Selayar Marine Dive

Located south of Sulawesi in Indonesia is Selayar Islands, the largely unknown largest coral atoll in South East Asia, and the third largest in the world. Selayar Island, the main island, sits in between Sulawesi and Flores, making it a trading hub back in the days. Since then, the majority of the local community relies on agriculture and fisheries. However, with poor infrastructure and limited support, Selayar remains a hidden underwater paradise and the local communities remain unemployed and poor.

Selayar Marine Dive (SMD) is a local social enterprise behind many marine conservation, sea rescues and community development programs in Selayar Islands. Since its establishment in 2014, SMD and its sister organisation, Sileya Scuba Divers (SSD) have organised numerous beach and underwater cleanups, championed sustainable marine protected zones in partnership with local fishermen and the brainchild behind various activism such as turning a turtle poaching hotspot into a turtle sanctuary (now renamed Turtle Village) and the introduction of marine conservation into the local curriculum.