1 independent reviews for Family volunteering with turtles in the Maldives
Reviews for Family volunteering with turtles in the Maldives
Ran Chakrabarti review 12 Jan 2024
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Probably the sunsets; snorkelling with Jay, crab catching with the team at night and feeding the turtles.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Be prepared to see the other side of the Maldives and come to terms with the extent of plastic pollution. For those that have lived in challenging environments, this shouldn’t come as a great surprise, but be prepared to acknowledge generally how little we seem to care about it.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Not particularly. The local team obviously do an outstanding job in looking after injured turtles. I’d recommend much greater transparency on how costs are allocated in relation to accommodation, food, flights and what goes to fund conservation.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Accommodation was fine at a price point of around USD 80 a night; and the food was fine at a price point of around USD 20 a day per person. Notwithstanding the efforts of the outstanding local team and the commitment of the volunteers in taking care of injured turtles, I cannot say with hand on heart that this trip was value for money. I’d recommend full disclosure and transparency on the pricing in the future.Read the operator's response here:
Dear Ran,
Thank you so much for your feedback on Responsible Travel. Im glad you got to see a different side ot the Maldives as this was the purpose of this trip. I would like to agree with you that from booking a small part of goes towards your accommodation and food- however that is not the only inclusions, we also have flights to the island and back, activities, and local organisation fees that would cover local staff costs, their admin costs, taxes as well as project maintenance and conservation costs in keeping the turtles year round. In addition there are commissions to marketing partners as well as locals to engage you in activities around the island and allow conservation practices. After this we have to add in taxes and we have admin and marketing costs which are all factored in. I would like to assure you that a huge chunk goes directly to the local organisation and the work they do during your stay and it helps them to sustain the projects after you leave too. We did have a section on our website for where the funds go but we removed it during covid as we had to use a lot of funds to help local NGOs rebuild projects and get back on their feet thus we removed this section. We will add this back in soon so it is clear as we are in no way profiting massively as you may think...
Before you did join we had highlighted what all would be covered and we have provided all of the promised services and the local team has delivered a wonderful project. I hope that this has been satisfying for you and you feel that you contributed to a good cause and your children learnt from this experience.
I do hope that you do volunteer again with us and do not feel that your funds are pocketed by us as its not the case. Maldives is a more expensive destination however if you join us in India or Nepal or elsewhere we do have lower rates and we would love for you to join us again. We are working for the community and conservation and this is where our heart is and so we would like to assure you that most of program fee has gone towards the project.
Many thanks,
Ridhi
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