Indonesia's newest jail helped raise over $10,000 this World Ocean Day.  In a bid to bail our ocean out of trouble two Bali dive centers got super creative. They built a bamboo jail to raise much needed funds for our ocean. 

Bali Crystal Divers, Blue Season Bali and friends joined forces for the most unconventional, highly inventive fundraiser on record. 

Creative masterminds Robert Scales and Holly Macleod spearheaded the World Ocean Day project. The idea for the jail came from newly certified PADI OWSI Glen Norton and most of the work to build the jail was done by Robin Bylund and the Crystal Divers team. Partygoers paid up to $100 to lock someone up in jail. To get bailed out prisoners had to find friends to donate the bail money.  Balinese police were on hand to keep the jail process running smoothly, donating their time to the cause.  

“We knew we were on track for a great fundraiser,” said Robert Scales. “But we’ve also set a new precedent for event partnerships in Bali. It builds a foundation for the local diving community to grow new ideas together and host even more successful events in the future. I’m very excited to be part of this organizing team, pushing the limits on what we can achieve together,” added Robert.

As well as raising money, it was a fabulous fun packed night with great food, drinks, games and auctions. Generous donations in the forms of dive courses, cruise, and dive equipment were made by Divemasters Indonesia, Aqualung, Bali Hai, Emma Hewitt (PADI Regional Manager), Blue Season Bali, Crystal Divers Bali and local tour operators, hotels and various service providers. In total both the silent and live auctions contributed $6,000 of the final proceeds.

The day began just as energetically with over 200 children from four Sanur schools joining the dive centers for a beach cleanup at Mertasari Beach in Sanur.  Together they collected over 500kgs of rubbish and enjoyed making art with the trash they found and recording data about what was collected.

“Congratulations to everyone involved. Project AWARE is overjoyed to see divers working together to think of unique and entertaining events to raise money and awareness for the cause. A movement is taking shape and we’ll see a return to a clean and healthy ocean planet as a result,” said Henrik Nimb, Director Project AWARE Foundation.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part, placed auction bids, donated prizes, bought tickets, made donations and gave their time to organize the event. Most of all a heartfelt THANK YOU to Robert Scales, Holly Macleod, Minni Vangsgaard, Emma Hewitt Bali Crystal Divers and Blue Season Bali for putting in so much time and effort to make such a fantastic event!

Interested in fundraising? Email [email protected] today!