Sea & Jungle Travel Co. · Borneo dive business program

A note from Reed Peterson

Founder, Sea & Jungle Travel Co.

Why I built this program for dive shops

When I was younger, I helped run a small specialty sporting-goods store. I watched the owner struggle with a lot of great ideas because his time and budget were limited. One thing he always wanted to do—but never did—was create travel opportunities for his customers.

Many years and several businesses later, I find myself in a place I never imagined: owning a small lodge and living on Mabul Island in Borneo, Malaysia.

Instead of being retired, as I had planned, I somehow ended up with the ideal “job”—diving, cooking, entertaining, and helping people discover this extraordinary part of the world.

Mabul is the gateway to legendary Sipadan Island, but it is also a remarkable dive destination in its own right. The variety here is exceptional: walls, reefs, muck diving, night diving, blackwater diving, macro life, turtles, sharks and everything in between.

I took what I’ve learned here and designed a dive and jungle expedition specifically for dive shops to offer their customers. It is intentionally small, carefully curated, and very different from the typical group trip to a dive resort.

How do I create a travel program that is a no-brainer for a dive-shop owner?

The answer became Sea & Jungle Travel Co.

We designed the expedition. We designed the marketing campaign. We handle the logistics. You market the trip under your name using our program. You keep the customer relationship and get the gratitude.

We do the work. Zero cost to you.

The one thing I cannot give you yet is a long track record for Sea & Jungle Travel Co. It is a new company. What I can show you is Turtle Garden Lodge.

Since opening three years ago, the lodge has received more than 50 five-star Airbnb reviews and earned Guest Favorite status: Mabul's highest rated dive stay. I hope that record gives you some reassurance about the level of care, hospitality and personal attention I intend to bring to every Sea & Jungle Travel Co. expedition.

See Turtle Garden Lodge reviews

The journey should not be part of the adventure.

Your customers get themselves to Kuala Lumpur. From there, we take care of the rest.

Domestic flights • ground transfers • boats • accommodation • meals • diving • equipment • local coordination

Guests leave Kuala Lumpur and arrive at Turtle Garden Lodge the same day. That evening, the diving begins with a night dive.

Over the next five full dive days, they dive Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai—walls, reefs, muck sites, night dives and blackwater diving. The diversity of marine life here is one of the things that makes this part of Borneo so extraordinary.

After Mabul and a holiday from your vacation in Semporna, guests spend two nights on the Kinabatangan River in the Borneo rainforest.

River cruises and guided jungle walks search for Borneo's Big 5: orangutans, pygmy elephants, proboscis monkeys, hornbills and crocodiles. Local guides show guests an extraordinary variety of other wildlife, too.

We have done our best to think through the program from the perspective of a dive-shop owner, but I’m sure there are questions we haven’t anticipated.

If you are interested in offering this trip to your customers—and I sincerely hope you are—I would be very happy to talk with you personally.

We are initially making six winter departures available to partner dive shops.

If you would like to see whether the program is the right fit for your shop, tell me a little about your business and what you’re interested in.

Reed Peterson
Founder, Sea & Jungle Travel Co.