Hotelier edition 14 | Page 68

HOT | Destination FREE LOOK-SEE INTO PHI PHI’S SEAS: FIVE STAR DIVE RESORT LAUNCHES DEDICATED WEBSITE FOR DIVING COMMUNITY Zeavola is Koh Phi Phi's leading and most loved luxury diving eco-resort. Located at Laem Ton on Koh Phi Phi Don's stunning and pristine northern tip and less than an hour by luxury speedboat from Phuket, Zeavola offers guests a step back into simplicity, a journey of unforgettable discovery and deeply engaging luxury diving experiences. Zeavola's Dive Centre is a certified Green Fin Resort by the Phuket Marine Biological Center as well as a PADI Green Leaf dive centre and PADI Five Star Diving resort Zeavola is strongly committed to live and work together with nature in a sustainable manner to protect the biodiversity of our island while always looking for new and unique ways to connect our guests to Phi Phi on a deep level while offering luxury as natural as it is authentic. "One thing the community was lacking until now is a hub of detailed information and guidelines to help resident divers and holidaymakers plan for a dive at optimum conditions for both themselves and the local marine ecosystem," - Zeavola General Manager Florian Hallermann PHI PHI, THAILAND - Koh Phi Phi's pioneering barefoot luxury dive resort Zeavola is furthering its commitment to ecologically responsible diving tourism with the launch of an all new dedicated website for the Andaman isle's diving community. Coral Andaman: Zeavola's continuous commitments to educational and sustainable, eco-friendly tourism are being extended with the launch of the resort's new diving website, offering insider information online for ecologically conscious divers and holidaymakers. The PADI Five Star-accredited resort's new site (www.diving. zeavola.com) functions as a centre of environmentally-conscious dive guides for the region's best loved undersea destination, with a dedicated section of comprehensive first person location advice, a booking engine and direct email contact with the Zeavola dive centre for discussions with knowledgeable and passionate Zeavola Dive Instructors. Expert advice: The new website will allow users to communicate directly with Zeavola's dive experts, offering insider information about the marine ecosystems in the warm waters around Koh Phi Phi. To take a look at the website, click here. Zeavola General Manager Florian Hallermann explained the inspiration behind the new interactive site: "The dive community is one that is largely responsible, with a genuine compassion for marine wildlife and an active commitment to protecting the conservation status of aquatic habitats," he said. "One thing the community was lacking until now is a hub of detailed information and guidelines to help resident divers and holidaymakers plan for a dive 68 • HOTELIER INDONESIA | SEPTEMBER 2013 at optimum conditions for both themselves and the local marine ecosystem. With our new site, everyone can quickly and easily get access to important data regarding the environmental conditions of all of the notable dive sites around Phi Phi." Zeavola's new website presents an inclusive guide of the Phi Phi Marine National Park which offers a wide variety of unique dive sites ranging from five meters to 30 meters, providing a mixture of topographies from sandy bays to coral wonderlands and dynamic rocky playgrounds that ensure divers a multitude of quality diving experiences. Underwater wonders: The waters surrounding Zeavola truly are a diver's paradise, with seahorses, ghost pipefish, colourful Nudibranchs, squat lobsters, spider crabs and rare species such as the Whale Shark. "With such a wide range of options covered on the website, it's possible to create custom designed dive excursions with the help of our knowledgeable staff, who use their local knowledge of tides, boat traffic and weather conditions to create solutions to meet every guest's personal goals," said Mr Hallermann. Zeavola is built around a sustainability ethos, with features such as a water reserve system which includes four deep wells and a reverse osmosis plant to completely minimise unnecessary water consumption at the resort - efforts which have earned the resort a membership in the international 'green' hotels group Green Pearls. Not only has the resort met all the required components and prerequisites to become a PADI Five Star member, it has also been awarded the PADI Green Star Award, for outstanding contribution to the environment through the resort's project 'Coral Freedom'. The efforts of 'Coral Freedom' are focussed on reversing the devastating effects of coral bleaching, a consequence of high carbon footprints and increasing global warming, and have so far seen over 10,000 coral fragments replanted around Phi Phi that were regenerated in Zeavola's coral nursery. Zeavola has also brought its commitments to conservation and environmental education above the waterline with a captivating Birdwalk, offering holidaymakers and budding ornithologists a glimpse into the private lives of the island's intriguing tropical bird population. Zeavola is part of the Green F ins project which is coordinated by the United Nations Environmental Programme as part of a global effort to increase public awareness and resort management practices that will benefit the conservation of coral reefs and reduce unsustainable tourism practices. www.hotelier-indonesia.com