Beach Cleanup - a raging success

Wicked Diving has organized a special beach cleanup over the past several years in Conjunction with the GHRE Youth Outreach school. This is an opportunity for these talented kids to take the lectures and knowledge we have shared about conservation and the impact waste has on our environment and apply it. In this case, we also invited several of the Similan Park Rangers along to see what great work the kids are doing!

Below is the blog entry from one of the Divemaster's who helped organize this special day:


We organized this day in order to promote a cleaner & healthier environment and to further educate them on how they can care for, respect and preserve the beautiful beaches and marine national parks/ecosystems that Thailand and Burma are blessed with.

As part of our Divemaster Training, we recently presented an educational lecture at the Burmese School about the coral reef ecosystem, the threats it is faced with and what we can do to preserve it, including disposing of rubbish responsibly, recycling, conserving energy and supporting sustainable fishing.

Following on from this we joined forces with the 22 children again to participate in an beach clean-up, not only to do our bit for the local environment, but also to show the impact of pollution affecting this area and to re-iterate the importance of recycling, not littering & actively protecting their natural resources.

Diving instructors Gae and Diego; Divemaster trainees Lucy, Lukas, Des and Will; and the M/V Angel Parinee boat crew greeted the eager children, their teachers and 4 Park Rangers this morning at Taplamu Pier. Once everyone was onboard, Captain Khaew steered us out of the harbour towards Koh Nai Yak beach. Gae welcomed our friendly visitors with an introduction to the staff and crew and gave a quick boat briefing including an outline of what was planned for the day. This was followed by Des’ briefing about the clean-up procedure and its importance with regard to helping the local environment.

The children were taken to the beach in groups of 8 in the rubber dingy accompanied by a teacher a Divemaster trainee, several bags and bottles of water. The rubbish collected was separated into 2 bags: one for glass/cans/bottles and the other for general rubbish. Despite blazing sunshine and very hot conditions, the children worked with tireless enthusiasm to pick up as much litter as possible. Diego and P’Toon took on the task of ferrying full bags back to the boat during the clean-up and after an hour or so, the beach was looking great & it was time to head back for a well earned lunch!

The children cooled down with an ice-cream before being presented with a smorgasbord of delicious thai dishes to get stuck into, thanks to the talents of P’Nui and P’Tai, the Parinee’s chefs. Plates and bowls were piled high and the food was thoroughly enjoyed. As the boat made its way back to port, there was time for one final briefing from Gae to thank everyone for their help in a successful beach clean-up. Max, their teacher, reciprocated with a heartfelt thank you to Wicked Diving for organising the trip and for its continuing support of the school.

A very rewarding and fun day had by all.

Thanks to all those involved. We would also like to extend a special round of appreciation to you - our guests and friends. None of this would be possible without you! Wicked Diving gives 2% of all proceeds towards projects that improve our local community and environment. Read more about our Ethical Diving program.

When you dive with Wicked - you make a difference.

-Wicked Diving, Thailand