Ghost Diving Southeast Asia

19/08/2025

It was a very successful ghost diving project. We lifted tons of nets and learned to locate a reef in blue water with a GPS and a depth sounder on a moving vessel.

We encountered an enormous amount of net, wrapping corals and sponges, and hanging down from rocks. Sixty minutes of intense work contributed perhaps 1% of the net we saw there.

The work continues. We get better every time as a team. It puts diverse skills to the real test. How is your trim, equipment, and awareness while focusing on a task? Can you stick to your role and not get distracted by other shining objects?

Good job, team! You invested with time and real dollars, and most importantly, you helped each other to do better and be safer.

Let’s keep going.



.ross

17/08/2025

Isn’t this the best luxury handbag one can carry?

Ghost nets in Southeast Asia come in various shapes and forms. They are primarily gillnets and fishing lines, often containing sharp hooks. We came across a fish carcass entangled in a lost fishing line; it’s always disheartening to confront such scenes with dead animals.

What an amazing photo by James!

17/08/2025

Day 1 was a success! We have a solid team of divers with mixed skill levels. Throughout the day, we practiced teamwork and defined our roles while tidying up the backyard at Puerto Galera and looking out for one another. The dive concluded with an encounter with two beautiful turtles that surrounded us, reminding us why we do what we do.

The project continues. A technical team will head to Hibo Reed to search for a net that has been hanging on the drop-off wall for years. If we're lucky, we might see sharks!

09/07/2025

Ghost Diving Southeast Asia is an international chapter of Ghost Diving, a registered foundation established in 2012 in the Netherlands. Our organization is made up of technical divers specializing in the removal of lost fishing gear and other marine debris.

In 2024, our chapter successfully completed four ghost net cleanup projects across the Philippines and Hong Kong (2024 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOZXjFrCzkc).

Through these projects, we gained valuable experience by collaborating with local stakeholders, which has helped us enhance our safety standards and improve the efficiency of our funding.

This year, we will focus on one of the fascinating dive sites in Puerto Galera, Philippines—the Hibo Reef (coordinates: 13.50398, 120.88107). This location features a deep wall that descends into the abyss, and reports have indicated the presence of large ghost nets at a depth of 30 meters. These ghost nets have a long-term negative impact on the diverse range of fish and sharks inhabiting this area.

We are excited to continue our collaboration with local dive businesses such as Asia Divers/El Galleon Resort, Tech Asia, Arkipelago Divers & Beach Resort, as well as with Hong Kong-based Diving Equipment Specialists, Dan Sun Titanium, in our upcoming events.

We are looking for mixed level divers with strong safety awareness and a sense of teamwork from the region who want to join our mission this year.

To learn more, please watch our 2024 mission video or contact the Chapter Coordinator (information available on the poster).

Save our oceans, one net at a time.

21/06/2025

Thank you Diving Ducktor for your work in Subic. See you soon in our future events!

Heavy duty trash diving

V excited to have made initial contact with Ghost Diving Southeast Asia and looking forward to learning more challenging, deep ghost net and rope removals with them - once my tec training is a little further along the road.

Meanwhile, in a bid to enable me to retrieve the really very large tyres and other heavier objects I have found in Subic Bay at

11/05/2025

In August 2024, a group of volunteer divers joined forces to restore coral reefs in the Philippines. Supported by Atelier Holgur and local businesses and communities such as Asia Divers/El Galleon Resort, Tech Asia, Arkipelago Divers & Beach Resort, and Blue Alliance Philippines, the Ghost Diving Southeast Asia team successfully removed over a mile of lost fishing lines and nets. We will continue this important work because it is our love letter to the underwater world that we cherish.

Find out more about us:
https://www.ghostdiving.org/
https://www.ghostdiving.org/chapters/southeast-asia/
https://atelier-holgur.com/

In August 2024, a group of volunteer divers joined forces to restore coral reefs in the Philippines. Supported by Atelier Holgur and local businesses and com...

16/04/2025

They’re out there... abandoned, rusting, leaking plastic and metal into the sea.
They're called Ghost Farms, and is working to expose them.
👀 If you’ve spotted one, report it — your tip could be the start of something big.
We’re proud to support this effort.
📍 https://bit.ly/SeenAGhostFarm

14/04/2025

24/11/2024

16/10/2024

Save the date! Premiering Legacy Preserved - Guardians of the Deep - Thursday, 10th of October at 7 pm on : https://youtu.be/lhgkzoAWlXQ

Deep Blue Legacy 🌊 is a three-part series that dives into a bold mission intertwined with history and environmental conservation themes.

In Part #3: Legacy Preserved - Guardians of the 🌌, we explore the hidden dangers of the deep: 🕸️. What impact do these abandoned nets have on ? How are shipwrecks connected to ghost gear, and why do they often serve as havens?

This episode not only uncovers these questions but also highlights the Mediterranean's broader challenges, from and 🎣 to the effects of 🌍 on marine ecosystems.

If you’re curious about how 🔬 and conservation come together, how ghost gear impacts marine , how we work to remove these threats 🚫, or how once-lost shipwrecks can transform into thriving ecosystems, this episode is for you!

We are immensely grateful to DWS Group for making Operation Deep Blue Legacy possible.

Join us this Thursday, 10th of October at 7 pm CET for the premiere: https://youtu.be/lhgkzoAWlXQ
____
Ghost Diving SDSS: The Society for Documentation of Submerged Sites