't have happened without the dedication and commitment of everybody who has ever been involved in the project.

It makes me really proud to say that I am part of this team. And this couldn't have without the dedication and commitment of everybody who has ever been involved in the project.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

For me, it's definitely honesty. From the leaders of the project to the rest of the staff and all our volunteers, we are nothing but honest with each other. This makes an amazing difference on a day to day basis. Every day, I do not feel like I’m at work. I do it because I love it. I'm always happy at work and this has a lot to do with the fact that I love what I’m doing, but also because of the people whom I'm spending most of my days with. Honest relationships make things easy!