Perhentian

The isolated bay of Tanjung Tukas is home to the first project site for HOPE and the Bubbles Dive Resort and Centre.  Bubbles is an environmentally conscious tourist resort which has recently been rated as a PADI National Geographic Dive centre. The resort was started by Ronnie, Pei See and Eric Ng who still run the resort along with two Aussies Libby and Shrimpy (Eric). The beauty and the isolation from the outside world of the bay attracted them, which is undoubtedly the most beautiful bay in the Perhentian Islands. Another attraction was the nesting Green Turtles which can be seen nesting on the beach most nights throughout the height of their breeding season May to July with turtle hatchlings June to October.

Month           March  April    May    June    July     August  September    October

Nesting         low        med      high     high    high      low

Hatchlings                                               low      med      high        high                   med

The resort has gone from strength to strength with environmental concerns very much at its core. The resort is proving with proper management turtles and tourists can live together as the proportion of nesting turtles on this beach has increased compared to other beaches in the Perhentians. When you first arrive you will not even see the resort, but just a tree lined beach, and this is the key to Bubbles turtle success.

The Perhentian Archipelago were created around 1o,000 years ago when the water level rose at the end of the last ice age. The islands as well as the others along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia have recently become a refuge for many species of animals and birds and can boast virgin primary rainforest which most of mainland Peninsular Malaysia cannot. The islands are home to flying lemurs and dusky langurs which can be found in abundance on these islands but not at all on the mainland. The rare nicobar pigeon has been spotted at Tanjung Tukas and four species of bat intrigue all visitors to the Perhentians.

The main attraction of the Perhentian Islands is below the waters surface where a huge variety of life including the occasional whale shark, manta ray, huge lagoon rays, leopard sharks, lion fish and numerous reef fish in addition to the turtles can be spotted whilst snorkelling and diving. However the environment is being degraded by humans. The Bubbles Dive Resort regularly hold environmental scuba dives/snorkels including Drupella pickups, rubbish collections and Crown of Thorn Starfish pick-ups which as a volunteer you may get involved in (scuba diving is an extra cost).

The Bubbles guests are included as much as possible in the conservation concerns of the resort with daily talks about turtle conservation and in 2010 talks on sharks, coral reefs and tropical island forests will be added to the turtle talks. Guided snorkel tours and forest walks are another service for the tourists and new in 2010 will be offering fish identification, Green Fins and coral watch surveys to the tourists– all are run by the volunteer program.