Liveaboard operators should use moorings when available. If a liveaboard has to anchor, it should not be done within 200 meters of a dive site.
All boats should have the capability to anchor in at least 60 meter’s depth, and should not anchor in less than 40 meters, unless it is in a sand area away from reefs and dive sites.
Day boats and dive dinghies should not anchor on dive sites, but stay well away in order not to disrupt marine life or possibly harm surfacing divers.
Resort operators and liveaboards should communicate with each other to arrange dive schedules and minimize the number of divers in one location. This is required procedure within Misool Eco Resort’s private Marine Conservation Area and No Take Zone.
No operation should purchase or serve to their guests threatened or over-exploited fish species, including grouper, coral trout, Napoleon Wrasse, parrotfish, and certain shellfish. Collecting of shells, both alive and dead, is prohibited without prior permission.
On boats, plastics and non-biodegradable garbage should be returned to port. Resorts should utilize an acceptable method of disposal. Divers should be advised not to throw garbage in the sea, especially while cruising on a liveaboard. Organic materials and wastewater should be disposed of well away from beaches and reefs.
Do not capture, harass, collect or otherwise disturb marine life, especially within Marine Protected Areas and No Take Zones. This applies to guests as well as dive guides, crews, and staff. This also applies to terrestrial organisms, including orchids, coconut crabs and all manner of birds and marsupials.
Jet skis are forbidden in all of the Bird’s Head MPAs. Not only are they extremely dangerous to divers, snorkelers and large marine life including turtles, dugongs, and mantas, they are noisy and simply inappropriate and not welcome in the beautiful and serene wilderness of the Bird’s Head
Practice good buoyancy control and do not dive with dangling gauges.
All divers, but especially underwater photographers, should avoid touching, standing on, or otherwise harming living coral.
Dive responsibly. Do not exceed your computer’s no decompression limits.
Make sure that your equipment includes both an auditory and visual surface signaling device, and that you have a fully charged light for night diving.
When snorkeling or diving with manta rays and whale sharks, dive dinghies should stay at least 20 meters away from the site. Proximity to small boats with racing motors is a major factor in whale shark avoidance behavior, and they will leave the area. Mantas often feed on the surface and boats should exercise extreme caution when dropping or picking up divers from the manta sites.
Scooters and other underwater propulsion vehicles are prohibited around whale sharks and mantas.
To ensure diver safety, no one should be within a meter of the whale shark’s head or a meter and a half of the tail.
Divers should stay behind the coral barrier at Manta Sandy and never approach or try to touch the mantas.
Many of the MPAs within the Bird’s Head are currently finalizing their zonation plans and regulations, including “no-go” and “no-take” areas. Your dive operator should be up-to-date on any additional rules that may apply to diver and visitor behavior