B&J was always against anchoring at the different dive sites since anchoring leads to damage on the
fragile coral reefs.
Unfortunately the mooring buoys placed on the different dive and snorkelling sites by the Tioman
Marine Park are very often damaged or simply stolen by fishermen who like to use the buoys for their
fishing nets.
For this reason, B&J is sponsoring every year several new mooring buoys which are strategically
placed at dive sites where simple drift diving is not possible.
B&J Mooring Buoys
To avoid the buoys being damaged or stolen, we have designed a special mooring buoy system.
First we use a few meters of heavy duty stainless steel chain which we put trough some flexible and
durable PVC piping to protect the rock/reef.
We then loop this chain around a large boulder and shackle it to the prepared rope. The rope is durable and roughly 3 inch thick. We use splicing methods to make loops into the ropes. This ensures that the loops can never come loose.
Once the chain and rope are securely in place, we shorten the length of the rope so that the top of it
where the Buoy will be spliced to is not on the water surface but approx. 2 meters below it. This
helps to ensure that only divers can reach it.
We are using special mooring buoys which are inflatable under water. There is again some chain in
PVC piping between the buoy and the top of the rope to ensure that it can’t just be cut off.
Since the main buoy is always under water, we use a thinner chain to connect a smaller buoy that
floats on the surface. This part of the buoy can be used by the boats for mooring.
This is a mid‐priced mooring buoy system that needs a lot of preparation and work, but therefore we
ensure the most environmental friendly method and long lasting systems. In the past, mooring buoys
only lasted a couple of weeks to a maximum of a few months. Our new systems last for years.
B&J has trained the Tioman Marine Park staff and several attending dive centre
managers in the preparation of these kind of mooring buoy systems. The head of the Marine Park
liked it so much, that they are now sponsoring all the materials and the participating dive centres
place B&J mooring buoys at all dive sites around Tioman Island.
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