All You Need To Know About EcoDiver License

November 29, 2021

Already love scuba diving and discovering new species in the most undiscovered part of the world? You can actually make a career out of your passion! Best one yet, you can even make a huge difference to the preservation of the marine species and environment. 

What exactly is a professional Eco Diver?

Everyone can be an eco-friendly diver, just by protecting the underwater world and consciously making choices and practices that preserve the marine environment. However, you can make an even bigger difference by becoming a licensed Eco Diver. 

So, what’s the job of an Eco Diver? A licensed Eco Diver dive into the ocean to perform reef check surveys where they collect data and do assessment on the health of coral reefs. These data will then be given to marine biologists and scientists to identify problems and find solutions for our ocean’s reef. Depending on the program you join, you can even travel around the world and discover different types of reefs around the globe!  

Four Elements of an EcoDiver Course

After some research, we found out that there are four main elements in EcoDiver courses around Malaysia. They includes:

 

Buoyancy Assessment and Training

Taking a buoyancy assessment will definitely be the very first thing you will do in an EcoDiver course. As they say, laying down a sturdy foundation is the first step to success. So, if you already have a Scuba Diving license, you already got a head start! If not, don’t worry! There is buoyancy training to make sure you’re comfortably floating like our Hypergear Bubble Bags and trained to dive into the deep sea safely and professionally. You will also be trained to handle unpredictable situations in cases you face underwater. 

 

Fish Identification

Fish is friend. Not food. Well, that’s definitely right in Eco-Diving. However, this element is not just differentiating Nemo from Dory. Because many reefs are heavily overfished, you will have to differentiate target fish species from non-target fish species, dependent on the location and how to estimate fish size underwater. 

 

Invertebrate and Impact Identification

Searching for invertebrates on reefs could be quite a challenge. You will not only learn how to identify invertebrates but also learn to identify damage and its causes. Trash and pollution will also be part of your target to identify the consequences of human pollution to the marine world.

 

Substrate Identification

Learning substrate identification would be an eye opening lesson. Once you learn substrate identification, you will be able to recognize disease and coral bleaching - changing your perception of coral reef!

 

Prerequisites For Eco Diving License 

There are definitely risks when it comes to diving meters below sea level. Everything could go wrong under the most undiscovered part of the world! So it wouldn’t be a shock that there are prerequisites for scuba diving and eco diving. Here’s the list of requirements you need to fulfil:

• Possess a Certified Scuba Diving License
• More than 15 years old
• Done more than 25 logged dives
• Done a minimum of 2 dives in the past 12 months
• Passed the buoyancy assessment

Where Do I Sign Up? 

There are many places to get an EcoDiver Certification in Malaysia. Below are some places that we recommend! 

• Bubbles Dive Centre, Terengganu
• Reef Guardian, Lankayan Island Dive Resort, Sabah 
• Scuba Junkie Mabul Sabah
• The Reef Dive Resort, Mataking Island, Sabah
• TRACC, Sabah 
• DM Scuba Dive Team, Selangor (temporarily closed)
• Reef Check Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

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