All images provided by Ceningan Divers
As divers and ocean stewards, we have the unique opportunity to educate, empower and connect communities to the ocean. One PADI dive shop doing just that is Ceningan Divers from Nusa Ceningan, Indonesia. Co-founded by Robert Scales and Sandra Demonti, Ceningan Divers is an award winning, eco-friendly, 100% AWARE and PADI Five Star Instructor Development Resort, making waves in ocean conservation and business sustainability.
Eco Initiatives
Since their opening in 2015, Ceningan Divers have shown their dedication to ocean conservation and sustainable business practices through their many eco initiatives, some of which include;
Dive the data and citizen science – In partnership with Marine Megafauna Foundation, Ceningan Divers have pledged to record data on marine life, marine debris and the number of boats at local dive sites, in order to help preserve their coral reefs.
Eliminated single use plastic products – By replacing plastic straws with metal straws, packing boat snacks in reusable containers and not offering single use shampoo or soaps at their eco-resort, Ceningan Divers hope to reduce plastic pollution in our oceans.
Eco recycling, upcycling and waste separation – To separate recyclable material, Ceningan Divers use separate rubbish, organic waste, composting and recycling stations.
Island cleaning initiatives – With the help of the Ceningan Divers team and volunteers, weekly ‘Trash Hero’ clean-ups are conducted to pick up debris from their local beaches, mangroves, streets and fields.
Local product sourcing – Not only does Ceningan Divers restaurant and bar use ingredients sourced from sustainable, organic vendors and/or local distributors, but they also grow their own herbs and fruit.
Mangrove nursery – Ceningan Divers grow around 600 propagules each year in their mangrove nursery. This nursery project will not only help protect their local reefs and coastlines, but it also helps reduce their carbon output.
Water conservation – They use the grey water from their bio-septic toilets to water their garden and in 2018 Ceningan Divers built a 68,000 litre ground reservoir to catch rain water and help with their water needs during the dry season.
Reef monitoring and conservation programs – To ensure that their local reefs remain healthy, Ceningan Divers participate in annual coral watch, coral transplantation and reef monitoring programs.
With the goal to have zero carbon emissions by 2030, Ceningan Divers have a number of other eco initiatives in place to ensure their business remains sustainable and that their local marine ecosystems are protected for years to come.
Ceningan Divers Online Education Centre
The first independently built online education centre of its kind, Ceningan Divers have diversified their business to reach a new audience with their new online Education Centre. With conservation workshops created by their in-house marine biologist, divers can increase their knowledge on marine life, ocean conservation and local marine ecosystems. For those interested in improving their scuba skills, a range of Project AWARE and PADI eLearning courses can also be found on their online portal. Students can enrol to the online education centre for free and start their first online workshop or course from the comfort of their own home.
“With travel restriction in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we wanted to offer a new way to share our knowledge of marine life and the conservation of our ocean planet. As a small business affected by the current situation, we saw an opportunity to provide people something unique that they can access from their homes while still promoting our passion for conservation and supporting our team” – Robert Scales, Co-Founder of Ceningan Divers.
Awards and Recognition’s
Ceningan Divers were one of the first Green Fins operators in Bali, helping pave the way for ocean conservation in Indonesia. Today, they are ranked as the fourth Green Fins operator in the world and the first in Indonesia. In both 2018 and 2019, Ceningan Divers also won the BlueGreen 360 award for best dive operator at the ADEX dive show. They were also voted third place at the Dive Travel awards in 2018 in their ‘best dive resorts’ category.
Congratulations to Ceningan Divers who have been working extremely hard to launch new initiatives, promote conservation and to mentor both new and professional divers!
Contact your PADI Regional Training Consultant today to see what PADI eLearning and Project AWARE courses can be conducted online.
