Perhentian Save The Turtles Volunteer Programme

Perhentian Save The Turtles Volunteer Programme is for you if you are considering doing something meaningful during your gap year, waiting for your examination results or even taking a career break before deciding the next course of action to take. This programme runs for a minimum of 1 week for Malaysians; 2 weeks for international volunteers and can be extended even up to 8 weeks or more.

This programme came out of the need to arrest the declining turtles that land in Malaysia due to the poaching of eggs, disturbance to the turtles and pollution that causes the number of the turtles to decline. Of the four species of turtles that used to land in big numbers just a few decades ago, only Green Turtles can be seen nesting here. Perhentian Islands are one of the few places in Malaysia that are still having turtles coming here.

• Introduction Week is first week where you will be taught all about the sea turtles, rainforest and coral reefs of Perhentian Islands. You will be given assignments to do and present your findings to the group. By doing this, you will learn better and is able to pass your knowledge of marine conservation to tourists, school children and villagers the following weeks. You will also be patrolling the beach at night to protect the nests.
• Week 2 onwards will be spent on the village at the island. Having you here will cause the villagers to see how they can benefit financially from protecting the turtles. This is because you will be given a daily allowance of RM25 to spend for your meals on this village. This will give them a good reason to protect the sea turtles from extinction.
• Pinang Seribu Beach being the largest nesting with about 150 nests are the biggest found so far on the islands. This 50m beach will be patrolled on rotational basis by volunteers to deter poachers from coming to steal the eggs. You will also be helping to collect data for Department of Fisheries that has been tasked to protect these sea creatures.




Collecting the coral bleaching data.




• Turtle Need Trees and English Club programme has been designed to engage the local school students in an effort to educate them on the need to preserve the marine and island life for the conservation of the turtles. On top of that, the students will learn English which will help to take them to another level of marketability in the employment market when they grow up.
• Info Booth is set up on various parts of the islands to engage and educate the tourists about sea turtles and marine conservation. Fun activities and games such as quizzes and sand building contests are conducted to make the dissemination of information more interesting.

Measuring and collecting the turtle nesting data for further research.

• Return boat transfer from Kuala Besut to Perhentian Islands.
• Marine Park Conservation Fee.
• Three meals per day.
• Triple sharing en-suite fan rooms at Bubbles Dive Resort, located at the southern part of Perhentian Besar for the first week. A night or two are spend on tents at Pinang Seribu beach. Week 2 onwards will be at Perhentian Village at Perhentian Kecil Island.
• One Snorkel Tour on the third day of the trip.
• All boat transfers.

• Scuba diving.
• Travel insurance.
• Travel to Kuala Besut.
• Snacks and other luxuries.

Please contact us for a detailed day to day itinerary using the form at the page below.

The resort where you will be staying during the first week. A night or two will be on tents at Pinang Seribu beach and the village. At the village in Perhentian Kecil, couples who are not married will not be allowed to stay on the same room.

Protecting the nestings with eggs from their preys.

Turtle Season & Best Time To Come

Most resorts are closed from November to February due to the north-easterly monsoon season. During this time, the sea is rough and there are not much sea activities that you can do. Even the fishermen rest during this time of the year.

The turtle nesting season starts from March to August and the eggs will hatch from May to Sept every year. Hence, the best time to come for turtle nesting is from May to July and turtle hatching from July to Sept. As these months are "peak" months, it is always good to book in advance to avoid disappointment.

This package starts on March 14th, 2011 and then every Monday until Oct 3rd, 2011.

Perhentian Save The Turtles Package Price

The Perhentian Save The Turtles packages cost are as follows:

Malaysians (1 week) : RM999
Malaysians (2 weeks) : RM1799
Every extra week: RM900

Non-Malaysians (2 weeks): RM2,799
Every extra week: RM900

For reservation, use the form below to contact Daniel who has a passion to not only conserve but increase the population of the turtles in Malaysia. A deposit of 25% is required to confirm your booking and full payment must be made one month before the date of arrival.

Getting To Kuala Besut

The best way to go to Kuala Besut is by taking AirAsia or MAS from KLIA or LCCT to Kota Bahru. Firefly Airlines, a subsidiary of MAS also flies to Kota Bahru from Subang Sky Park terminal. From Kota Bahru, take a taxi to Kuala Besut.

The other economical way is to take a night bus from Kuala Lumpur Hentian Putra Bus Station (near Putra World Trade Centre or The Mall) to Kuala Besut. A one-way ticket costs less than RM50. You can take Mahligai Express or Mutiara Express. However, these buses will only stop at Kuala Besut if there are at least 10 passengers going there else they will stop at Jertih. You will then need to take a taxi to Kuala Besut Jetty for less than RM20.

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