Over the last summer, Harris, the son of our SCUBA Steve — Managing Director and Owner of Mike’s Dive Store — spent four unforgettable months in Malaysian Borneo with TRACC (Tropical Research and Conservation Centre). Having just finished his A-levels in England, Harris chose to spend his gap year immersed in marine conservation, hands-on scientific research and a huge amount of diving. What follows is Harris’s own account of that experience, shared in his own words.
My name is Harris. I’m an 18-year-old who had just finished my A-levels in England before taking a gap year and heading to TRACC. On the 19th of July, I set off on the first of three flights to Tawau, Malaysian Borneo, to begin my four-month marine science A-level course with TRACC (Tropical Research and Conservation Centre) Borneo.
TRACC is a conservation centre in Sabah, Malaysia, focused on turtle and coral restoration due to high rates of illegal fishing techniques such as fish bombing in the Celebes Sea (the sea between Indonesia, the Philippines and Borneo). The Bajau people are the sea gypsies of the area. Not claimed by any of these nations, they are forced to live on the islands and rely on the sea, and through no fault of their own have had to resort to fish bombing to provide income to support their families. This has resulted in the destruction of once highly biodiverse coral reefs.
TRACC has begun restoring coral reefs around their home, Pom Pom Island, as well as conducting scientific research into the most effective methods to promote coral regrowth through artificial reef structures. They work closely with Australian universities and artificial reef manufacturers to identify what currently works as an effective coral rehabilitation method, promoting growth and increasing both marine and coral biodiversity in previously rubble-covered areas.
They also conduct turtle facial identification surveys, tracking the number of turtles on both the home island and surrounding islands, and cross-referencing photos to check whether they are new to the area or individuals they have seen before. Turtle walks are also carried out around the island to locate nesting turtles, allowing eggs to be safely moved into the hatchery to ensure higher survival rates.
The marine life and diversity around the island have made a huge recovery over the last 10 years, and the diving alone is good enough to warrant a holiday. You are guaranteed to dive with turtles, with groups regularly seeing 10–15 per dive, alongside many fish species and high coral coverage.
I was lucky enough to see both a wunderpuss and a whale shark while I was there — something not common around the island, but nonetheless showcasing what can appear. There was also a resident pygmy seahorse on TRACC’s house reef. Trips to Sipadan were run with a local resort and were available while we were there. I was lucky enough to join one and dive the famous Barracuda Point, where we saw sharks, baby sharks and, of course, barracuda.
The diving around the island is absolutely lovely, with the potential for stronger currents allowing for drift dives, but also days with little to no current at all. I brought all my own dive gear with me. This included the Scubapro Hydros Pro — my all-time favourite BCD — which makes diving feel easy and effortless while remaining comfortable and non-restrictive thanks to its hybrid wing system.
I paired this with the Scubapro MK25, also my favourite regulator, as it genuinely feels like you are breathing above the water. Breathing comes very naturally with it. I didn’t wear a wetsuit while I was there, as the water temperature was consistently 28–29°C, although this is also because I tend to run hot anyway.
For fins, I chose the Mares Avanti Quattro, as they are light and easily the most comfortable fins I’ve worn. I used the Suunto Ocean as my dive computer and everyday watch for the entire time I was there. It provided a bright, easily readable dive screen underwater and also acted as my alarm, pedometer, heart rate monitor, and pressure gauge underwater thanks to its transmitter capability. I still wear this watch daily, even away from the water.
The A-level course is a four-month Cambridge International A-level Marine Science course run by TRACC to educate the next generation of marine scientists. We were fast-tracked through the entire course in three months on the island, taking part in activities directly linked to what we had been learning in the classroom that same day.
There were 10 of us on the course, mostly European: six English, one Dutch, one German, one French and one Malaysian. It was a diverse group in terms of culture, age and background, with ages ranging from 18 to 43. Some of us, like me, had just finished our A-levels, while others were adults who had previously worked as teachers or chefs and were simply looking for a change of life and a chance to pursue a passion.
We spent 12 weeks together on the island, balancing learning with volunteer work and meeting new people as volunteers came and went. As students, we had three days of classes each week, usually Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Classes took place in a classroom almost on the beach, where we learned about marine ecosystems, fish life cycles and a wide range of related topics.
We had three teachers: two younger Malaysians who had studied marine science at university and were conducting research with TRACC, and one older Italian teacher with extensive experience working in marine environments. Each had different specialities and taught the topics they were most knowledgeable in, which resulted in deep, well-informed learning and quick, confident answers to any questions we had.
For two days each week, we worked as volunteers, taking part in all the activities regular volunteers would do. This ranged from turtle facial ID dives — where you take high-quality photos of a turtle’s scutes so the science team can identify them — to artificial reef drops, where lift bags are used to lower large concrete reef structures underwater (which was great fun).
Other common volunteer dives included underwater clean-ups, where rubbish is collected and recorded for marine waste surveys, and artificial reef maintenance dives, where algae is scrubbed off the structures to ensure coral survival and growth.
Of course, there were also two fun days each week. “Sunday Funday” involved fun dives for students, volunteers and staff, usually diving off-island in the morning for variety, followed by another fun dive in the afternoon. Mondays were everyone’s day off, typically needed after the parties and drinking that happened on Sunday evenings.
After three months on the island, we travelled to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, to sit our A-level exams at an international school. We stayed there for three weeks and also completed a three-day road trip into Brunei to reset our visas. During this trip, we stayed with a tribe — once known for headhunting — in their traditional longhouse deep in the forest.
Kota Kinabalu itself is a great city with plenty to do and lots of good food options, which was very welcome after three months of set lunches and dinners on the island.
Once our exams were finished, we embarked on our final week together: a road trip through Borneo. We visited sun bear and orangutan sanctuaries, completed a 12km hike to a waterfall, and went on a river cruise along the Kinabatangan River. Our guide had previously taken both David Attenborough and Steve Backshall, and during one four-hour cruise we managed to see the Borneo Big Five.
The Big Five consists of elephants, crocodiles, orangutans, proboscis monkeys and rhinoceros hornbills — all of which were incredible to see.
Overall, the A-level course was an amazing experience and one I would recommend in a heartbeat. I met so many incredible people and had completely unique experiences I never thought possible in such a short amount of time.
That said, even if you don’t have four months to spare, I would still highly recommend visiting TRACC for two weeks or more as a volunteer. The work they are doing to protect our oceans and support the future of the diving industry is remarkable, and being part of that is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
