Our July Project AWARE beach clean up at our beach house dive centre on Gaya Island in KotaKinabalu was a 329kg success! That's how much rubbish our 30 volunteers removed from the beaches, mangroves and shallow reefs near the dive centre.

As usual, the bulk of the rubbish included plastics; bottles, bags, containers and even a chair.

We also added 6 car tyres to our collection, which soon will be turned into an artificial reef, yet to be named, but how's Gridlock Reef for a nomination?

Downbelow regularly organises these clean up events. We sponsor the boat transfers from the mainland to the island, the equipment and a scrumptious lunch.

We also have key partners that help with our initiatives, notably Sabah Parks who waive the park fees, SuteraHarbour who waive the jetty fees and, of course, Project AWARE.

Part of each beach clean up is a fundraiser, to give back to Project AWARE to help them continue their work. 

Downbelow's Dive Shop usually sponsors a Gecko Dive Computer, which is then given away in a lucky draw, into which participants are entered in exchange for a donation.

This time we raised RM680 for Project AWARE in this way.

Our next Project AWARE Reef & Beach Clean Up has been scheduled for 24 September, so check out our events age for more information on that.

Also have a peek at the Facebook photo album for our last event in pictures.