The Beach Cleanup

Every Friday afternoon at 17:00, something special happens at Oceans 5 Gili Air. While many people on Gili Air are preparing for sunset drinks, dinner, or another relaxing tropical evening, a different group gathers in front of the dive center with gloves, rubbish bags, and one clear goal: keeping the beaches of Gili Air clean.

The weekly beach cleanup at Oceans 5 has become one of the longest-running environmental activities on the island. Since 2010, these cleanups have been organized almost every single week, creating a strong tradition of community involvement and environmental awareness on Gili Air. What started as a small local initiative has grown into an important weekly event involving divers, tourists, local community members, divemaster candidates, instructors, and volunteers from around the world.

Yesterday was another successful cleanup.

As every Friday, the afternoon started with a briefing organized by the Divemaster candidates of Oceans 5 Gili Air. During their training, divemaster candidates are not only learning how to guide divers underwater or assist on scuba courses. They are also learning about environmental responsibility and how important it is to become ambassadors for the ocean. Organizing the weekly beach cleanup is therefore an important part of their development as future dive professionals.

Before the cleanup started, the volunteers gathered at Oceans 5 Gili Air where the Divemaster candidates explained the plan for the afternoon. Gloves and rubbish bags were handed out, safety procedures were discussed, and the different cleanup areas were assigned. The atmosphere was relaxed and positive, but everyone understood why the cleanup is so important for the future of Gili Air.

After the briefing, the volunteers and the Oceans 5 team walked towards the beaches directly in front of the dive center. For one hour, the team spread out across the coastline collecting every piece of rubbish they could find. Plastic bottles, food packaging, flip-flops, straws, fishing line, cigarette butts, plastic cups, and countless small pieces of plastic were removed from the beaches before they could end up back in the ocean.

At the end of the cleanup, the total weight of the collected rubbish reached 71 kilograms.

Seventy-one kilograms may sound like just a number, but when you actually see the piles of collected waste together at the end of the afternoon, it becomes very clear how much rubbish still reaches tropical islands like Gili Air. Much of this trash does not even originate from Gili Air itself. Especially during periods of rain and stronger currents, rubbish arrives from rivers and coastal areas on Lombok and is transported through the sea towards the Gili Islands.

And this morning proved exactly that point once again.

After rainfall on Lombok during the night and early morning, large amounts of new rubbish already started appearing again on the beaches that had been cleaned only hours earlier. It can sometimes feel frustrating to see new trash arrive so quickly after a successful cleanup. However, this is also exactly why these weekly beach cleanups remain so important.

Cleaning the beaches once is not enough.

Protecting small tropical islands like Gili Air requires consistency, commitment, and long-term effort. The ocean never stops moving, and unfortunately the rubbish problem also does not stop after one cleanup. Every bag of rubbish removed from the beach is rubbish that will hopefully not end up damaging coral reefs, harming turtles, being eaten by fish, or breaking down into microplastics in the marine ecosystem.

For Oceans 5 Gili Air, these cleanups are not organized for social media pictures or temporary attention. They are part of a bigger philosophy that has been integrated into the dive center since the very beginning. Environmental awareness and marine protection are part of daily life at Oceans 5. From teaching neutral buoyancy during scuba courses to organizing conservation workshops, supporting marine research, and hosting weekly cleanups, the goal is always the same: protecting the underwater world for future generations.

The weekly beach cleanup also shows the power of community action.

Every week, volunteers from different countries, backgrounds, and professions join together for one hour with a shared purpose. Some participants are experienced divers. Others have never dived before. Some are tourists visiting Gili Air for only a few days, while others are local residents who have lived on the island for years. But during the cleanup, everyone works together equally.

That community spirit is what makes these Fridays special.

The cleanups are not only about removing rubbish. They are also about creating awareness, inspiring people, and showing visitors that tourism and environmental responsibility can work together. Many guests joining the cleanup often leave with a different perspective about the amount of waste entering the oceans worldwide. Seeing 71 kilograms of rubbish collected in only one hour on one small section of beach makes the global plastic problem feel very real.

At the same time, the cleanup also creates hope.

Every single volunteer helping for one hour is making a direct positive impact. Every bag filled with rubbish is a small victory for the reefs, the beaches, and the marine life surrounding Gili Air. And perhaps even more importantly, every participant who joins the cleanup often takes that experience home and becomes more aware of their own environmental choices in daily life.

Oceans 5 Gili Air would therefore like to thank everybody who joined yesterday’s cleanup. Thank you to the volunteers who gave up part of their Friday evening to help protect the beaches. Thank you to the Divemaster candidates for organizing and leading the event. And thank you to the Oceans 5 team members who continue supporting these cleanups every single week.

Without the support of the community, these cleanups would not be possible.

And next week, it all starts again.

Because unfortunately, after this morning’s rainfall on Lombok, new rubbish has already arrived again on the beaches. So today, the team will once again head out to remove as much trash as possible before it returns to the ocean.

The fight against ocean pollution continues every single week on Gili Air.

Would you like to help?

Next Friday, the beach cleanup starts again at the same time and the same place:

17:00 — Oceans 5 Gili Air.

Everybody is welcome to join.