Thailand Koh Phi Phi’s pioneering barefoot luxury dive resort Zeavola recently furthered their environmental efforts, leading a team of conservationists and nature-lovers in a garbage sweep of the waters and shores of Chong Kiew beach and Nui Bay. While the resort’s main beach is cleaned up to three times a day, the other two nearby beaches are exposed to the monsoon winds and can only be cleaned after the weather pattern changes in early November.
Deeply green: Zeavola's pristine beachfront sparkles after recent clean-up efforts
During two days of activities on the northern tip of Koh Phi Phi, friends, staff and associates of the resort and local community members filled more than 50 garbage bags – over 300kg of refuse and debris – leaving the beaches pristine and safer for local wildlife.
General Manager of the PADI Five Star-accredited resort, Florian Hallermann, said he was delighted with the efforts from the volunteers involved, whose hard work would create a positive impact on the immediate vicinity of the resort and surrounding seas.
“It was fantastic working with the support of so many members of the local community to take care of the local environment,” said Mr Hallermann. “Not only is garbage unsightly, it is mostly non-biodegradable which means that if efforts aren’t made to reduce the amount of refuse in the oceans, the damaging impact of its presence will be seen across entire ecosystems for years to come.”
Load of rubbish: A team effort unites Zeavola and local community members in a common cause: clean beaches.
Karst off: The resort's charming long tail boats doubled as garbage barges for the recent beach sweep
Zeavola is built around a sustainability ethos, with features such as a water reserve system which includes four deep wells and a reverse osmosis plant to completely minimise unnecessary water consumption at the resort – efforts which have earned the resort membership of the international Green Pearls collection of sustainable hotels.
Not only has the resort met the required standards to be awarded the exclusive PADI Five Star appellation as a dive destination, etc, it has also been awarded the PADI Green Star Award, for outstanding contribution to the environment through the resort’s project ‘Coral Freedom’.
The efforts of ‘Coral Freedom’ are focussed on reversing the devastating effects of coral bleaching, a consequence of high carbon footprints and increasing global warming, and have so far seen over 10,000 coral fragments replanted around Phi Phi that were regenerated in Zeavola’s coral nursery.
Zeavola is also part of the Green Fins project which is coordinated by the United Nations Environmental Programme as part of a global effort to increase public awareness and resort management practices that will benefit the conservation of coral reefs and reduce unsustainable tourism practices.
Zeavola is Koh Phi Phi’s leading and most loved luxury diving eco-resort. Located at Laem Ton on Koh Phi Phi Don’s stunning and pristine northern tip and less than an hour by luxury speedboat from Phuket, Zeavola offers guests a step back into simplicity, a journey of unforgettable discovery and deeply engaging luxury diving experiences. Zeavola’s Dive Centre is a certified Green Fin Resort by the Phuket Marine Biological Center as well as a PADI Green Leaf dive centre and PADI Five Star Diving resort
Zeavola is strongly committed to live and work together with nature in a sustainable manner to protect the biodiversity of our island while always looking for new and unique ways to connect our guests to Phi Phi on a deep level while offering luxury as natural as it is authentic.
