Public registration for Sisters Islands Marine Park Dive Trail opens today

Public registration for Sisters’ Islands Marine Park Dive Trail opens today

29 October 2015 — Registration for the new Sisters’ Islands Marine Park Dive Trail opens to the public today for the upcoming dive windows on 8 and 22 November 2015. Interested divers can sign up for the dive trails by contacting any of the approved dive operators listed on the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park website: www.nparks.gov.sg/sistersislandsmarinepark. The minimum requirement for those who wish to dive the trails is a certification beyond entry level from reputable international training organisations and relevant dive experience.

The guided dives will be conducted by approved dive operators who meet all necessary criteria and who agree to adhere to regulations established by the National Parks Board (NParks). These include prohibitions on the removal or collection of any living or non-living components of the reef to safeguard the reef habitat and biodiversity within the Marine Park. Interested divers are required to sign up with the approved dive operators who will book the available dive windows, which will be secured on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The cost of the dive trips will be set independently by operators and may differ based on the types of packages and the services they offer. NParks will not be collecting any fees from dive operators for conducting guided dives at Sisters’ Islands Marine Park Dive Trail.

The Sisters’ Islands Marine Park Dive Trail, consisting two separate trails with varying depths, have been marked with underwater signboards that serve as both station markers and underwater educational resources. Divers will be encouraged to contribute towards the upkeep of the dive trails, for example by helping to sweep off accumulated algae on the station signboards using cleaning brushes. Divers will be guided through 20 stations marked by signs which will bring their attention to the variety of marine biodiversity and reef features present in Singapore’s waters. To encourage participation in NParks’ Citizen Science programme, some stations will engage divers in simple biodiversity or water visibility surveys.

NParks will regulate the diving activities based on suitable dive windows and will maintain a cap of eight divers allowed for each trail at any given time to protect the marine biodiversity and avoid overcrowding. Dive windows will be limited to the existing condition of the marine habitat and periods when currents are suitable for diving, which will be determined using hydrodynamic predictions for the site. It is estimated that there will be two to four days with suitable dive windows in any given month. More dates will be updated on the website when available.