Responsible TourismAs a Wicked Diving guest, we want you to be the first to know about any significant changes that we make across our business.
Our Responsible Travel Policy has been constantly evolving since we began operating and as we and the world we live in change, so this policy is adapted to meet those changes.It’s purpose is to serve, structure and minimize the western impact upon the local communities and environment.
This policy outlines the codes of conduct which Wicked Diving is committed to operate by, ensuring that we offer responsible tourism that give our guests a deeper experience and a fuller appreciation of all aspects of the marine environment and the local community. These guidelines are at the very heart of all of Wicked Diving’s operations and forms the underlying principles of the company.
Our obligations to Responsible Travel do not end there.
Wicked Diving is involved in Local NGO’s that encourage and protect the human rights of those living and working in our region.
We know we cannot change the world overnight, but we can help make a difference – one dive at a time! We hope the you feel the same way 🙂
As Wicked Diving is based in and entirely supported by the local ecosystem – we are acutely aware of our impact on and responsibility to the environment. We do our utmost to effectively implement our Responsible Tourism Policy. Being locally based means that our economic impact directly affects those that would most benefit by our operations.
Wicked Diving sincerely understands that the environments, cultures, and economies of the region in which we conduct our business is fragile, requiring a sustained commitment to ensure that any interactions have a lasting positive effect. The principles of Responsible Tourism are intrinsic in how Wicked Diving operates as we believe this approach can positively assist local communities, providing income and the financial incentive to protect the areas natural environments and local communities.
Wicked Diving’s Responsible Tourism Policy is based around our aim of being a socially responsible business engaged in the conservation and protection of the environment and local communities. In addition we support local, national and regional policies that increase the protection of the marine environment.
The fundamentals of our Responsible Tourism policy can be categorized into Environmental, Social, and Economic policies. However, we appreciate that in reality there is often an over-lap between these policy areas.
As a final note – the best of intentions can not always overcome the reality of some situations. As rules, laws and cultural shifts occur, Wicked Diving is willing to adapt in hopes that we may continue to affect them – as such our Policy of Responsible Tourism is a living document. If you feel that a portion, section or even the underlying fundamentals of our policy could be improved – please feel free to contact us –
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Environmental Policy
Wicked Diving believes that small groups may make less impact but nevertheless still make an impact. We are aware that wherever we go we are having an impact on the environment. We strive to minimize this impact and small groups make less impact than a big one.
Our land-based vehicles
• Wicked Diving tries to ensure that our vehicles limit their pollution through regular tune-ups and proper maintenance.
• We use biodiesel whenever and where ever possible.
• We use our trucks only when necessary and use our much more fuel efficient “Salang” (scooter with sidecar) whenever possible
Our Boats
• Wicked Diving tries to ensure that our vehicles limit their pollution through regular tune-ups and proper maintenance.
• We use biodiesel or a biodiesel mixture to fuel our boats
• We use our small dinghies to transport our guests from dive sites and to beaches to use more fuel efficient methods
• We are currently running the Schooner as a “quiet” boat at night. Through the use of passive ventilation and sea-breezes we hope to eliminate the use of air-conditiong (and the resulting fuel usage) at nights. If this proves successful, we will redesign our first boat.
• We offer rechargeable batteries on all trips.
• On the Schooner we operate under sail when we can. Please remember that weather and schedules do not always coincide 🙁
* Biodiesel. We are very aware that the use of biodiesel does not reduce our carbon footprint. There is research to indicate that it may even have a slightly negative impact when considering the source of the biological product (e.g. Palm Oil). However, biodiesel does not produce the same pollutants that petroleum based fuels do. These particular pollutants have a dangerous affect on the life cycle of coral and can cause permanent damage to the reefs. We feel that by both reducing our impact on the marine environment and supporting alternative fuel options, we are helping to improve the conditions. If/when Wicked Diving can find a better alternative in our market, we will certainly use it!
Water usage
Water should ALWAYS be used sparingly. Even in our locale where we have an average of 4 meters of rain per year – overuse depletes the water table. These guidelines also apply to our boats
• Be aware of the time you spend in the shower, water is running.
• Consider whether you really need two showers a day or if one would suffice.
• One our boats we have simple spray guns to rinse off after being in the salt water. There is no need to shower are each dive/snorkel
• Do not leave water to run – use a plug as you generally use less water.
• Don’t leave the tap running when brushing teeth & shaving
• We have installed a rain-catch system to fill our rinse buckets
Marine Life
Wicked Diving is adamant about protecting our marine environment. On all occasions we strive to minimize our impact on marine life.
• Always listen to guidelines and rules, tips given by our guides on marine life interaction.
• Never feed the marine life. Giving them food other than or in addition to what they usually eat is likely to make them ill. Worse – it creates a behavior pattern that makes some creatures – like turtles – approach boats for food, which can lead to their being poached 🙁
• Do not touch anything – even if it appears dead, except if you under dire circumstances
• We never anchor a boat on a coral reef. Use a mooring buoy / platform, moor on beach or drop anchor on sand. If this is not possible, we will dive/snorkel elsewhere.
• Do not collect fossils, shells or stones.
• Do not pursue animals or separate young from their parents, thus distressing them, for the sake of a photo or closer look. Keep an adequate distance. Precise distance cannot be specified as this depends on many factors and thus careful judgement should be exercised.
• Try to approach animals from the side in order to avoid appearing threatening.
• Do not make noises or perform actions or bring animals into view. Keep quiet and calm, let them approach when they feel comfortable, or inquisitive.
• On night dives, avoid shining lights directly at animals for long periods of time.
• Do not support attractions where animals are trained to perform tasks that are not natural to them e.g. cleaning teeth, approach boats, etc. These are un-natural behaviors.
• Do not support the use of marine life as photographic props i.e. have your photo taken with a wild animal. Many animals are taken from the wild, drugged for this purpose and killed once they become too large to handle.
• There is no fishing allowed from our boats, by our staff or crew.
In addition:
• Wicked Diving should be notified / advised immediately if animals are being used as photographic props by our staff or crew.
• Look out for local organizations which help animals and let us know about them?
Litter and reduction of waste
Litter is a huge problem in many countries where there is limited or no infrastructure for waste disposal, let alone recycling facilities. The first step is to ensure that we minimise our use of resources in the first place, in order to generate less waste. We then try to ensure that waste is disposed of in the most effective way possible.
Limiting generation of waste
• We encourage customers to avoid accepting plastic bags for purchases in shops and to reuse the ones they have (for litter collection etc). Locally made cotton bags can be purchased inexpensively at our shop and other local shops.
• In our shop and on the boats water is provided for our guests to fill their own water bottles helping to reduce plastic bottle waste.
• Customers are encouraged to reduce the amount of packaging taken on tour as it is usually more effectively disposed of at home than on tour.
• On daytrips we supply reusable containers and cutlery rather than foil or plastic bags. We avoid using disposable plates, cups and cutlery.
• On our liveaboards we supply all meals and reuse all plates and cutlery.
• We do not print flyers relying on digital and online media for all our marketing efforts.
• When printing – we use only paper that is sustainably farmed.
Litter
• In our shop and on our boat we have rubbish bins marked for appropriate disposal of waste.
• We limit the areas on the boat and near our shop for smoking. The butts should not be dropped on streets or over the side of the boats. Even butts on the street can get washed out to sea.
• Food waste – including apple cores etc – should not be dropped over the side of the boats. Rubbish bins are available throughout the boats. It can also poison marine life, which may eat it and attract aggressive wild animals to areas used by humans. For these reasons dropping food waste like this is banned in all national parks.
• On walks, at sites or other areas where appropriate, we suggest a voluntary system where customers take a plastic bag and collect a few pieces of litter from the trail and dispose of it at the end of the walk, leaving the environment cleaner than when we found it! Our tour leaders do this regularly.
• When participating in beach and reef clean-ups – please listen to tour leaders about what to remove. Sometimes rubbish has already been incorporated into the local ecosystem
Recycling
At Wicked Diving we recycle pretty much everything we can. However, Thailand does not have much infrastructure for recycling, nor does the local government provide our region with any method for doing so. In our region the trash is gone through by poor and migrant workers looking for an extra income. They pull out anything of scrap value. While this may seem depressing it does fulfill two needs – the lack of recycling programs and putting additional money in to the hands of those that most need it. We try to assist in this by separating our waste accordingly.Here’s the list of what we recycle in the office:
• Paper, including newspapers, magazines, envelopes, all cardboard, including food packaging
• Glass jars / bottles
• Food & drinks cans
• Plastic bottles, including tops
• Plastic food & other packaging
• Toner cartridges – returned to manufacturer
• Batteries – we have found a proper battery recycling drop-off point in Phuket and bring our batteries there once a month
Here’s the list of what we recycle on the boats:
• Paper, including newspapers, magazines, envelopes, all cardboard, including food packaging
• Glass jars / bottles
• Food & drinks cans
• Plastic bottles, including tops
• Plastic food & other packaging
• Batteries – we have found a proper battery recycling drop-off point in Phuket and bring our batteries there once a month
Energy Efficiency
• Lighting. In our classrooms and office we have installed skylights to use passive lighting during the daylight hours
• Insulation through our classrooms and offices has reduced the amount of Air-conditioning.
• Air Conditioning has been updated to modern, highly efficient units.
• Hot water. Our new water dispensers are a lot more efficient than kettles!
• PCs. We switch off our monitors at night to save electricity
Staff
It is part of all our employment contracts that these policies be understood, upheld and improved upon. Each staff member is required to create and implement a project that improves the local community, reduces our impact on the marine environment or improves our ability to educate our guests about the their impact on the local environment.
Partnerships
Wicked Diving partners with a few select resorts, dive centers and organizations in our region. We try to select only those operators that offer services that are either ecologically sound or make sincere and worthwhile efforts to improve the community around them. We try to have our guests direct their spending towards positive and viable projects, tours or accommodations.
Social Policy
Wicked Diving feels that a significant part of our responsibility as guests in our community and visitors to our various ecosystems that we must must improve the world around us. This takes place through role-model behavior, caring for our staff, participating in local projects as well as abiding by the laws of the country we inhabit. We strive to reduce any negative impact our operation or the guests of our operation has on the local community.
Staff
• All staff are paid a living wage• All staff are well treated and we encourage language and cultural training for all staff – foreign and local
• All required permits, work permits and visas are current
• All taxes are paid
• All staff have social security and welfare benefits paid
• All staff required to have Insurance have current and comprehensive policies in place
• Training is given to those who wish to improve their skills or expand their knowledge
Local Community
• Wicked Diving actively participates in the education of the local community.
• We strive to have both our staff and our guests economic impact affect the local community
• In local restaurants, do not eat food from endangered / fragile species e.g. eating Sharkfin soup can have a detrimental effect on the breeding population.
• We encourage our staff & guests to behave in ways that minimize our negative impact on the local community.
National Parks
• All fees are paid for and receipts available upon request
• We have all required permits and licenses required to operate in the Similan and Surin National Parks
• We cooperate with the park on following and encourage the following of all park rules
• We offer training to the park staff annually
• We organize beach and reef clean-ups monthly
• We rigidly follow the rules regarding the opening and closing dates of the park
Legal responsibilities
• All taxes, local and national, are paid promptly and in full.
• Our insurance exceeds that required to operate in Thailand and the National Parks
• All income is declared and certified by accountants and submitted for review each month
• All vehicles are fully insured and legal
• All Equipment is serviced and certified
