Program Reviews

I was fortunate enough to be involved with this project just as it was getting started, and I can say there is little to fault! The islands are truly stunning, the people are really nice and supportive (plus know a lot more than I did on arriving!), and the local food is delicious. On other programs it's easy to feel just like another tourist, but here you can easily taste the traditional island life and meet the local woman (who make amazing donuts: 3 for 18p!!), as well do all the usual stuff like diving/snorkelling. But doing it with the research program has been a lot more informative and hence I think you get so much more out of the experience, as well as the opportunity to give something back and to make a difference. Overall, wonderful experience and I look forward to going back in the future to see how it has progressed!

We weren't sure what to expect when we visited this project. We took a cargo boat to the village and were met by one of the interns. The village is small and full of very very friendly people. Really nice environment and it is clear that the project leader is well respected in the community.

We arrived at the start of the rainy season, so our diving was limited unfortunately, but we did get to do some challenging dives, setting up and moving some of the artificial reefs as well as a couple of fun dives.

The project has been very good for the community, improving waste management (incinerator) and helping in the school with a new water storage, playground and teachers house.

We got to create our own reef pods for the new reef, and helped build up the school house a bit. The accommodation was really nice, small wooden bungalows, with squat toilet, bucket shower and bunkbeds. Nice social area, but only electricity between 6pm and 11pm.

Great fun.

Previous intern with Ecoteer, their project there is awesome especially their project leader, Seh Ling is the key person behind. Patrol every night with professional guidance, learn a lot from hands-on!

Earlier this year, I had an incredible experience on this program. The overnight turtle watch was definitely something I will never forget. If you love nature or, more specifically, turtles, this is the program for you.

We stayed with the Ecoteer project for a week in September 2014, as part of a six-week holiday in Malaysia, and really enjoyed our time there. We went as a family with our 7-year-old daughter, and for her it was one of the highlights of our trip to Malaysia, as she was able to move around the volunteer house and surroundings fairly freely, met local kids, and all the staff and volunteers made a real effort to include her in activities and spend time with her. We stayed at the volunteer house, were we had a little private section to ourselves; the accommodation is pretty basic, but clean and functional; it's also probably as close as we got to the way a lot of Malaysians in rural areas live. The activities were fun, particularly meeting the local children and doing research snorkeling, and it was wonderful to be accepted so easily into the local community. The Malaysian dinners, where you go to private homes for a traditional meal, were particularly memorable.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect on the Perhentians, but living in the village made it easy to integrate, as well as learn about the local culture. The diving was great. Neil and Sabi are great instructors and provide you with expert tuition on what you need to look for in the reef surveys. Equally as important is their recognition that people want to have fun and the balance for me was perfect.

You will get out of this experience what you put in - the more you get involved the better time you will have! I'm already planning a return trip (hopefully in 2016!).

My son (12 years old) and I enjoyed our experience at Jogja wildlife rescue centre. We found out how the animal keepers work very hard and consistently all year around. The animal keepers made the animal interaction both fun and informative. We enjoyed the enrichment program for the animals and felt we could make a difference with our manual labour.
I agree with other volunteers comments that other activities would be good after the 3pm stop work, as the evening are long otherwise.
The school visit was enjoyable and my son loved the interaction with the village children.

great accommodation and food.Really felt that the Centre staff cared about our well-being.Manual labour with a purpose and such a sense of achievement when viewing the fruit of our labours.Loved the interaction with the animal-keepers and their families.Enrichment programme for the animals immensely satisfying.

I had the most fantastic experience in WRC. All the staff were extremely friendly and helpful in creating a safe environment for the animals. All the animal keepers genuinely care about the well being of all the animals.
Each day was packed with something different from the day before so there you are learning something new every day.
I was not expecting such nice accommodation & was pleasantly surprised. The meals served daily was always varied and tasty.
Visiting the Javanese family's home for dinner was brilliant - the host family were so welcoming & friendly.

We volunteered on the Perhentian Islands through Ecoteer at Bubbles Dive Centre for 2 weeks. We had a fantastic time and learnt so a lot about the turtles and threats they face. Our day would consist of working in the hatchery and we would work rotating night shift to patrol the beaches. We also assisted with some high school groups from the UK to teach them and involve them in activities.

We got to experience turtles laying eggs, watching for poachers and assisting with tourists who were also on the island who wished to see turtles lay eggs. Releasing the baby turtles was a real highlight. The team on the island are very passionate about their work and what they are trying to achieve.

The accommodation was good and we were comfortable. There were opportunities to go snorkeling and diving as work permitted and we felt part of the team on the island.

Would recommend it to anyone interested in turtle conservation.