Eco-Divers, PADI Dive Centre S-6783 and Go Eco Operator
Our
philosophy is Let’s Preserve Our Water Planet for all
future generations. Never touch, collect and least
of all, step on coral. “Take only photographs,
leave only bubbles. We owe it to future generations to enjoy
our marine heritage beneath the waves.”
Since May 2005, we have been operating out of our new centre right next to the Air Batang (or ABC) jetty. The old centre on Tekek is still operational (especially for our guests who prefer to stay at the Berjaya Resort) but will eventually be closed as the Government has sadly compulsorily acquired the land from our landlords.
At ABC, the atmosphere is truly relaxed and laid back and you will feel right at home. There are restaurants and places nearby where you can sit back and enjoy Tioman's glorious sunsets.
There is a coral reef right in front of the Centre where we encounter turtles, blue-spotted stingrays, schools of razorfish, reef cuttlefish and bamboo sharks on night dives. On rarer occassions, we have also seen black tip sharks, massive bumphead parrotfish and a mimic octopus!
Divers, a professional Instructor or Divemaster will guide you on all your dives. Our gear is new and serviced for your comfort, safety and enjoyment. Neptune-7, our speedboat equipped with an eco-friendly 4 stroke petrol outboard will whisk you to Tioman’s best sites of coral reefs and wrecks. Neptune-7 can carry up to 6 divers so rest assured you will not get lost in a
crowd of other divers. However, should you be planning a trip for a bigger group, we can organise bigger boats as well. Our daily dive schedule is flexible and we normally run up to three dives in a day plus a night dive. We have 100% oxygen at our centre. The closest Hyperbaric Chamber is less than an hour away by emergency evacuation in Kuantan or Singapore though cases of decompression illness are far and few between. We've known of none in the years we have been on Tioman.
Our Open Water Classes are also tailored for small groups, rarely exceeding four per class so students get more personalized attention needed to make safer and more conscientious scuba divers. The House Reef is excellent for training and we have a proper classroom with audio visual learning aids.
ABOUT
AIR BATANG
Tioman has since been declared a duty free island which equates to
cheap alcohol and tobacco, amongst other things. Air Batang is the next ferry stop after Tekek, the main village.
It is a stretch with no cars and is about a 30 minute walk from end to end, passing different restaurants, chalet operations, a bar, some little shops, internet, a Do-It-Yourself batik stall, bicycle rental places, books swaps and kampung houses lived in by the local population. It is a small and friendly place, no loud party scene and folks mostly chill out at the restaurants in the evenings and chat over dinner and drinks. A 10 minute walk over a headland on the south side of ABC will take you to the Marine Park Headquaters which offers some good snorkelling and Ari's the neighbourhood "bar" opens sometimes will the wee hours.
ABOUT TEKEK... The main village of Tioman is not what it used to be. The airport,
the medical centre and local schools are here. Accommodation standards have been upgraded in recent years. The village itself is
traditional (a kampong) where most of its people live in wooden houses on stilts. There is also a fair share of modern resorts/chalet operations mainly along the beach and restaurants serving local and western dishes to simple stalls selling local Malay fare.
You will find a small museum, restaurants, eating stalls, mini-markets, a post office, a licensed moneychanger, a hairdresser, Kontiki Cafe & Bar and an internet cafe. Take a walk or hop on a village van to the Berjaya Resort for a lookaround. Also, watch out for the island's many shy monitor lizards (some as long as two metres) in the little rivers and streams.
There are numerous duty free stores selling tobacco, alcohol and chocolates and souvenir shops as well selling some beautiful batik sarongs, local handicraft and all forms of gifts for family and friends back home.
NEWS & HAPPENINGS
September
2001 - Several of our divers and students participated in a
Beach Clean-Up of Kador Bay on neighbouring Tulai Island in
between dives.
It was a successful programme and
we filled many, many, many garbage bags. It was funny to find
so many rubber slippers swept up from the
sea.
All those taking part received
PADI Project AWARE (Aquatic World Awareness, Responsibility
and Education) Certificates of Recognition for their efforts.
Thanks,
guys!!!
August 2002 - Expedition Crown of Thorns Tioman 2002.
In collaboration with the Malaysian Fisheries Department and the Marine Parks Authority
and 7 other dive centres, we collected a total of 1,585 Crown of Thorns over a 2 day period.
The Crown of Thorns Starfish is a natural inhabitant of coral reefs throughout the Indo Pacific
region but when there are too many, they can cause great damage to the reef as they are vorarious
coral-eaters and each starfish can consume between 5 to 13 square metres of coral per year. Some parts of the
Australian Great Barrier Reef have suffered much damage from an outbreak of these starfish. Again,
we thank our divers and students who were involved in this project.
April 2003 - We are fully sanctioned as a PADI Dive Centre, meeting all
requirements for membership as established by PADI.
May 2003 - Our second speedboat, Eco-One is now ready to carry you safely
to the dive sites. A 27 footer fibreglass boat and powered by a Yamaha 200 horsepowered engine, she can seat up to 8 divers
comfortably.
June 2005 - We have acquired a converted fishing boat that takes a little longer to the dive sites but means there is more room to move about and lounge in the sun..
15th June 2005 - Eco-Divers is awarded the PADI Certificate of Recognition for Excellence for outstanding customer service and professionalism in PADI scuba instruction by PADI Vice President, Henrik Nimb.
19th October 2006 - Certified and registered as a PADI GO ECO OPERATOR - We are committed to environmentally responsible
business practices and to providing our customers with dive experiences that enhance visitor awareness of our local aquatic environment.
Contact
Information: c/o
Eco-Divers, Ar Batang, Tioman, Pahang, Malaysia
